Tangerang. The future scientists of Sekolah Pelita Harapan or SPH Lippo Village on Monday showcased their science projects at the Applied Science Academy exhibition. 

The Applied Science Academy, commonly shortened as ASA, offers an opportunity for Grade 10-12 students at SPH to explore their interest in applied science. The ASA also holds exhibitions where students could present their projects. 

This year, ASA showcased 27 projects in various interdisciplinary sciences, including aeronautics, biotechnology, bioinformatics, environmental science, renewable energy, geospatial science, to name a few.

Initiated in 2018, ASA has become a unique enrichment program that focuses on scientific research and applied science for high school students.

The program has university lecturers or professors, as well as practitioners as mentors. Students can also work on their projects at SPH’s state-of-the-art science lab.

ASA seeks to nurture future scientists and innovators of Indonesia. 

To date, the program has resulted in more than 50 science projects by 56 students. ASA held its first exhibition in 2019, but had to undergo a three years of a pandemic-related hiatus. The ASA exhibition is now back again in offline settings, so students can showcase their work to the audience in person.

ASA director Eden Steven said he was impressed by the students and mentors’ persistence over the past three years, because they continued to work on their research despite the challenges.

“This year, we get to witness authentic research in various science and technology fields such as biomaterials, computer science, robotics, geospatial, renewable energy, among others,” Eden said at SPH Lippo Village Tangerang on Monday.

The projects presented at the ASA exhibition are not just to make new discoveries in sciences. It should also seek to find solutions to actual problems, such as energy resources scarcity, limited access to medical equipment in remote areas, microplastic pollution, etc.

For instance, a student made a device that can capture vibration energy to be converted to electrical energy as an alternative technology for energy sources, according to Eden.

The ASA program aligns with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s vision for a workforce that is skilled in sciences and technology. 

According to SPH Lippo Village head of school Gregg Thompson, the ASA program seeks to nurture students’ interest in science.

It also aims to teach students the value of responsibility and on how to be an ethical scientist. As well as to broaden the students’ horizons so they can play a role in solving national or global problems with science and technology.

“The research findings and projects by ASA students, with the university mentor support, have been incredible and are on university-level,” Gregg said.

“Hopefully, the exhibition can take place every year so the public will get to see the students’ works and passion for scientific investigations to solve the complexities that the world is facing today,” Gregg added.