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Student-designed solutions on renewable energy and disaster preparedness took the spotlight at the third Manila Maker Faire at the Mind Museum, which gathered over 150 engineers, tech enthusiasts, students, educators, and artists from all over the country.
These innovations included a portable wind turbine made of recycled materials and a flood water filtration machine that converts flood water into clean water. These were showcased at the Manila Maker Faire’s largest booth, where 12 groups of senior high school students from STI campuses nationwide presented their work.
Dubbed as the “greatest show (and tell on earth),” Maker Faire is a festival for all ages that celebrates innovations in the technical field and in the realms of crafts and performing arts. It was launched in 2006 and has already produced shows around the world Bay Area, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, and Berlin, among others.
“Designing a relevant curriculum is only one step among many towards equipping young Filipinos with the expertise to succeed in their chosen field. It is just as important, however, to provide our students with opportunities to showcase their talents and creativity outside the classroom such as this huge event,” said STI AVP for Academic Research Aisa Q. Hipolito. “This is what the STI education is about: helping our students succeed in professions they were trained for, and we are exhausting every opportunity we can provide to meet this goal.”
Fostering innovations and creativity
Motivated by the pressing issues on the increasing energy consumption versus limited natural resources, young makers from STI created groundbreaking projects aimed at addressing this widespread phenomenon.
The portable wind turbine made out of recycled materials was designed to serve as an alternative source of electricity for household devices. As advocates of sustainable technology, students also exhibited a grass cuter and a canal waste collector that run entirely on solar energy.
“Growing up, we’ve seen how our lives depend on nature’s finite non-renewable energy sources—which also leave a negative impact on our environment. With this, we thought of exploring more sustainable alternatives that are also earth friendly like solar-powered equipment and portable wind turbine as a source of electricity,” shared Rose Ann Tubal, Grade 12 STEM student from STI College San Fernando.
STI students also showcased disaster-preparedness and response inventions. One of which is a flood detecting alarm that produces a powerful sound to alert the community on the rising flood levels.
Meanwhile, to provide one of life’s basic necessity in times of calamity, a flood water filtration machine was built with six types of filters to convert flood water into clean water. An improved version of a go bag called the WeSurvive Bag, which includes portable water filter and solar-power charger and flashlight, was made of waterproof and tear resistant fabric.
Among the other STI products include concrete cylinders made of recycled sugarcane fibers, banana stem fiber-made kraft paper as an eco-friendly alternative to plastic packaging, and a mosquito repellent aromatherapeutic candles, to name a few.
The upcycled crafts and creative innovations displayed at the fair were initially exhibited in the annual Senior High School Expo, a nationwide exhibit for STI students to demonstrate their ideas and creativity.
The two-day exhibit also bridged STI students to industry professionals and co-makers, paving the way to gain insights that would help them improve their products and meet people that could lead them to greater opportunities.
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