Petaling Jaya, 30 November 2022 – The Sime Darby Young Innovators Challenge (SDYIC) 2022 hosted by Yayasan Sime Darby (YSD) has announced its three winners of the challenge today after four months of rigorous training and prototype development since its launch in April 2022. This year’s winning teams are
 JS Innovators from SMK Jit Sin, Pulau Pinang;
 SPSMP from SM Sin Min (Persendirian) Sungai Petani, Kedah; and
 Goal Diggers from SMK Bintulu, Sarawak

All three teams had won innovation grants towards the development of their inventions, from the total YSD Innovation Fund of RM60,000 to further refine their prototypes before implementing them in their communities. YSD and its technical partner, Chumbaka, as well as mentors among industry leaders and undergraduate students will continue to guide and support the winners as they further develop their innovations for the betterment of their local communities.

The SDYIC Grand Finale, held virtually today, was officiated by Y.A.M. Tunku Tan Sri Imran Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Ja’afar, YSD Chairman, and was attended by all 15 finalist teams, teachers and mentors, as well as the highly acclaimed judges.

As YSD’s annual flagship programme, SDYIC has been running for seven years since 2016 with the support of the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE), the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), and Chumbaka, YSD’s technical partner and appointed programme training provider. For the third year in a row, SDYIC was held exclusively online to facilitate inclusiveness and eliminate many of the geographical limits for participants from the rural parts of Malaysia. Out of the 20% rural schools’ participation that YSD received this year, 17 students from six schools in Sarawak were selected to be in the top 15 finalists.

The programme encourages secondary school students to innovate solutions to solve a problem within their community using Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), in line with the national agenda. Building and honing their skills in STEM is YSD’s effort in encouraging increased involvement in the area, and to help future-proof students’ careers, beginning with addressing the needs of their communities, one person at a time.

In addressing environmental challenges, the innovation grants this year will enable team Goal Diggers from Sarawak to assist their local community in Bintulu to solve waste management issues, particularly on food waste. Responding to the impact of COVID-19, team SPSMP from Kedah will be utilising the innovation grant to help families be kept alert of the health conditions of their family members who suffer from respiratory issues, and team JS Innovators will help to mitigate traffic congestion issues faced by ten schools within the Seberang Prai Tengah district in Penang.

The 15 finalist teams were evaluated and shortlisted by a panel of judges made up of industry leaders from Sime Darby Berhad, Sime Darby Plantation Berhad, Sime Darby Property Berhad, MDEC, Ekuiti Nasional Berhad (EKUINAS), Cancer Research Malaysia (CRMY), as well as Rentwise Sdn Bhd and DreamCatcher Sdn Bhd. The finalists pitched their innovations to the judges, and were rated based on the feasibility and creativity of their prototypes, as well as the potential impact of their community adoption projects.

At the launch, Y.A.M. Tunku Tan Sri Imran said, “SDYIC is an initiative YSD will continuously uphold. Since the programme started in 2016, YSD has reached out to more than 17,000 individuals nationwide including secondary school students and teachers, undergraduate students and Sime Darby innovation officers. This year, we see another great uptake of more than 600 teams made up of almost 2,500 students from almost 400 schools nationwide participating. This is a huge leap towards filling the large education gap in the country by making the competition ahead of its time and improving accessibility to students and 1,878 school teachers from across Malaysia.”

Y.A.M. Tunku Tan Sri Imran also expressed his delight as the winners of the SDYIC 2022 come from various of states of Malaysia. Additionally, 22% of the participants in the winning teams are girls, in line with YSD’s commitment towards having improved involvement of girls in STEM.

Over the years, local communities have also benefited from winning prototypes such as ‘Enhance’, a mental health app available on Google Play Store, to alleviate mental health issues circulating the communities with various psychologically-proven features catered for teens suffering from depression. Additionally, there is also a portable and affordable microscope created to address the insufficient number of microscopes in schools called ‘Mykroskope’ and ‘D-Monitor’ which is a drain water monitoring project. With the theme, ‘Help a Person, Change the World’, SDYIC empowers students to devise prototypes that would help solve real-life problems faced by their respective communities.