NXplorers 2.0 Journey is a global project championed by the Science Centre Singapore and Shell Singapore. It provides a platform for young people to develop sustainable solutions to food, water, and energy challenges. During the process, students learn systems thinking, and scenario planning, and develop change management skills - all of which are necessary for young people to become positive agents of change. The competition was intense but we are happy to share that a group of four Year 13 students made it to the shortlist consisting of 19 other Singapore schools! Congratulations to Ishani, Meenakshi, Prishni, and Sara (Team Energryo). They received seed funding from Shell to look at utilising water supplies in Singapore to generate electricity. Specifically, their goal is to build micro-turbines in storm drains to generate electricity in order to augment the local power supply. 

The team explained, “We joined the Shell NXplorer’s Journey in January and thought that it would be a great opportunity to tackle energy problems while working on an engineering project together. It was an incredible experience to get shortlisted and to start transforming our ideas into reality. The scope of this project is to generate electricity from underutilised water sources - in our case, by making a small hydro-turbine to place in storm drains. This idea came about when we discussed potential solutions we could implement in pre-existing infrastructure and realised that storm drains are everywhere in Singapore. With the help of the science teachers, technicians, Design & Technology teachers, and the Shell staff, we have been building a prototype to fit in the storm drain on the school grounds.” 

The team will present their prototype to representatives from Shell and Science Centre Singapore at Tanglin on 14 November. Let’s wish them all the best!