IDEERS 2012

A total of 42 high school teams took part in this event. The objective was to design and build a model that can stand up to maximum level of 800 gal (1 gal = 1cm/s² of acceleration) of artificial earthquakes generated on the shaking-table. The most efficient model will have the highest efficiency ratio. The team spent 6.5 hours in Day 3 to build the structure which was then put on the shaking table in Day 4 to test out its efficiency.

A group of eight students represent Singapore and Henderson Secondary School participated in the Introducing and Demonstrating Earthquake Engineering in Schools, in short, IDEERS competition, organized by the National Centre for Research on Earthquake Engineering in Taipei, Taiwan from 12thSept to 17th Sept 2011. Both teams have made Singapore and Henderson proud again by winning three categories out of the four. The team led by He Men Xin of 5N1 came in Second in the Quake Resistant category under High School Team with a cash prize NT$15 000, the team also won the Most preferable award and third prize in Best Poster Award with a cash prize NT$3000 respectively. The Team led by Toh Jia Pei of 3E2 won the Most Preferable Award and Second in Best Poster award. They also won themselves in total NT$ 6000.

For the first day, the group of students went for a field trip to visit the earthquake sites in Taiwan. The places include the Longteng broken bridge; Shihkang Dam; 921 Earthquake museum and Taipei 101.

For the second day, the group embarks on a city tour to visit the places of interests in Taipei. The students also have a chance to release sky lantern into the sky for blessings and well wishes.

Toy Design Competition 2012 (Autodesk Inventor Design Category)

In March this year, the Design and Innovation Club participated in the Toy Design Competition 2012 (TDC12) Autodesk Inventor Design Category.

This competition is organized by Singapore Polytechnic’s School of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering and jointly sponsored by Hewlett-Packard Singapore (Sales) Pte Ltd and Autodesk Pte Ltd.

In this competition that was open to all secondary school students in Singapore, participants were required to use Autodesk Inventor computer-aided design software to design Automata toys , consisting of cams, pulleys, gears, rock and pinion mechanisms.

Participants used this software to generate digital prototypes of their designs for the preliminary judging in May.

45 submissions were received and among them 12 submissions were shortlisted, Henderson was one of them and was required to construct the physical automata model for final judging.

Despite facing difficulties in the construction process and sacrificing most of their June holidays, the students persevered as they are determined to realize their design for submission.

Their hard work was rewarded when they clinched the second prize and have won themselves $600 cash.

Their automata model would be exhibited at the Mini Makers Faire held at Singapore Science Center on the 4 and 5 of August.

Student Participants

• Liu Jingyan from 4E2
• Kyi Kyi Sein from 4E2
• He Mengxin from 5N1

        

(From L- R) He Mengxin, Kyi Kyi Sein and Liu Jingyan with their winning automata and trophy

Clean Water Challenge 2012

Wesley's Group

Dylan's Group

Chong Yuan's Group

Wesley Tan

Being in the Design and Innovation club is really enjoyable. I entered the Clean Water competition with my classmates. My team mates consist of Wei Yi, Shu Yun and me. We worked hard every day during CCA and we stayed back during the March holidays to try to complete the water filter we were working on. At first we used hot glue but later on we switched to epoxy glue.
We worked hard till about 5 or 6p.m. We glued and glued the whole day. We did this for about 2 days but we still stayed till we were done. We still had to do a lot of work after though.

The before we knew it…it was the competition. I was so nervous and scared during the competition as the filter we worked on was a disaster. We decided to use the old prototype and do our best. To our surprise, our filter was one of the best with the other teams from our school. The other school’s water was still dirty. We were elated to see this. Also I tried out the spoilt one and it did not work. We made the right choice. I really enjoyed and learned something new doing this.

Chong Yuan
On the first day of this year CCA this year heard that the clean water challenge was back, which I had took part in the past, but this year it had twist. In previous years, not much could be done to prepare for the competition as it we had to build the filter on the day of the competition. As of this year, the organizer wanted us to build a filter in school and bring it there to compete. I decided to take up the competition with two secondary members as fellow members of the competition. As it was something new, Madam Ang sent us to the computer lab to do some research on what we could expect for the competition. On the day of the briefing, I already had a little knowledge on what to expect.
After the briefing, the organizer gave us the materials to build the filter. This gave us an opportunity to build and rebuild to allow us to check if it would be able to work. We tried different types of glue to bond the glue. We choose the glue that best fit the bill. We tried the filter many time till we finally the day for the competition came.

During the day of the competition, we went to Singapore Polytechnic with a happy and delightful heart. We knew that after all the long Monday afternoon and Friday morning that we put in was going to pay off. After the first round, I looked around and saw that our school had the cleanest water but we collected the least amount of water.

After an agonizing wait, I heard that the organizer called my group name to be in the final. We went to the final with hope that we could win. The result as at this point in time has not yet be finalized but I have much hope.

I learnt to learn to appreciate our water and also learnt to build a full workable filter. I also learnt about team work.

Danny
I really enjoyed this term in D&I Club. We entered a competition together with our helpful seniors and bonded with them more. My team, Dylan, Aseel and I had entered the Clean Water Challenge hosted by Singapore Polytechnic . We had worked very hard to achieve what we had planned to do.

During the March Holidays, We had went back to school to prepare for our competition. We stayed in school for hours till we were exhausted. We also entered the Autodesk Toy Competition. We also had to go back during the holidays and head to Singapore Polytechnic and attend the workshop to learn how to use the software Autodesk Competition.

In both competitions, we were up against many schools such as Nan Hua High School, St Margaret’s and many others. We also had some time to bond with the students from other schools and get to know them better. We have already finished the Clean Water Challenge.

I feel that during competitions preparations, we have to work very hard to achieve what we are working towards. We also must brainstorm to have many ideas on how to top the competition. But we must not forget, winning is not everything, we have to learn how to appreciate other schools’ work and learn from their mistakes.

D&I Club is very fun as we get to brainstorm for many types of competition ideas. I also got to know a lot of my seniors and bonded with them more. I feel that being in D&I Club is something to be proud of, out of all the Secondary 1’s , I was one of the chosen ones. I am looking forward to participating in many more competitions.

National Earthquake Competition 2012

Yoon Su's group

Kyi Kyi's group

Quynh Anh's Group

Chong Yuan's Group

The members that partcipated in the compeition

Chia Yoon Su

I have been to earthquake since I came to this school I have learn many things I have learn about live loads and also I have learn that if the structure is too stiff the structure may break when it reaches a high shaking profile but it is to flexible the structure will fall and break easily and also when u put the weights it may break easily. I feel that when we do earthquake we are actually helping people from other country which experience earthquake by helping them get structures which are better. I also feel that by helping them we are also ensuring the safety of use when we visit countries which experiences earthquake.

Kwok Seng Jiu
The earthquake competiton  was the competiton that I took part for three years,this is the third year I am taking part in this competiton. I enjoyed this competition very much because I can bond more with my friends, and every year we would think of new designs to improve on our structure and do better. I hope that one day our structures would give designers inspiration to design buildings that would hold longer and withstand earthquake.

Seah Xie Liang
New experiences and knowledge have been gained when I first started participating in the Earthquake Competition. Throughout the whole preparation, hardships have been encountered and difficulties have aroused. However, our determination and the encouragements from teachers motivated us to excel in this competition.

Our school has sent in a total of 4 teams for the Earthquake Competition. Competitors from other schools have come up with promising and creative structures, no doubt that we have too. The competition was very intense. Our structure managed to sustain at Magnitude 10 before it was disqualified for the over-bending of the structure. We came with a close fight with other schools and we managed to get into the top few positions currently.

I have felt a sense of accomplishment after the competition.

Nigel See
Even though this is my second year taking part with the competition, I am still quite unsure how to cut the stick and draw the board. My leader, Yoon Su, taught me how to do it. I also learn that the structure must be firm in order to withstand the shake. In order to achieve perfection, our leader ask us to stay back every day to do the structure until we finished it, in the end we finish the structure!

Chong Yuan
On the first day of CCA, I was chosen to join the earthquake competition. I joined the competition once when I was in secondary 2, which was 3 years ago, it was like riding a bike once you know how it would be a piece of cake.

I stayed back on many days to build many structures and bring it to test. Improving on the deigns to make it better. We tried different structures from the past and improved on the deign. This gave us a staring point and allowed us to save time and think of new deign.

On the competition day, we went to Singapore Polytechnic with a happy and joyful heart. Our aim is to win and be the best. As we walked in, we saw our structures standing on the platform we felt proud and happy.

After the first few round of the competition, our structures were still standing now we only have ourselves to beat. After the competition ended, I heard that our structure withstood the longest and I was very happy.

Through the competition, I learnt about structure stability and how violent is an earthquake. I also learnt about team work and helping one another.