Expo in Shanghai seeks out sci-tech stars of tomorrow

The Shanghai Exhibition Center was crowded with students, professors, scientific researchers, visitors, and exhibitors, on July 21. A delegation of more than 250 teachers and students from different countries and regions gathered to share their creative projects and ideas.

At the venue, the first booth was manned by two 10th grade students from the American Community School in Athens introducing their "grid community" project to visitors.

According to Iason Stavros Somoglou, the designer of the community, as well as one of the team members, the "grid community" is a sustainable and eco-friendly community in which every building acts as a substation and can analyze consumers' habits in order to reduce energy use to the minimum requirement.

And each building can save energy through automation, including ultrasonic sensors that help turn off the lights when the occupant leaves the room, light sensors that allow the lights to operate only after sunset and touch sensors that turn off water taps after a certain time or if the tenant leaves the room.

Visitors were attracted by the models and listened carefully to their explanations.

The "grid community" project was one of the prizewinners at the seventh Shanghai International Youth Science & Technology Expo 2018 and "Science & Technology Stars of Tomorrow" Invitational Tournament.

Organized by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and the city's Science and Technology Commission, the expo, themed "Science, Innovation and Dreams", featured 39 teams from 13 countries and regions and their innovative science projects across different subjects.

Besides the "grid community" project that won the Most Popular Project Release Prize, the project by the Dwight School team from the United States exploring the prevalence of microplastic and its impact on the environment won the Most Popular Exhibition prize.

Other winners projects involved different aspects of life including the technology to enhance social skills by Korowa Anglican Girls' School from Australia, a fire hazard control system designed by Zunyi No 1 High School from China's Guizhou province, and assistive applications for the visually impaired developed by Tagore International School from India.

"We really enjoy the process of communicating and exchanging ideas with other participants and visitors," said Somoglou. "We learned a lot from other teams and their innovations inspire us to improve our designs."

Besides the exhibition, the expo also held a tournament in which the teams competed to create an innovative model bridge by using materials provided by the organizer.

Each team had three to five students, and they were judged on the science, innovation, appearance and weight capacity of the bridge.

The Shanghai International Youth Science & Technology Expo was founded in 2005 and has been held every two years.

Zhang Zixin, a professor at the School of Architecture and Construction of Tongji University, and a jury member at the invitational event, said: "It is essential for Shanghai to hold such high-level international youth technology and innovation events.

"It not only inspires their interest in science and cultivates their inquisitive spirit, but also promotes science education in Shanghai."