GIRLS HONOURED TO ATTEND UNFORGETTABLE SCIENCE FORUM

In January of this year, Sasha Prokhorov and Isabelle Hoshon were privileged to attend the 15th Annual International Science Youth Forum (ISYF) as recipients of the Year 10 Dr Burgis Award for Excellence in Science Research.

By Isabelle Ho Shon (Year 11)

The ISYF is a prestigious science enrichment program for research students all over the world and was held at Hwa Chong Institution, Singapore. It was such an honour to represent Australia at this event and is definitely an experience that we will both never forget.

Throughout the forum we participated in a range of different activities and events with delegates from all over the world including Taiwan, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.

To begin the event, we were taken on a captivating tour around Singapore titled “The Amazing Race”. We visited Singaporean Hawker Markets and tried new and different foods such as Ice Kachang and Orh Luak (Oyster omelette). We then travelled to Chinatown and Orchard Rd to explore different sites and stores and visited The Esplanade - a theatre on the Bay. We continued to Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay. The Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay was extremely beautiful and definitely a highlight of this tour.

We also participated in a team project where we were challenged to design and create our own Rube Goldberg machine - a machine designed to perform a simple task through a series of overcomplicated steps. This was a really interactive and interesting experience which allowed us to collaborate with other delegates. As foreigners attending this event, Sasha and I presented our Australian culture in a cultural exhibition. We proudly showcased our national animals, food, sports and even celebrities. It was also interesting to see other countries‘ cultures and customs.

A true highlight of this experience were the talks and lectures from Nobel Laureates and eminent scientists we were able to attend. We attended talks from Professor Hartmut Michel (1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry), Dr Eliza Fong (PhD in Bioengineering at Rice University), Dr Stephen Tay (Senior Lecturer in the Department of the Built Environment in the National University of Singapore (NUS)) and Professor Sow Chorng Haur (PhD, University of Chicago). We especially enjoyed Professor Sow’s talk about nanoscience as it was extremely engaging and taught us about something we did not know much about.

Lastly, to close the event, we attended a grand ceremony with four Nobel Laureates hosting an informative Q and A session and a poster exhibition where we presented our Student Research Projects with other delegates, and guests were able to ask questions. It was super interesting to view other projects and we were really inspired at the innovation of some of the projects. A noticeable project investigated using orange peels as an ammonia bio-adsorbent in aquariums.

This was an incredible and unforgettable experience which we are extremely grateful for. We would like to thank College Council, Dr Burgis, Ms Hendriks and Ms Ren for making this trip possible. This year PLC Sydney hosted our own International Student Science Conference, and the theme was “Bright Minds Shine a Light.”