The Sunyani Senior High School (SUSEC) and the United States-based Brookland Middle School have been awarded an ‘Excellence in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Innovation’.
The two schools, which formed a Bi-National team received the award at the 2022 World Smarts STEM Challenge (WSSC) Virtual Global STEM Expo, held in the United States.
Funded by the US-based National Science Foundation, the WSSC was organised by the IREX, in partnership with the North Carolina State University, and Karen Peterman Consulting.
Under the challenge, contesting schools in Ghana and the USA were made to collaborate, identify and tackle a problem in their communities in connection with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 11 and 13.
The United Nations global goal 11 focuses on Sustainable Cities and Communities, while the SDG 13 focuses on climate action.
SUSEC and the Brookland Middle School produced a waste processing system, that converted human excrement to biogas, manure, and liquid fertiliser.
The Nkoranza Senior High School also partnered with Mckinley Middle School and the pair also received an award in STEM Application for their work on Brickz, an application that encourages families to recycle plastic waste into bricks.
Osudoku Senior School also collaborated with the MacFarland Middle School, and they were also awarded for Cross-Cultural collaboration for their work on Carbon Monoxide Neutralisers.
The best live pitch award went to the Achimota Senior High School, which partnered with the Oyster Adams Bilingual School for their excellent work on the Green Lantern, a device that helps people gain access to a stable form of renewable energy, using the same amount of water in cyclic motion.
The All-Star Award also went to the Edinaman Senior School, which collaborated with the Ron Brown College Preparatory High School for their work on the SS Purifier, a device that provides a sustainable way to smoke and preserve fish to maintain clean air in the environment for local fishmongers.
Briefing the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the challenge, Mr Gabriel Afram, an Information Communication Technology tutor who mentored the SUSEC team described the challenge as insightful, which had highly enlightened the students on how to use technology to solve societal problems.
He said STEM had enormous opportunities, adding that all the participating teams had been accepted into the New York Academy of Sciences, while scholarship opportunities had been made available for contestants intending to further their education in the United States.
