The World is Your Oyster (or Robot!)
by Chang Yi Xuan Giselle, Ng Cheng Jie
View images of the Closing Ceremony here!
“Thank you, for being a part of this journey.” – Sek En Zher, Josh
This year, various modern technology skills were integrated into SIMC2.0, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) Robotics for the Explore Track and data processing in the Endeavour Track. At the same time, SIMC2.0 serves as an event where participants get to bond with like-minded peers who enjoy Mathematics and Computational Science and forge lasting friendships.
SIMC2.0 will certainly become a nostalgic event for many. One where an eventful five days of diligence can be fondly looked upon. Others may experience a sense of relief as their efforts bear great fruit. Nevertheless, “the experiences gained… are what truly matters”, as said by Mandy Myat, one of the Student Programme Leaders, in her appreciation speech at the Closing Ceremony.
Moving on to the segment eagerly awaited by many: the Explore and Endeavour awards!
The Explore Track featured a 4-day interactive bootcamp for AI robotics, which aimed to introduce coding skills to participants and cultivate their interest. The track featured two awards. The first was the Smart Sparks Award, given to teams that displayed empathy, originality, and teamwork. These teams also showcased a strong ability to communicate their ideas clearly and win votes. The second was the AI Trailblazers Award, which recognises teams who used AI as an assistant to debug and improve their code, while effectively documenting how human judgement was used to verify AI outputs.
Featured below is the list of awardees, in no order of merit:
| Smart Spark Awards | AI Trailblazers Awards |
|---|---|
|
Beatty Secondary School |
Commonwealth Secondary School |
|
Boon Lay Secondary School |
Dunearn Secondary School |
|
Changkat Changi Secondary School |
Fuhua Secondary School |
| Jurong Secondary School |
Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary) |
| Nan Hua High School | Punggol Secondary School |
|
Naval Base Secondary School |
Victoria School |
| Outram Secondary School |
The Endeavour track featured an intensive challenge introduced to everyone by the Chief Judge, Associate Professor Xin Tong, from the Department of Mathematics in the National University of Singapore (NUS). The challenge incorporated Linear Algebra for data processing and fundamental skills for modern research. It also involved undergraduate level concepts, including Eigenvectors, power methods, and principal component analysis. Prof Tong also highlighted a crucial note in the Endeavour challenge: AI plays a supporting but not deciding role. He also outlined the day-long judging process, with a mention of a mechanism designed to induce data corruption and simulate flawed descriptions of information. The participants also underwent a rigorous Question and Answer session with the judges, which he described as “harsh”.
Overall, the Endeavour track participants used AI to study the aforementioned concepts, polish their reports, and improve their codes. One improvement he noted was regarding the AI Usage report produced by the participants, which he believed could have had further substantiation to showcase how they utilised AI to aid them. To end off his speech, Associate Professor Xin Tong warmly spurred the participants,
“Welcome, next generation researchers!”
Thereafter, he handed the golden award folder to the emcees. The first category of awards was the Special Awards, which recognised teams for specific laudable criteria. The list of awardees is as follows:
| Award | Awardee |
|---|---|
| Articulate Scholar Award | Gimnazija Bežigrad (Slovenia) |
| Creative Solution Award | Fazekas Mihály High School (Hungary) |
| Perfect Synergy Award | Oslo Cathedral School (Norway) |
| Professional Excellence Award | Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) (Singapore) |
Subsequently, the Merit and Distinction awards were announced, followed by the Champion. Additionally, the Distinction awardees and the Champion team received free graphing calculators sponsored by Texas Instruments.
| Merit Awards | Distinction Awards |
|---|---|
| Aloisiuskolleg (Germany) | Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) (Singapore) |
| Fazekas Mihály High School (Hungary) | Batory High School (Poland) |
| H-FARM International School (Italy) | Gimnazija Bežigrad (Slovenia) |
| Hwa Chong Institution (Singapore) | HUS High School for Gifted Students (Vietnam) |
| Lorentz Casimir Lyceum (Netherlands) | John Monash Science School (Australia) |
| North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (USA) | Mahidol Wittayanusorn School (Thailand) |
| Oslo Cathedral School (Norway) | National Junior College (Singapore) |
| Philippine Science High School Main Campus (Philippines) | NUS High School of Mathematics and Science (Singapore) |
| River Valley High School (Singapore) | Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary School, K.K. Nagar (India) |
| Temasek Junior College (Singapore) | Raffles Institution (Singapore) |
And the overall Champion of SIMC2.0 2026 is…
Korea Science Academy of KAIST!
After receiving their award, Sihoo Lee, Sungjin Yang and Jaehong Park, the participants representing Korea Science Academy of KAIST, presented their solution for the 3 problems in the Endeavour Challenge. They gave an insightful analysis of their work, with detailed descriptions and graphics to accompany their explanation. The audience marvelled at how they had solved each problem with precision and accuracy.
Congratulations to all participants who have demonstrated excellence in their pursuits in both the Explore and Endeavour Tracks, as well as to those who have clinched awards. Regardless of the results, we hope you enjoyed SIMC2.0, and we look forward to seeing the great things you will accomplish in the future!
“And so, in farewell, Experior, Expono, Excedo.”
– Josh Sek, Mandy Myat, and Aarshiya Jain, the SIMC2.0 Student Programme Leaders
