A delegation from SESC NSU (Lavrentyev Physics-Mathematics School) participated in the 16th International Students’ Science Fair ISSF-2020 in Thailand. The Fair was held at the Kamnoetvidya Science Academy (KVIS), a member of the ISSN International Network of Scientific Schools. The Fair featured engineering projects and research reports in the fields of exact and natural sciences. Fair participants came from 20 countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, and the UK.
Nikolai Yavorsky, SESC NSU Director, described the process for participating,
In addition to our school, only three other Russian schools participated: Alfyorov Academic Lyceum "Physical-Technical High School" in St. Petersburg, SESC Moscow State University, and the Marshal V. I. Chuykov School in Moscow. The organizers are very strict about selecting the Fair’s participants. You can only get in through a recommendation. This was the first time we participated. The organizers were interested in SESC NSU because it is a scientific school with its own traditions and notable results.
Three SESC NSU 11th grade students presented their work in the sections "Engineering Projects" and "Mathematics". Ravil Bildanov brought a presentation to the conference “On the existence of tiling in finite groups”. Artem Kuznetsov and Ilya Bondarenko talked about their “Smart Window” project at the engineering section. They developed a device with a voice input function that displays current information (weather, traffic jams, etc.) in a window and plays audio files.
Yavorsky continued,
This was a great experience for the boys. They have grown markedly by participating in the event. True, we did not win any prizes, but, in my opinion, this was not the most important thing for our students. The experience of presenting was important because you need to be able to demonstrate the benefits of your projects in English. Therefore, I consider the Fair in Thailand a very positive step in our continued growth. We will analyze our presentations and determine what else we need to work on to achieve better results at such events. But, I repeat, the result is not the most important thing. Participation and communication with like-minded people from other countries are what is most important about international scientific conferences.
Ravil Bildanov, SESC NSU student and Fair participant, gave his impressions of the event,
Participants from various countries, from the USA and Australia to Iran and Kenya, were very friendly to us and to each other. We exchanged souvenirs from our countries and schools (now I know they make delicious Kermanshah sweets in Iran). Thailand as a whole impressed me as a rapidly developing country. The government is making serious efforts to develop modern science and technology. I was very impressed with the scale of construction of new buildings for research institutes and other production facilities. From the observation tower near the university we saw a construction project that stretched several kilometers ahead.
KVIS is a boarding school that offers students specialized training programs in mathematics, science, technology, and especially biotechnology. Grades 10-12 study at the school so the training programs are designed for three years. The school is unusual because it is small, by Asian standards, with classes limited to 18 students. This allows the teacher to apply an individual approach taking into account the learning style of each student.
