Sweet win: (From left) Prashantinee Chandra Mohan, Anis, Tricia and Angel, who make up the all-girl Team Layang, holding up their trophy for the Verbal Presentation Award.
KULAI: They didn’t just race cars – they engineered a victory.
Johor’s all-girl science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) team from SMK Bandar Putra has sped Malaysia onto the global stage, clinching fourth place worldwide and first in Asia at the STEM Racing World Finals in Singapore – the nation’s best-ever finish in the prestigious competition.
Team Layang finished the competition, which featured 83 teams from 36 countries, with 826.5 points. The top three spots went to teams from Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom, respectively.
The win marks the school’s highest-ever achievement at the international level, surpassing its 2023 performance when its team placed ninth globally.
The school had also won the national STEM racing title in February, outperforming 200 teams across Malaysia.
Team coach Nor Masdiana Abd Rahman described the students’ performance in Singapore as “incredible”, especially given the scale of the event.
“They placed higher than our previous team, which finished ninth place in 2023, and we are so proud of how far they have come.
“The competition is not about training future race car drivers but about developing the engineers, designers and researchers behind the scenes,” she said when interviewed.
She added that through the project, students learn valuable real-world skills such as team management, branding, design and research.
“The team also bagged the Verbal Presentation Award, where they received a trophy made from a part of the rear wing of the Kick Sauber Formula One team’s race car.
“As the world finals were held just before the Singapore Grand Prix, the girls were also given special access to the race car garage to meet the people behind the scenes, which was quite a memorable experience,” she said.
Nor Masdiana said the school plans to take a one-year break from the competition before recruiting new members when the next batch of Form One students enrol, to allow new talent to emerge rather than repeating the same team.
The teacher, who has been in the profession for 11 years, said serving as a mentor for Team Layang along with her colleague Nur Syahira Jamil has been both demanding and fulfilling.
“As a biology degree holder now teaching English, being part of this project allows me to combine research and education in a meaningful way. Seeing my students thrive on the international stage is the most rewarding part of my career,” she said.
The team’s graphic designer Angel Jasminder Villamor Singh said the result was bittersweet as they were only seven points away from the podium.
“But being the first Malaysian team to finish in the top five since 2004 is a huge honour. We made new connections and friendships in the process that will surely benefit us in the future,” she said.
Her teammate Anis Fadhilah Azman said being part of the team for the past two years had sparked her interest in architecture and engineering.
“It feels amazing to do this for Malaysia, and I hope it inspires other students and parents to see that STEM can go beyond the classroom,” she said.
Meanwhile, team leader and design engineer Tricia Lai, also in Form Four, said she now plans to focus on her studies as she will be sitting for her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination next year.
“Since our school plans to nurture a new team in future, I hope to come back and mentor the juniors,” she said, adding that she hopes to pursue an engineering course in the university.
