3rd Shijonawate High School Research Presentations (July 27th 2023)
On July 27th, 18 students and 3 teachers from Shijonawate High School visited NAIST to give presentations in English and tour labs on campus. This is the 3rd time we have hosted students from Shijonawate High School, and, as with previous years, the Center for International Students and Scholars (CISS) and the International Affairs Division enlisted the help of our international students to successfully host the students.
To get ready for the presentations, the high school students completed their research, prepared their presentations in Japanese, translated these to English and then met online with our international students to work on their English and presentation skills. The high school students were divided into 4 different research groups and 6 of our international students served as presentation coaches, listening to their presentations and pointing out areas that could be improved. This year's presentations covered the creation of natural pesticides using plant emulsion, the improvement of casein plastic strength, optimization of work shift allocation using quantum computers, and the relationship between carbon dioxide concentration and drowsiness and propose methods to reduce this.
On the day of the event, the high school students arrived at NAIST a little nervous and began their presentations with an audience of NAIST members. Each group took about 10 minutes to give their presentations and then took questions from the audience. With questions ranging from why topics were chosen to what kind of practical applications do they think are possible, students did their best to answer all the questions, sometimes asking to have the question rephrased so they could understand it. Following the high school student presentations, Mark Lester Viendo of the Biomimetic and Technomimetic Molecular Science Lab gave an introduction of his research field and what he aims to achieve through his research, to serve as an example for them.
With their presentations finished, the high school students moved to the next part of the event, lab visits where international students and their colleagues introduced their research onsite.
The students and their teachers first visited the Complex Molecular Systems Lab where Kok Sim Chan (D3) introduced his research and the research being performed at the lab. Following this, he led the group around the lab where explanations where given using actual equipment, etc., and the students and teachers both listened intently to the details of this advanced research. The group then went on to visit the Ubiquitous Computing Systems Lab where Sergio De Leon and Mario Carreon introduced their research, life as a graduate student and job satisfaction as a researcher pursuing the frontiers of science and technology.
The event was closed with the students receiving individual certificates of completion and a group photo with all the participants and volunteers. The high school students were able to interact with our international students and learn about current research being performed, both of which surely left a big impression on these budding researchers. Who knows, NAIST may see some of these students 5 years later when they graduate from university and consider paths in science and technology.
