Spotlight
H
ello, my name is Prae and I am currently studying in grade 11S. Back in May, I was selected to be a representative of Thailand for the International Young Physicist Tournament (Physics World Cup) 2020, “one of the world’s most respected and prestigious annual physics competitions centered on 17 non-examination research problems” (International Young Physicists’ Tournament, Wikipedia). Approximately 170 students from across Thailand applied and just 5 were selected to represent the country after competing in three qualifying rounds at the national competition. The main roles of each country’s representatives were to present their research findings and oppose the findings of other teams. Then the scores were awarded by a jury of international experts. Simply put, we basically had a Physics debate about the theoretical models and methods of experimentations. Due to the Covid-19 situation, the official IYPT which was supposed to be held in Romania, was canceled. However, some countries came up with an idea of hosting an online tournament via the Zoom platform. The Thailand team did not hesitate to apply for this online tournament since we had been working on it for so long and would have regretted it if we did not join. The participating countries were Singapore, Greece, New Zealand, Georgia, Croatia, Austria, and Thailand. Fortunately, we landed in fourth place.
Prae Grade 11S
43 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 29
After this experience, I am really happy to have been part of this competition. Truly, I wouldn’t be where I am without the help of Mr. Markus and Dr. Miguel from the Physics Department, as well as Mr. Manish from the Math Department who helped me with calculus. These three teachers contributed to a big part of my success!