RIC SOW Challenge
RIC SOW Challenge 2021 originated from a simple idea of ‘Spring of Wisdom’ that RIC adheres to. It is the foundation upon which our vision of providing quality education is embedded, i.e., by helping students to be better versions of themselves through academic pursuits along with extra-curricular activities and intellectually challenging competitions. Our objective is to offer students an overall learning experience enabling them to gain wisdom that they can apply in every realistic aspect of their life.
Highlights – Winning Projects
The RIC SOW Challenge 2021 was initiated with the Science and Engineering Edition where students developed their innovative concepts, project models, and solutions on the topics related to Science, Engineering, and Environmental fields.
Winner’s Testimonial
Project: ‘Protect our marine resources’
“RIC Spring of Wisdom Challenge was an appealing, inquisitive, and diligent journey of experience. I utilized this platform wisely to showcase my innovation and propose feasible solutions for the impact caused by the shipwreck that turned marine life into a stack of tragedies. I gained immense knowledge and impeccable background on the subject in terms of planning and justifying. I would like to dedicate this victory to my mentor for guiding me and I encourage everyone to believe in themselves and come up with better innovation for tomorrow.
Nacshatra Murugadas
Winner (Individual project)
Royal Institute International School, Havelock Town
Project: ‘Cooking with Chemistry (Experimental Cooking)’
“Our idea of a fusion dish – ‘Pesto Pasta’ combining components of a well-balanced meal of a western classic and a Sri Lankan background was met with criticism, doubt, and even ridicule. After all, we were running against convention when it comes to both eastern and western culinary. But the passion was there, and we were able to push through. We rushed, we stumbled and fell, but we always had a clear goal in mind- to get everything done on time. This competition taught us a new level of cooking. We would never look at food the same way.”
Chamoda Maduni Suraweera
Winner (Team) – Chemiste de Cousine
Royal Institute International School, Maharagama
Project: ‘Design a robot and make your life easy!’
“I thought of making an automated machine as making tea or coffee during the day is one of the laziest tasks. Initially, at the outset of my project, I had no idea of how the Arduino software worked. I researched about my project and learned how the software works. Getting the right hardware parts was also another challenge due to the COVID pandemic, but I managed to get them for my project. As a creative individual winner in the RIC SOW Challenge, my message to other innovators is that when your plan doesn’t go as planned, stay focused and don’t give up. Find another way to make it happen.”
Bhagya Fernando
Winner – Most Creative Individual Project
St. Thomas’ School
Project: ‘How to save your loved ones from COVID?’
“This competition was exactly what we wanted especially at times like this when our brain was on the verge of shutting down. Our idea was to come up with a gadget that could prevent the spread of the disease – the COVID armlet to maintain effective social distancing through infrared rays. This competition made us learn a lot of things, mostly through intense research to understand not only the technical issues but also the social and economic factors involved. This was a great platform for us to showcase our talent and realize what we’re truly capable of.”
Arosheny Puvanenthirarajah
First Runners Up (Team) – The Solution Squad
Royal Institute International School, Havelock Town
Message from the Judges
Ms. Kristi Huynh - Director, CATHECTS
“I thoroughly enjoyed the event and was pleasantly surprised at the in-depth research which the teams and individuals did for their presentations. I’ve been in Sri Lanka for 7 years now and have only had meetings with government officials or business leaders in board rooms. This is the first time in 7 years I’ve interacted with the youth and future of the country, and I could not be prouder of them for really going at the topics to develop comprehensive solutions. Great event and great job all around.”
Ms. Amali Fernando -PhD Candidate / Teaching Assistant, Institute of Biochemistry, Molecular biology and Biotechnology, University of Colombo
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this initiative. It was very inspiring to see youngsters coming up with creative ideas and defending their work with passion. It would be great to see these projects taken forward with necessary guidance.”
A Special Message from Deakin University, Australia
Dr. Liz Weldon
Associate Head of School (International), and a lecturer, in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at Deakin University in Australia
“I had the pleasure of watching the final round of the exciting Spring of Wisdom competition at Royal Institute Colombo. I would like to congratulate the students on being motivated during this globally challenging time to take part in the competition. I was very impressed with the quality of the presentations and the effort that you had put into gathering background information relevant to your topics. You were all very creative with your exciting designs, solutions, recipes, and awareness campaigns. The judges asked some challenging questions, that you carefully considered and answered. Every one of you should be proud of your achievement.
I would like to challenge you to use this competition to grow as a person, and as a scientist or engineer. Perhaps you’ve come away from the competition interested in a new idea, or wishing you had spoken more fluently or thinking through a new idea based on the questions the judges asked. I challenge you to reflect on your own performance, to investigate something new and interesting, to re-evaluate your method, design, and conclusions, and to most importantly, to apply what you have learned in this competition to another part of your life in one, five or ten years. There is so much more to competitions like this than just the final round, and that’s where the real challenge lies.
Good luck with your studies and all the best for the future. Keep being challenged and learn from your experiences.”
