about YIC

To develop children’s life skills by inspiring them to create with technology

Young Innovators Challenge (YIC) is an annual program aiming to catalyse maker movement throughout secondary schools. In this program, students are supported by their teachers, mentors, and program organiser, to solve real-life problems using open-source embedded systems and software. Students will have the opportunity to develop projects they are passionate about. This will be a learning journey that nurtures their life skills. 

FOR STUDENTS

Students today consume rather than create with technology. They indulge heavily in social media and computer games. Through making, they become creators. This STEM-based learning platform nurtures their inborn passion to learn and equips them with life skills.
Artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, 3D printing, and other upcoming technologies will play a role in every aspects of our children’s lives. The program provides opportunity for them to create and apply open-source technologies in various fields.
In a consuming mode as opposed to creating mode, students lack opportunities to develop life skills — communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. The program provides opportunity for them to invest in developing the projects of their interest. The experiential learning journey nurtures their life skills.

IMPACT OF THE PROGRAM

Originally envisaged as a competition, the Young Innovators Challenge (YIC) has become a program where students embark on a journey where they learn and apply the technologies that enable IR4.0. 

yic impact

YIC has opened doors for students from all background (and from across Malaysia) to discover their abilities to identify and solve real-life problems, and to communicate their ideas to others.

yic-impact-map-green
mykroscope creators

What sets YIC apart from other competition is that selected teams have the opportunity to have their projects adopted by communities.

For example, an all-girls team from SAM Jeram in rural Selangor emerged as the 2017’s winner with their portable microscope project, Mykroscope. They were the first in the country to register their project as an open-sourced hardware. With the help of Yayasan Sime Darby, 2,000 units of Mykroscope were distributed to 200 schools in Malaysia.

Students from YIC continue applying their learning beyond the program. 

Internship in Khind where students added smartphone control to existing fans.

A US-based company engaged students to develop IoT-based gym equipment.

Students worked with MareCet to develop AI object identification for dolphins.

STAKEHOLDERS FEEDBACK

"Young Innovate provides a spark to provoke students’ curiosity about electronics and computing. Having the hands-on experience encourages deeper learning of the sciences where knowledge and application comes together. Knowledge becomes tangible when it is applied into everyday situations and solutions."
Samuel LeeTeacher
"The Young Innovate program is a forward-thinking initiative to make sure the students are armed with the necessary basics before proceeding further. Not only is it beneficial to future engineering students, the experience and knowledge gained could be applied to various STEM fields, and even some non-STEM fields."
Gabriel LingMentor
"This program benefits not only the school children and the mentors, but also the institutions. Mentoring secondary school children requires these mentors to stretch their knowledge beyond the classroom. Not only could they enhance their technical skills, they could also improve their social skills."
Dr. Nurul Hazlina NoordinLecturer
"I think he has also grown character-wise because when he works on his project, he has to plan a lot. Sometimes he will forget certain things, and he has to go out again and again to buy the parts. Then he told me that the next time he will need to plan, for the project and for the whole team."
Ms JoanneParent
"Young Innovate allows students from other steams, other than Science stream, to join. According to a student (who’s not from the Science stream), Young Innovate allows him to explore the Sciences. He wasn’t able to enter the Science stream, so this program allows him to explore what he could not do in his classroom."
Tan W. J.Teacher
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ABOUT OUR NATIONAL SPONSOR & HOST
YAYASAN SIME DARBY

Yayasan Sime Darby (YSD) or the Sime Darby Foundation is the main philanthropic arm of Sime Darby Plantation Berhad, Sime Darby Property Berhad, and Sime Darby Berhad. Over the years, the Foundation has expanded its wings from offering scholarships to outstanding and deserving individuals to funding impactful conservation, outreach, and development programmes.

The Foundation is governed by an esteemed Council and is managed by a dedicated team to carry out impactful work. YSD practices high ethical values and observe good corporate governance.

YSD has spent more than 30 years charting breakthroughs in the corporate philanthropic sphere.

YSD offers sponsorships to registered organisations that are dedicated towards projects which share its vision and mission across the five pillars: Education, Environment, Community & Health, Sports, and Arts & Culture.