National Earthquake Competition 2013

Singapore Polytechnic's School of Architecture & the Built Environment is organising the 5th National Earthquake Competition 2013 for all upper secondary school students in Singapore. Earthquake is one of the most devastating natural disasters on planet earth. Strong earthquakes and earthquake-induced secondary disasters result in catastrophic human suffering and loss of property. An estimated 1.6 million people died in earthquakes during the 20th century.

The competition aims to generate students’ interests on the importance of Civil Engineering in designing earthquake-resistant buildings and earthquake disaster mitigation. It involves student teams using MDF (Medium Density Fibre) timber strips and boards, glue and cotton strings to design and fabricate models of earthquake-resistant buildings. On the day of competition, models will be tested on a 2-Dimensional Earthquake Simulator to determine the winners according to the technical specifications and competition rules.

Wesley
I think we could have done better in the competition but at the same time we did alright. It was sometimes tiring to build structures one after another but it was good for improving our future structures, knowing where we went wrong. I think the final structure was good but the base was not that firm. I learned perseverance and hard work through this competition.


Weiyi
After joining the competition, we had to stay back almost every day and return during the school holidays too. However, it was worth it when I saw the final structure stand tall. On the day of the competition, I felt happy that our structure was one of the few that lasted the longest and was also the lightest. Hopefully I can do better next year.


Chermaine
This year, I joined the DNI club and was chosen to participate in the National Earthquake Competition. At first, I was confused and unsure of what to do. Indecisive indeed. I had to learn many new things that my seniors taught and stay back almost every single day for difficult trainings. It was really a new experience and sometimes it was really fun to be with them even though we had to try really hard for gluing and replacing our failed items. It was almost time for the competition and we went to our competition venue to be up against many schools. We were very nervous and it was my first competition too. Throughout the time we were watching, we were worried about our structure, whether it is good enough not to collapse. Many structures had collapsed and we were glad that ours did not until ours was disqualified for the columns being bent too much. Although we did not win the competition this time round, we felt disappointed in ourselves and thought that we can do better for the next competition. Because of this resolve, we will not despair and will do better for the next upcoming competition.


Dylan
I learnt that every small mistake can also become a big problem. If we did not glue properly the columns and beams, the structure may just fall and if we did not measure properly, the structure may slant. This competition is very meaningful and teaches us the value of hard work.


Franklin
I learn that every milligram of weight can cause a huge problem. If we did not scrap off the glue properly, it could add on more weight to our structure and our efficiency ratio will decrease. I also learnt that everymember has an important role to play.


Avery
I learnt that perseverance is an important value in Design and Innovation Club as you cannot give up and you cannot be lazy. In this earthquake competition, I learnt that teamwork is needed to perform. Thus, everyone in the group must work together to complete the structure and make it a success and one person less could affect our team’s performanace.

Clean Water Challenge 2013

Singapore Polytechnic's School of Architecture & the Built Environment is organising the 5th Clean Water Challenge 2013 for all secondary school students in Singapore. The aim of the competition is to promote the interest in water technology and enhance awareness of the importance of our water. It involves student team to build a membrane water filtration kit to clean the dirty water. On the day of competition, participating team will pump the dirty water through the kit to obtain clean water using hand pump.

Quynh Anh
This year’s Clean Water Challenge has made me realize the importance of clean water in human survival. We learnt how to pot and assemble our filter system with the guidance of our patient teachers and had a lot of practice session to prepare our filter. Our hard work paid off as we were satisfied with our result but there is still room for improvement. We strived to do better next year!


Jefanie
We lost the competition last year despite the hard work and effort we put in during the March holidays and weekends. Most importantly, the training we attended and with the help of our teachers; we were able to prepare a working filter. This has been an exhilarating experience for us and we hope to do better next year. We were very satisfied with our filter but there is still room for improvement!


Ruo Teng
This is the first competition I had ever participated. Thus, I was quite nervous but thanks to the teachers, my friend and seniors, I felt better. We put in a lot of effort into making the filter and learnt that it is important to have patience, hard work, perseverance but most importantly team work to be able to succeed in this competition. We stayed back many days after school for the competition and our effort paid off when we were announce first for the turbility and best colour for the first round. We felt satisfied with our results but still hope it could be improved. Through the competition we learnt that water is an important daily need and that we need to learn how to conserve it as we only have limited resources. We hope to do better the next time we enter this competition.


Zhaoen
Clean Water Challenge 2013 was the first competition I took part in since I entered HSS at Sec 3 this year. Initially, I did not know what to do as I never took part in such a competition before. Nevertheless, with the help of teachers and fellow team members, by the time we finished a few practice sections, I had been able to cope with the fiber and so on. Once we went to SP for competition, I was anxious, surely it must be. Yet after the first round was completed, I looked around and noticed that our two HSS teams had the cleanest water for the first round. My confidence returned and we did well in the second round as well. We were keen to win. Of course, we must not be complacent and continue to work hard to achieve better results next year.


Danny
I participated in the 2013 Clean Water Challenge this year. The objective was to build a water filtration kit using activated carbon, hollow fibre ultrafiltration membranes inside an acrylic tube. At first, I was nervous as I was appointed as the team leader. As I have not been a leader for a competition before, so I did not know what to do. We had the intention of doing the exact same filtration kit as last year, but Madam Ang gave us a chance to try new techniques, such as potting and using PU glue to seal the fibres. It was intense as we had to stay back daily for the competition preparation. In the end, I was satisfied with our results as we have put in all of our effort into the competition. This competition has thought me how to be a responsible leader.


Zekeriye
I learnt a lot from the recent Clean Water Challenge. I had lots of fun and my team mates were very good. They were very encouraging and I realized that I had very good hands at potting glue. I learnt certain ways of gluing the fibres together. Though it is my first time participating, I believe that I have done the school proud and I have the experience to be used for future Clean Water Challenges. I felt that we have made Henderson proud and we can take home the prizes.

Singapore Amazing Flying Machine Competition 2013 (SAFMC 2013)

Open to anyone who wants to reach for the sky, SAFMC is the largest flying machine competition in Singapore and is THE nationwide hunt for a flying wonder! For those who dare to dream, this is a challenge for you to innovate a flying machine like no other.

Fayisa
What was good about this competition was I was able to work with my previous group members with a new addition of Shu Yun. Therefore, it was a good experience for me.

And what was bad was we construct the plane too late as we did not start building the plane earlier. Therefore, we got tensed and thinking that we would not be able to make it in time.

What we can improve on is our time management. We could start building the plane earlier, maybe during the Nov/Dec holidays. Other than that, it was fine.

Personally, through this competition, I have learnt how to manage my time well, teamwork and of course, how to get back from the setback.

Jas

What was good about this competition was we were able to stick with our original group from last year with a new member Shu Yun. This has allowed us to make full use of our past experience from the past two years and at the same time, train her for next year’s competition.

However, what was bad was that we started our preparation just a month before the actual competition. Therefore, this resulted in a very rush, tight schedule.

What we can improve on is we should start the preparation of the competition at least two months before the actual competition. This will ensure that there is sufficient time for us to prepare and make modifications to our gliders.

Through this year’s competition, I have learnt to manage my time better with the amount of workloads I have in Sec 4.

Jia Pei
The competition was fun and I gained some knowledge about aerodynamics.
However, the competition was not time efficient and took more time than needed.

We can start preparing for the competition during the holidays and not use a lot of our time after school to finish instead.

I learnt how to manage my time in this competition and also to persevere.


Shu Yun

I think our teamwork is very good and I had lots of fun working with my team members. However, there is many complications in the process and it is very tiring to stay back and skip school lessons for to attend the competition. Overall, the is not bad.