ORGANISED BY AFFILIATED WITH SUPPORTED BY Preface 02 Foreword By Mdm Lee Lin Yee 04 Chairperson, Science & Engineering Fair 2021 Working Committee Foreword By Associate Professor Lim Tit Meng 06 Co-chairperson and Fair Director, Singapore Science & Engineering Fair 2021 Working Committee A Word From Our Sponsors 08 Singapore Science & Engineering Fair 2021 09 The SSEF 2021 Experience: Students 10 01 The SSEF 2021 Experience: Teacher Mentors 14 The SSEF 2021 Experience: Judges 17 Regeneron International Science And Engineering Fair 2021 20 Message By Dr Fannon Lim 21 Grand Award Judge, Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair 2021 Team Singapore’s Regeneron ISEF Delegates 22 SSEF 2021 Main Category Award Winners 25 SSEF 2021 Junior Scientist Award Winners 41 Acknowledgments 43 PREFACE

02 BACKGROUND

The Singapore Science & Engineering Fair (SSEF) is a national competition organised by the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and Science Centre Singapore. The fair is open to all secondary and pre-university students between 15 and 20 years of age. Participants submit research projects on science, technology, mathematics and engineering. Shortlisted finalists exhibit their projects at the fair where they will be interviewed by judges from local universities, polytechnics and research institutes.

The SSEF is affiliated to the highly prestigious Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (Regeneron ISEF), which is regarded as the Olympics of science competitions. SINGAPORE SCIENCE & ENGINEERING FAIR 2021 WORKING COMMITTEE

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CHAIRPERSON Mdm Lee Lin Yee MOE

CO-CHAIRPERSON AND FAIR DIRECTOR Associate Professor Lim Tit Meng SCB

EXECUTIVE MEMBERS Mr Timothy Sebastian A*STAR Ms Ivy Lim Zi Yun DSTA Ms Chua Shi Qian MOE Ms Charlene Low DSO Dr Lee Song Choon SCB Ms Joyce Yao DSO Mr Lee Lian Soon SCB Ms Melissa Kam A*STAR Ms Germaine Shalla A*STAR Mr Bernard Chan A*STAR Professor Ricky Ang Lay Kee SUTD Mr Marcus Fa SCB Professor Ibrahim H. Yeter NIE Ms Eunice Lim Li Min SCB Professor Tan Meng-Chwan NUS Ms Nurdiana Mohd Sinari SCB Dr Lau Quek Choon NP Mr Redza Adly Esmadi SCB Mr Choi Kuan Meng RP Mr Ho Kian Tong MOE Mrs Koh Siok Im SP Ms Gerlynn Yap MOE Ms Phuan Siew Khoon MOE Ms Soh Hui Lian MOE Mrs Lily Kan NTU Mr Jamues Nicholas Ng MOE Ms Tang Woan Shin NTU Ms Kim Chan MOE Mr Tan Teck Chuan HTX FOREWORD

to engage a wider audience and breaking down the physical walls. For the first time in SSEF history, live judging interviews were held virtually via a video conferencing platform. Fringe activities, such as talks on the latest STEM developments by industry experts and “A Hundred Hows” virtual learning journeys, were held entirely online. This expanded the reach of SSEF to viewers from Singapore and beyond, allowing them to experience MDM LEE LIN YEE interesting places and the relevance of classroom STEM learning to CHAIRPERSON everyday life. Singapore Science & Engineering Fair Working Committee 2021 We witness the spirit of resilience Director, Sciences Branch Curriculum Planning & Development Division from the students who persevered and Ministry of Education overcame challenges independently. They adapted to the new format of the 2021 marks the 21st Anniversary of the fair and adjusted their presentation 04 Singapore Science and Engineering skills to share their research findings Fair (SSEF). True to the spirit of SSEF, with judges in an equally effective the event has continuously evolved and manner via video conferencing. This matured over the years. 2021 is nothing year, 1,128 students from 29 schools short of another remarkable year of submitted 465 research projects for progress and innovation. the fair. A total of 126 projects received Gold, Silver, Bronze or Merit Awards. If we had to choose one word The numbers, being comparable to to describe SSEF 2021, it will be previous years, showed that participation ‘adaptability’. With crisis comes new and performance of students remained opportunities. Despite the uncertain strong and is a clear indication of the changing outlook that COVID-19 students’ determination to pursue their brought about, the organising interest and development in STEM committee was agile in re-formatting research despite the challenges that the event, presenting new opportunities the COVID-19 situation brought on. FOREWORD BY MDM LEE LIN YEE

To all student participants, great job thank our sponsor organisations for and well done! giving out the SSEF 2021 Special 05 Awards to recognise our students’ SSEF provides an important platform contributions. The seven organisations for students to further their interests are The Electrochemical Society, and competencies in STEM research Singapore Chapter (ECS), Institution through interaction with like-minded of Chemical Engineers Singapore peers and working alongside industry (IChemE), Singapore Association for experts. Through this experience, the Advancement of Science (SAAS), their curiosity is piqued as they apply Singapore Mathematical Society (SMS), creativity in generating solutions, Singapore Society for Microbiology allowing them to be agents of positive and Biotechnology (SSMB), Singapore change. Once again, we are impressed University of Technology & Design by the high-quality projects submitted (SUTD) and Yale-NUS College. this year, a testament to our students’ potential in innovating and formulating Finally, I thank our longstanding practical solutions to challenges our partners, A*STAR and Science Centre With crisis comes new opportunities. world currently faces. We look forward Singapore, for their dedication to SSEF to many more years of SSEF and good and for their passion in promoting STEM work from our students. education to our future generations. I would like to express my deepest Without this strong partnership, SSEF appreciation to our teachers, mentors would not have attained the same level and judges, for working wholeheartedly of success that we see today. with the organising committee to adjust to the virtual format of SSEF 2021. We look forward to continued support The fair would not have been possible from everyone for future editions of without the strong commitment SSEF. Continue to be curious, be from all of you in guiding our young creative, and be a positive change STEM talents. I would also like to agent through STEM! FOREWORD FOREWORD BY ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR LIM TIT MENG

year-long research project on Science & Engineering. During the online final judging round, they impressed the judges with their high-quality projects and depth of scientific knowledge. This good work was continued on at ISEF, and we could not have been prouder of our ISEF participants for holding the Singapore flag high on a global platform. ASSOCIATE Despite the challenges posed by the PROFESSOR COVID-19 pandemic, our students LIM TIT MENG displayed admirable resilience and flexibility, adapting to the changes that CO-CHAIRPERSON AND FAIR DIRECTOR the organising committee had to make, Singapore Science & Engineering Fair Working Committee 2021 working tirelessly behind the scenes. This underpinned the importance Chief Executive, Science Centre Board of STEM education in nurturing critical thinking, problem-solving and Into its 21st year, the Singapore creativity skills among students. It also 06 Science and Engineering Fair (SSEF) played a pivotal role in empowering continues to serve as an educationally them to be innovative thinkers enriching platform for secondary and capable of developing scientific and pre-university students to share, learn technological innovations to address and showcase their research work global issues and challenges, such as in the respective fields of Science & public health and climate change. Engineering. The national competition is also affiliated to the prestigious To this end, SSEF not only provides International Science and Engineering students the opportunity to showcase Fair (ISEF), which is regarded as the their STEM research efforts but Olympics of science competitions. deepen their STEM learning through With sheer determination and tenacity, scientific communication with industry the student participants engaged in a experts, distinguished scientists, and FOREWORD BY ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR LIM TIT MENG

like-minded youths. The interaction the projects during the preliminary with experts in the fields of Science judging round, interacting, and 07 & Engineering offered valuable offering valuable feedback to insights and learnings about the STEM students during the online final research landscape, as well as inspired judging round; and them to pursue their passion to explore our sponsors and partners, Defence a career in STEM-related fields. Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), DSO National Laboratories Thus, the whole scientific community and Home Team Science & must work together to nurture future Technology Agency (HTX) for their

Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, our students displayed admirable resilience and flexibility. STEM practitioners and ensure strong support and contribution in Singapore’s good progress in STEM making this initiative a success. education. My heartfelt gratitude to the participating schools for their Finally, I would like to express my concerted efforts to encourage earnest appreciation to the Ministry students to participate. of Education (MOE) and Agency for our dedicated teachers, mentors, Science, Technology and Research and partners from IHLs and (A*STAR) for the longstanding research institutes for guiding our partnership and collaboration. Their students and helping them develop support is pivotal in ensuring SSEF 21st Century Competencies on top continues to be a rewarding and of scientific research skills. meaningful journey of scientific inquiry the judges for devoting their and discovery for the future budding valuable time and effort shortlisting scientists and researchers. A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS

HTX (HOME TEAM SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AGENCY) HTX believes that a strong foundation in Science and Engineering empowers our youth to create technologies and solutions that will positively impact Singapore and the world. We are pleased to partner SSEF to provide a platform for our young innovators to showcase their inventions, meet industry experts and participate in various enriching activities to inspire them to make a difference to the society through STEM.

08 DEFENCE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AGENCY (DSTA) SSEF offers many opportunities for students to gain insights and first-hand experiences through a series of STEM-related activities that cover curriculum outside of the classroom. With DSTA as a partner, SSEF continues to nurture, spur and enhance students’ interest in STEM. See possibilities with SSEF & DSTA today!

DSO NATIONAL LABORATORIES (DSO) SSEF is a great platform for students to have a glimpse into the real world and the current research problems. They will be exposed to readings, discussions and topics that are outside of their curriculum. It will broaden their breadth and depth of knowledge, which will be crucial for innovative thinking in their future work. SINGAPORE SCIENCE & ENGINEERING FAIR 2021

09 INTRODUCTION

SSEF 2021 marked the 21st anniversary of the fair and was the first time that it was held completely virtually due to the COVID-19 situation. Despite the challenging circumstances, 465 projects registered for the Main Category and 320 of these projects were shortlisted for final judging in April 2021. A total of 126 awards were awarded, encompassing 27 Gold, 29 Silver, 34 Bronze and 36 Merit awards. This year, seven organisations (Institution of Chemical Engineers Singapore, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology, Yale-NUS College, The Electrochemical Society, Singapore Association for the Advancement of Science, and Singapore Mathematical Society) sponsored Special Awards, which were awarded to 42 projects.

In the Junior Scientist Category (for students under 15 years of age), 32 projects were shortlisted for final judging. Four projects were awarded the Distinction award and two projects were awarded the Merit award for their projects, while one project was awarded the Distinction award and six projects were awarded the Merit award for their videos. THE SSEF 2021 EXPERIENCE: STUDENTS

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YAN JUN JIE CLAIRE SZE WEI ROBERTS MERWIN THAM EMMA GAN LI ANN WEHN YANG AVELYN YAP EN ZHANG KAIWEN SCHOOL SCHOOL METHODIST GIRLS’ SCHOOL PROJECT TITLE PROJECT TITLE Artificial Intelligence Models for Fabrication of eco-friendly Predicting Statin-Induced Myalgia cellulose reduced graphene oxide using Clinical and Genetic Factors hybrid aerogel from various fruit wastes for water purification SSEF was a mind-opening experience! One challenge we Our study utilised fruit wastes to faced was learning the R language, synthesise a novel hybrid reduced which we used to train AI models graphene oxide aerogel which is for prediction. We had no prior reusable and effective in removing knowledge of the R language but several types of pollutants including our mentors patiently taught us. metal ions, dye and oil from water. Something we learnt through SSEF SSEF was an excellent opportunity was the importance of machine for us to hone our communication learning as it is the key to future skills, especially with the enriching discoveries. Our knowledge of feedback we received from the machine learning can be applied judges. Being held online, learning to different fields in the future, from our peers was made even more potentially contributing to the convenient. Although the COVID-19 scientific community. We are pandemic presented several grateful for our teacher, Mrs Lam, challenges for us such as restricting and our NUS mentors, Dr Lee Jin the time we had in data collection, and Prof Lee, for their guidance. we managed to pull through with our determination and advice from our mentor. THE SSEF 2021 EXPERIENCE: STUDENTS

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LEE RUI XUAN TAN CHIEN HAO WANG ZIXUN JONATHAN CHEW SCHOOL SCHOOL JIAN PIN SWISS COTTAGE SECONDARY SCHOOL SCHOOL (currently studying in PROJECT TITLE RIVER VALLEY HIGH Junior College) Topology and Geometry of SCHOOL 3-Band Models PROJECT TITLE PROJECT TITLE

Flora-scence: Graphene For most days that I spent Design & Testing of a Novel oxide-Blue Butterfly Pea Single-Rotor Tailsitter doing research, it felt like Flower Composite my efforts were wasted, as I did not manage to obtain SSEF 2021 has been a truly Presenting scientific research data or results that could enjoyable experience. We get and data was something lead me further or seem to to learn knowledge beyond new to me, so I found it contribute to science. Well, the school science syllabus challenging to come up with that’s perfectly fine too, as and hone our scientific an engaging, informative, this is part of the research communication skills. SSEF yet concise presentation, process and the key is has also allowed us to receive especially with the amount to improve and hone my invaluable feedback from of data I had to present. research skills! Having taken judges about how we could Participating in SSEF 2021 four projects since Year 3, I improve our project, and it has taught me spontaneity found that choosing a field could be extended in real- as the professionals whom I that I am genuinely curious world contexts. interacted with kept me on my about makes the whole Research is all about seeking toes with refreshing questions. process less painful, because answers to the unknown. I was surprised at the ease at research is not just a chance Identifying and closing gaps which the event proceeded, to get an academic award, it’s are important processes in despite being held online. a rabbit hole that can expand research methodology, so it is I feel that future participants one’s breadth of knowledge! natural for scientists to say “I should not only see SSEF don’t know.”. Hence we hope all as a competition, but also a future SSEF participants would way to enjoy the process of ask bold questions and not be scientific research. afraid to say “I don’t know.”. THE SSEF 2021 EXPERIENCE: STUDENTS

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N D DURGHADEVE LIM DONGGEON LIM AINSLEY MARVYN CHIA BRYAN LEE JIA CHENG CLARISSA KOH

SCHOOL SCHOOL CLEMENTI TOWN ANDERSON SECONDARY SCHOOL JUNIOR COLLEGE

PROJECT TITLE PROJECT TITLE Host Target Proteins of Spike Detection and Removal of Protein of SARS-CoV-2 Obstructions in Still Images Utilising Machine Learning

SSEF 2021 was an exciting experience. At the beginning, we Our project was about removing were surprised by how exhausted we common obstructions in photos, were after each laboratory session. such as lamp posts or chain fences. We also had to face the challenge By harnessing the power of machine of SSEF being held online for the learning, we were able to create very first time. To overcome this, a sophisticated product to create we practised hard and adapted to seamless images. the new format. We are glad that SSEF was a sterling experience for we could work together as a team us. To future participants, we would effectively. The entire experience like to share that the beauty of helped to boost our confidence and watching your project evolve is not strengthened our willpower, allowing something you would typically find us to emerge as better and more in day-to-day lessons. Commitment confident individuals. We thank the and perseverance are invaluable SSEF organisers and we wish the attributes to have, for rushing very best to future participants! your project only slows down your progress. Find your pace, work hard, and you can flourish in the world of scientific research. THE SSEF 2021 EXPERIENCE: STUDENTS

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WOON ZEE NING DOLOT SHINE VICKY ANG MIKAELA MAMINTA LIM ZHI YAN MAGBITANG CALLISTA YSABELLE ACUNA SCHOOL HO KE YING

DUNMAN HIGH SCHOOL SCHOOL NGEE ANN PROJECT TITLE SECONDARY SCHOOL Potential of Acid and Alkali chemical activators of Biochar for the Effective Removal of Ibuprofen PROJECT TITLE Investigation of the effectiveness of different plain weave structures on One takeaway from SSEF was that the tensile strength of rope bridges scientific research comes with open- mindedness. During SSEF, we got the SSEF was an enriching experience chance to discuss our project with that taught us the rigour of scientific many different people, who provided research. A challenge that we faced many new viewpoints and inspired was the lack of necessary materials. us to improve the project in other Thus, we had to improvise the ways. We found communication a experimental procedures. As we huge obstacle when preparing for thought that the weave structures SSEF. With the safe management of rope bridges may not be the most measures, we were only able interesting subject to investigate, to discuss and complete our we were surprised that our project report online, which often caused entered final judging round and miscommunication of ideas we had. even won the distinction award. We It was surprising are glad that our hard work paid off, how smoothly the competition which goes to show that anyone can flowed as well as how friendly and be a scientist if you put your heart light-hearted the judges were. and mind to it! THE SSEF 2021 EXPERIENCE: TEACHER MENTORS

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MS TAN JIEYING MISS ESTHER ZHENG TEACHER TEACHER

SCHOOL SCHOOL ANG MO KIO KRANJI SECONDARY SCHOOL SECONDARY SCHOOL

My mentoring journey has been a I have been mentoring student rewarding one as I got to witness research projects for ten years. the growth of my students. I am My favourite part of being a teacher proud to see them take ownership mentor is the development of trust in of their research projects, the relationship between me and my collaborate with one another and students as they develop skills work towards a common goal. in collaboration, communication, I believe in giving students the and research. autonomy in decision-making A highlight of my mentoring journey and the space to explore, problem is experiencing how reflective solve and test out their ideas. The thinking in research can develop challenges that they faced were students’ scientific interest and good opportunities to develop innovation. resilience and flexible thinking. My favourite part of being a teacher One pro-tip I have for future SSEF mentor would be when I see my student participants is to be open students’ faces light up with a sense and observant to the possible areas of accomplishment. of needs that needs to be addressed to generate their research ideas. THE SSEF 2021 EXPERIENCE: TEACHER MENTORS

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DR CHIAM SHER-YI DR YAP ANN TECK HEAD OF RESEARCH, HEAD OF DEPARTMENT, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE ENTERPRISE SCHOOL SCHOOL ST. ANTHONY’S CANOSSIAN NUS HIGH SCHOOL SECONDARY SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE I started the Science Research Programme in 2013 when I first I have been mentoring research joined the school, with an aim to train at NUS High for a decade, and the students beyond the Science I suppose, been in science and syllabus and to expose them to the research all my working life. world of Scientific Research. Research in itself is rewarding for me. It is even more so when I get to Over the years, I have mentored guide my students in their research. many teams of students in Life I enjoy the process of helping them Science Projects and most of which to ask the right questions, then how have participated in the SSEF. My to go about to answer it. Remember, mentoring journey had led me to research is about uncovering new venture into unfamiliar grounds and knowledge, so the question is key. to unravel new knowledge. My favourite part about mentoring I felt that the most important value research is the same as when I am to conduct a research study, for both doing my own research – learning future SSEF student participants and new things. mentors is to have full commitment and to sustain that passion in the project to see to its completion. My greatest contentment is to witness the growth and development of students in the process, becoming more mature and skillful at the end. THE SSEF 2021 EXPERIENCE: TEACHER MENTORS

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MRS LYDIAWATI MS LUO HUILIN MDM CHIN SIEW MEE WONG MICHELLE TEACHER TEACHER TEACHER SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL VICTORIA ST. JOSEPH’S INSTITUTION SECONDARY SCHOOL

I first joined VJC as a The 5-month journey My journey as a teacher practicum student from NIE of my team of three mentor started 3.5 years and shadowed a teacher students towards SSEF ago and my favourite part for science research in was challenging and is being able to encourage 1996 and since then, I have rewarding. Students learned inquisitive minds to research been mentoring students in to become extremely on creative scientific solutions research projects. One of the creative to overcome for everyday problems. From most rewarding experiences lack of sophisticated creating bioplastics to using is when students found equipment in the school waste products to clean up oil their passion in research laboratory. It is only through spills; I will never forget the and decided to take up the their perseverance and time when my students faced A*STAR scholarships and determination that the project an issue with processing one have a career in research. was completed, and I enjoyed of the waste products. It was Being a teacher mentor has immensely exchanging ideas heartening to see them step kept me abreast with current and journeying along with out of their comfort zone to research. It is not possible to them. The most memorable seek help from others as they guide research students if you moment of the competition realised that the scientific don’t know a little about their for them was their project endeavour is not a lonely field of research. presentation to SSEF judges. one. We can all contribute to My advice to future SSEF science and the society! participants is to never give up and to seek inspiration from others who have gone before them, so they know what to expect during SSEF. THE SSEF 2021 EXPERIENCE: JUDGES

MR TAN TECK CHUAN 17 DIRECTOR (PLATFORM SYSTEMS) Home Team Science & Technology Agency I am honoured to be invited as one of the SSEF judges for the last 5 years. I have been very amazed and impressed with the engineering projects and research done by the students. The competition has become more intense in recent years and the submitted projects/reports have gotten more complex and higher in standard as well.

DR CHARLES ONG BAN CHOON HEAD OF SCHOOL PSB Academy I have been a judge in the SSEF for more than 10 years and have always looked forward to interacting with passionate participants who are ever so keen to share their ideas and their work. It is amazing how the quality of projects has improved over the years and I am very proud of our outstanding young talents who showcase their projects each year. While I know that everyone has done their utmost in the SSEF, I hope that all participants and judges also had fun participating. The competition continues to be a platform to fuel students’ interest in STEM education and career.

MR WINSTON HO DEPUTY DIRECTOR (MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT 2) JTC Corporation As a first-time SSEF judge, I was very excited to be involved. Despite the judging process being conducted entirely online, the passion and drive of each group still shone through. It brought me great joy to be a judge. Kudos to all projects that have participated.

DR BUI VIET PHUONG GROUP MANAGER / SENIOR SCIENTIST A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing Being an SSEF judge provides me with great opportunities to meet many bright and enthusiastic students and gain my trust in our young generations. It is truly inspiring and fulfilling to observe many high-quality and user-inspired projects with a good application of science. For future judges: stay curious and enjoy the journey! THE SSEF 2021 EXPERIENCE: JUDGES

DR STEPHEN CHUA 18 RESEARCH FELLOW Earth Observatory of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University I joined SSEF 2021 hoping to spark the joy of science in students. Judges automatically critique and point out limitations, but we often forget they are still young! This must be paired with building up ideas and praising effort. Budding scientists need a lot of careful pruning and watering to flourish.

MS WHISTINE CHAI XIAU TING FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST Home Team Behavioural Sciences Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs This was my first time being a judge in SSEF and I truly enjoyed the judging experience. It was a privilege for me to be part of this event, where I had the opportunity to talk to budding scientists/researchers and help nurture their research strengths and interests, particularly in the domain of psychology. I was not only impressed with the submissions by these young students, but also amazed with how the SSEF organisers manage to pull all these together!

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR MANOJIT PRAMANIK ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR Nanyang Technological University Its been a pleasure to serve as the SSEF judge for the past five years. Every time I interact with the young students during their presentations, I am glad to see that the future generation is on the right track for developing a creative, inquisitive, scientific mindset, which will benefit the country in the long run. The quality of the projects also have improved over the years significantly.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR NIKOLAI YAKOVLEV ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR (ADJUNCT) National University of Singapore I have been judging SSEF since 2014, while my students have participated in SSEF since 2004. Every year, I taught them how to do science, write about it and give good presentations at SSEF. So when SSEF invited me to be a judge, I immediately agreed. I believe that my interaction with the students helps them to understand good science. THE SSEF 2021 EXPERIENCE: JUDGES

MR CHOI KUAN MENG LECTURER 19 For me, doing judging work for SSEF is always one of the highlights of the year. The students’ passion inspires me and they have worked hard to achieve technical findings that could help shape the future. See you next year!

MS SIM GIA WEN SENIOR LECTURER It was my first time as a SSEF judge and my privilege to witness the students’ interesting projects. One thing I enjoyed the most was hearing from the students and giving my inputs to them. Apart from the competition, I think this event was a platform to nurture young and aspiring scientist/engineer.

PROFESSOR YU HAO PROVOST CHAIR PROFESSOR AND DEPARTMENT HEAD Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore I have been serving as an SSEF judge since 2005, and always relish the multiple roles I have played in the process as an evaluator, a motivator for inspiring young children to enjoy science, and a role model to pursue STEM careers.

DR TAN YEN KHENG INDUSTRY CHAIR Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (USA) Singapore Section I am glad to be part of the SSEF family to provide my technical expertise as well as my passion to learn and nurture with the students. The SSEF team did wonderful works for many years and looking forward for more ahead. Join us with a heart to serve!

DR PETER LEE LECTURER National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University I have been an SSEF judge since 2005. Being a judge, I especially enjoyed all the passionate discussions with the students. I find their enthusiasms refreshing and uplifting. I also believe that it is my mission to encourage these students to become the future science and engineering leaders of tomorrow. REGENERON INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FAIR 2021

INTRODUCTION

Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (Regeneron ISEF), organised by the Society for Science & the Public in the United States of America, is one of the world’s largest annual pre-college science fairs that provides a platform for top STEM talents to showcase their projects.

The fair was conducted virtually in 2021 and comprised two components. The competition segment was held from 3 to 6 May, while the official Regeneron ISEF events, such as panel discussions with experts and a STEM career hall, were conducted from 16 to 21 May. Ten Singapore students who performed well at SSEF 2021 were selected to compete against more than 1,800 youths from over 75 countries, regions and territories at the fair. They submitted four individual projects and two team projects and bagged a total of seven awards.

20 STUDENTS FROM TEAM SINGAPORE 2021

Lim Dillion Bryan Lee Ho Shanley Huang Huiyan Shen Lingbo

Jishnu Talukdar Nathaniel Tan Low ing Tay Li Ann Celyn Chng MESSAGE BY DR FANNON LIM

I enjoy judging as I get to query students who think critically before giving their answers. DR FANNON LIM GRAND AWARD JUDGE Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair 2021 Deputy Director, Public Sectors Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (A*STAR)

Having been an SSEF judge for the Through this competition, students 21 past 16 years, it was a great experience will be able to hone their research, to be this year’s ISEF Grand Award science communications, critical Judge. As ISEF was held virtually for thinking and independent learning the first time, Team Singapore had skills. These competencies are to participate in the late evening and relevant and important for both their wee hours of the morning from the professional and personal lives. Little Red Dot. Despite the challenges presented by the ongoing pandemic, One takeaway for students is to link the results were remarkable, with their work to practical applications Singapore bagging seven awards! and emphasise on how it can be I enjoy judging as I get to query world-changing. In this way, judges students who think critically before will be able to determine how well giving their answers. Some of their students are able to understand and answers exceeded my expectations! apply their findings. TEAM SINGAPORE’S REGENERON ISEF DELEGATES

PROJECT TITLE Supplementation of Lactobacillus casei reduces ß-amyloid accumulation in Alzheimer Drosophila melanogaster

LOW ING TAY LI ANN Celyn, Li Ann, and Low ing were inspired to discover new CELYN CHNG treatments for Alzheimer’s disease when they chanced upon Lactobacillus casei (L. casei). Based on their research, L. casei, SCHOOL which is low in cost, has the possibility to treat the root cause RAFFLES INSTITUTION of Alzheimer’s disease. Hence, it is a potentially promising (RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL) method to treat patients suffering from this disease. Through the project, they learned of the importance of SSEF and ISEF 2021 showed teamwork and trust. It was through their teammates’ support us that science communication and encouragement that they managed to step out of their is critical to STEM research. comfort zones when doing the research project. We would like to thank the judges for their enlightening comments Celyn, Li Ann and Low ing did their project in Raffles Girls’ during judging interviews. School and are currently studying in Raffles Institution. 22

PROJECT TITLE Intricate Study of Hydrothermally-Synthesised

Hexagonal K2W4O13 Nanowires for the Adsorption and Photodegradation of Organic Dyes and Heavy Metal Ions

LIM DILLION BRYAN LEE CHONG HAN Dillion, Bryan, and Shanley’s project involved the synthesis HO SHANLEY of Potassium Tungstate Nanowires to remove water pollutants. Their one-pot and hydrothermal synthesis SCHOOL technique is environmentally-friendly, cheap, and fast.

HWA CHONG INSTITUTION The breakthrough of this project was the discovery that the Potassium Tungstate Nanowires had dual properties — the While in-person interaction ability to adsorb pollutants and photodegrade dyes. is always more personable, having SSEF and ISEF held Their research journey had been an exciting one. While they online afforded greater struggled with the research during the COVID-19 pandemic, convenience of learning more they managed to overcome the odds in completing the about our peers’ projects. research project. They are especially thankful to their mentor, Mrs Sow-Peh Yoke Keow, for her constant support and guidance, acknowledging that they would not have come this far without her. TEAM SINGAPORE’S REGENERON ISEF DELEGATES

PROJECT TITLE Novel Open Time to Event model for low-cost and long-term marine population abundance estimates from remote underwater video stations.

JISHNU TALUKDAR Having observed a lack of marine population size and SCHOOL distribution data to come up with efficient conservation ANGLO-CHINESE SCHOOL strategies, Jishnu developed a low-cost method to obtain (INDEPENDENT) full open fish population estimates using only cameras and his probability model.

The online format of SSEF and Jishnu described his experience participating in the ISEF ISEF 2021 allowed me to meet 2021 as “beyond thrilling”. Apart from having the opportunity many like-minded people and to speak to experienced scientists and entrepreneurs, he share my project findings. also enjoyed interacting with like-minded individuals who were passionate in science. 23

PROJECT TITLE Novel Coating of Porous Cu as Heat Pipe for Thermal Management

SHEN LINGBO Lingbo’s project deals with the problem of overheating in electronic devices which could potentially cause damage SCHOOL to fragile electrical components. For the first time through this project, a multilayered porous copper structure was synthesised by electrodeposition, functioning as capillary While judging for both wicks in heat pipes. This material demonstrates superior SSEF and ISEF were conducted characteristics including high porosity, great capillarity live via video conferencing and structural integrity which can greatly facilitate this year, the interactions I cooling actions. Its fabrication method, electroplating, is had with judges were equally environmentallyfriendly, time-efficient, and cost-effective, effective and inspiring. I enjoyed sharing my research findings and hence will be promising in industrial settings. with peers and experts of the From the research journey, Lingbo learned the importance STEM community. of several transferable skills, especially communication skills which are crucial for the delivery of scientific findings. She also learnt the value of adaptability, open-mindedness and perseverance when conducting scientific research. TEAM SINGAPORE’S REGENERON ISEF DELEGATES

PROJECT TITLE Wearable Strain Sensors with Silver Nanowires for Health Monitoring

HUANG HUIYAN Huiyan’s project aims to fabricate kirigami-patterned wearable strain sensors for long-term human health SCHOOL monitoring. He systematically optimised the silver nanowire HWA CHONG INSTITUTION synthesis process, producing long silver nanowires to create strain sensors with high stretch ability, stability, Presenting at SSEF 2021 and sensitivity. These strain sensors have been applied on has helped me hone my science the human hand, and have been proven to allow muscle communication skills. The online rehabilitation and wound healing. format was a unique experience for us to share our research Through the project, Huiyan learned the importance of projects with others. resilience in bouncing back from setbacks. 24

PROJECT TITLE Liar Liar Pants on Fire: A Computer Vision Approach to Deception Detection

NATHANIEL TAN XIN RUI Lie detection has been a subject of interest of late due to the potentially severe repercussions that false statements have SCHOOL on society. For example, the harm from a false testimony RAFFLES INSTITUTION can be significant and potentially lead to an innocent person being convicted and incarcerated, while allowing a guilty SSEF 2021 was very well person to be freed. Nathaniel’s project uses computer vision organised. I enjoyed discussing and machine learning to detect deception in high-stakes ideas and concepts with judges situations, such as testifying in court and during police even though it was via video investigations, through the facial characteristics of the conferencing. subject.

Through this journey, Nathaniel learned the importance of independence and perseverance when facing challenges. At the ISEF 2021, Nathaniel enjoyed meeting people from all over the world, who shared similar interests in wanting to improve the world through science. SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

GOLD

Celyn Chng Tay Li Ann Low ing Kuok Ray Ann Chew Kuan Yu Ervin RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) Lim Jun Teck Bryan Supplementation of Lactobacillus casei CLEMENTI TOWN SECONDARY SCHOOL reduces ß-amyloid accumulation in Alzheimer Isolation and Characterisation of Human Drosophila melanogaster Proteins that interact with the Orf10 Protein of Sars-CoV-2 Huang Huiyan HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Lim Ainsley Bryan Lee Jia Cheng N D Durghadeve Wearable Strain Sensors with Silver Nanowires for Health Monitoring CLEMENTI TOWN SECONDARY SCHOOL Host Target Proteins for the Spike protein of Sars-Cov-2 Nallapuraju Ananya Ye Chen Rui Prannaya Gupta NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF Shen Lingbo MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE Gait Monitoring and Analysis of Parkinson’s Novel Coating of Porous Cu as Heat Pipe Disease Patients for Thermal Management

Zhang Lanyu Du Yu Jishnu Talukdar , ANGLO-CHINESE SCHOOL RAFFLES INSTITUTION (INDEPENDENT) The Use of Digital Aids in the Learning of Novel Open Time to Event model for low-cost Geometry and Its Effects in the Home-Based and long-term marine population abundance Learning Setting estimates from remote underwater video stations 25 Praakhar Agrawal Anika Lee W Xuen Venkatesan Subasriram Lim Sing Wei RAFFLES INSTITUTION RIVER VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL Transcriptional Candidates as Biomarkers A Differential Gene Expression Analysis for Allergic Rhinitis of Alzheimer’s Disease Single-Cell RNA-Seq Transcriptomes Mahendran S/O Ravindran Kuan Ming Jie Ethan Lim Herng Rwei HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, Toxicity and Phytochemical screening of Dieffenbachia camilla and the synthesis of a novel and green topical delivery method for it SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

GOLD

Lim Dillion Bryan Lee Chong Han Jonathan Chew Jian Pin Wang Zixun Ho Shanley RIVER VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Design and Testing of a Novel Single-Rotor Intricate Study of Hydrothermally-Synthesised Tailsitter

Hexagonal K2W4O13 Nanowires for the Adsorption and Photodegradation of Organic Tay Kar Ray Yong Ming Le, Ethan Dyes and Heavy Metal Ions 26 RAFFLES INSTITUTION Designing a Low-cost and Compact Circuit Yu Zhenning Fu Wenbo to Effectively Perform Nuclear Quadrupole Ethan John Lim Resonance (NQR) Spectroscopy on Medical HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Pills Containing N-14 Nuclei Synthesis of magnetic chitosan hydrogel from crab shells as an environmentally-friendly Tan Jo Shin Eishwar Ravichandran adsorbent for water purifcation NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Liao Xinyan Tan Jiecong Deep-Learning Driven IoT System for Noise HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Pollution Analysis on Marine Biodiversity Treatment of Effluent With Azo Dyes and Heavy Metals by Electrochemical Advanced Xu Yifan Deng Chunyi Oxidation Processes (EAOPs) Using Graphene-Coated Electrodes NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Investigation of the Shoelace Method in Sheng Jiarui Higher Dimensions Optical Technique for Rapid and Quantitative Chelsea Chan Li Xin Bacteria Detection RIVER VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL Potentiation of Antibiotic Activity by Cationic Yan Jun Jie Merwin Tham Weng Yahn Cyclic Peptides on Gram-Negative Bacteria Zhang Kaiwen HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Fabrication of eco-friendly cellulose-reduced graphene oxide hybrid aerogel from various fruit wastes for water purification SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

GOLD

Tan Chien Hao Nathaniel Tan Xin Rui RAFFLES INSTITUTION RAFFLES INSTITUTION Topology and Geometry of 3-Band Models Liar Liar Pants on Fire: A Computer Vision Approach to Deception Detection Trivikram Mohan Omkar Mahadevan Tang Kean Seng Jiang Zhiheng NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF HWA CHONG INSTITUTION MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Unveiling music genre structure through Heterologous Expression of a Mangrove K + common-interest communities Transporter, AoHKTI increases salt tolerance of Arabidopsis Thaliana Tew Ci Heng Nathan Jotham Lim Jia Liang Glenda Tan Hui En Goh Xin Ru Karin RAFFLES INSTITUTION RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) Improved graphical user interface for Stool Recognition for Colorectal Cancer interactive pixel tight segmentation Detection through Deep Learning

SILVER

Lee Yuan Xi Zoey Lau, Huang Yimin Ess Alexander Jones Shijie RAFFLES INSTITUTION RAFFLES INSTITUTION, Linguistic Indicators of Success in Aviation RAFFLES INSTITUTION, Emergencies: A Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) TEMASEK JUNIOR COLLEGE Investigation The Evolution of Colours in Butterflies Elamperuvaluthi Alexander Pu Yinghao 27 Senthil Kumar Harsha R Shahana NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF RAFFLES INSTITUTION MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Impact of Social Jet lag (SJL) on Depressive Rapid Ligand Binding Assay of Zika Virus Symptoms of Adolescents NS2B-NS3p for Drug Development using 19F-NMR Spectroscopy SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

SILVER

Pl Sriram Jonathan Lee Beng Fong Lu Zihan ANGLO-CHINESE SCHOOL Lok Peng Yee (INDEPENDENT) HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Investigating the antioxidant potential of Green synthesis of calcium hydroxyapatite berries namely Blueberry (Vaccinium using eggshells for the removal of heavy metal corymbosum), Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus), ions and fluoride ions Raspberry (Rubus idaeus), Cranberry (Vaccinium subg. Oxycoccus), and Strawberry Woon Zee Ning Lim Zhi Yan Vicky Ang (Fragaria ananassa) through a mung bean 28 shoot (Vigna radiata) bioassay and Onion DUNMAN HIGH SCHOOL root (Allium Cepa) bioassay Potential of Acid and Alkali chemical activators of Biochar for the Effective Removal of Ibuprofen Maggie Yao Chai Yinzhi Aw Si Yu RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) Selina Peh Yuet Ning Supplementary DHA ameliorates motor and cognitive dysfunction in Drosophila RAFFLES INSTITUTION melanogaster model of Alzheimer’s Disease Wideband Sinuous Antenna Design

Teng Jia Jun, Zen Paul Seow Jian Hao Akshat Chaudhary Chiow Yan Cheng Steve NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF HWA CHONG INSTITUTION MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Synthesis and Intercalating Abilities of Brannan’s conjecture and trigonometric Ruthenium-Arene Complexes with Chalcone polynomials: the case strictly between and Bidentate Ligand 0.5 and 1

Claire Sze Wei Roberts Avelyn Yap En Wong Yin Leng Angelina Emma Gan Li Ann Ethan Kuai En Kai METHODIST GIRLS’ SCHOOL NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF Artificial Intelligence Models for Predicting MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Statin-Induced Myalgia using Clinical and Investigating the Effectiveness of Non- Genetic Factors pharmaceutical Interventions on COVID-19

Kiefer Ong Xian Yao Ng See Jay Dhanabalan Jeevakaarthik Pierre Yeap Yu Song Siddharth S Arumuganainar HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Krishnan Nithesh Synthesis of an Eco-friendly and Reusable NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF Magnetic Ferrofluid using Orange Peel Extract MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE for Oil Spill Cleanup Riemann Zeta Function: A Real Analytic Approach SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

SILVER

Oh Chin Aik Tai Zi Xiang Alysa Lee Mynn HWA CHONG INSTITUTION RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) Characterisation of Quantum Walk with Cross-lingual Information Retrieval Cross-Entropy Lim Sui Ron Yap Yu Ting Austin Huang Deyu VICTORIA JUNIOR COLLEGE RAFFLES INSTITUTION Machine Learning/Deep Learning Techniques Synthesis of Novel Silica Aerogel Composites for Advanced Image Inference Tasks

Malcolm Sow Miao Geng Teng Yee Shin NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF RIVER VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Data-Driven Method for Li-Ion Battery Emergence of Fluorescence Properties in Health Monitoring Human Hair tailored by Focused Laser Beam Narayanan Aravind Kane Ng Zheng Kang Vannessa Toh Hui Ying Chan Dong Jun Shriniket Subramanian HWA CHONG INSTITUTION NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF Formation and stability of tannic acid and MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE gelatin multi-layers EMG Signals Decoding

Wang Yiqin Chen Shuheng Lek Wing Chung, Eugene HWA CHONG INSTITUTION ANGLO-CHINESE JUNIOR COLLEGE Automatic diagnosis of Coronary Artery VAE-U-nets: Addressing the weaknesses of Disease through multi-vessel analysis of GANs used for image resolution enhancement coronary angiograms with a novel AI approach Tang Guang Xiang Choong Kai Zhe Tham Yun Xin Isaac Yang Xue Yan 29 RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) RAFFLES INSTITUTION Quantification of Kinetic Friction Coefficient Developing Suspect Detection Systems using with Timoshenko Oscillator Machine Learning

Yang Jingxiang Gan Chee Joon Clarissa Koh Shi Qi Lim Donggeon Lee Rui Kai Marvyn Chia Kai Liang RIVER VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL, ANDERSON SERANGOON RIVER VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL, JUNIOR COLLEGE ST. JOSEPH’S INSTITUTION Detection and Removal of Obstructions in 2D Moire Heterostructure Still Images Utilising Machine Learning SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

BRONZE

Zhou Xinyan Ayyappan Lakshmanan Luo Zhongyi RAFFLES INSTITUTION Kyi Cin Thet Electrocardiogram-based Arrhythmia RAFFLES INSTITUTION Classification using Machine Learning and Effectiveness of Non-defatted– Carica– Papaya Complexity Analysis Techniques Seed Powder as a Low-cost Biosorbent in the Removal of Wastewater Pollutants Tia Shi Ting Angelica Lee Choy Yeung Yi, Josher Soh Swee Min 30 Limb Hypothermia for Preventing Tey Yee Xin, Sheryl Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral TEMASEK SECONDARY SCHOOL Neuropathy: Effects of Different Limb Investigating the effectiveness of common Hypothermia Modalities on Motor biodegradable waste products in Singapore Nerve Functions in cleaning up oil spills

Medha Shridharan Low Jeen Liang Yiu Yi Hin Kinsey NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF Tan Wei An MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Development of a Paper-based Test for the Electrochemical Enhancement of Activated Detection of IL-6 Carbon Fibre for the Purification of Solvent Contaminated Pharmaceutical Effluents Hong Wan Jing Teo Jin Yin Yvette Bay Kai Fen, Kylie Yong Rei En Kera Ruth RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) Mak Zhan Rui Jovan Investigation of Lactobacillus casei in the NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease in the Nematode Model Caenorhabditis elegans Design of Underground Structure to Mitigate Effects of Soil Liquefaction

Lu Shiyi Rachel Sheryl Tay Ke Ying Sruthi Muralikrishna RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) RAFFLES INSTITUTION Elucidating the role of MAMDC2 in head and neck squamous cancer Interfacial Engineering for High Efficiency Perovskite Solar Cells

Allysa Tan Li Ying NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE A Computational Model of Microtubule Dynamics for Multi-Nuclei Positioning in Myotubes SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

BRONZE

Ryan Wong Wern Jieh Tsai King Ron Yang Dexin Gabriel Goh Hao Xiang Vishal Vijay Kumar Brandon Ong Jing Jie RAFFLES INSTITUTION HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Investigating how the microbial community The Math Behind Scaffolding in the soil changes when Food Waste Anaerobic Digestate is used as fertiliser for the cultivation of the vegetables Bayam Zhou Kangyun Sun Yuang Liu Lekuan (Amaranthus dubius) and Chinese Cabbage HWA CHONG INSTITUTION (Brassica rapa) and its implications on growth Plague Inc: Mathematical Model of Contagions Tahamina Abdul Isaiah Lee Boon Eng Guo Lukang Gao Jiquan Ganesh Giri HWA CHONG INSTITUTION NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF The study of epidemic model in the context MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE of Singapore Isolation & Characterisation of Salmonella Phages Lim See Min Li Yuanfei Ho Kai Ting HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Tan Ren Ying Ramachandran Mehal Spectral Analysis of Public Transport Networks Caleb Koh Chao Yang NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Lim Sue Han Justin Edden Chew Keyn-Hantz Isolation and Characterisation of Acinetobacter Baumannii Phages from the NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF Environment MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Analysis of a Pseudorandom Bit Generator Based on Elliptic Curves Lee Rui Xuan SWISS COTTAGE SECONDARY SCHOOL Lok Ting Yuan Wong Kai Ray Yap Jia Le Flora-scence: Graphene oxide-Blue Butterfly 31 Pea Flower Composite HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Investigating the effects of sugarcane and lotus root extracts on the growth Sankar Jaikumar of Lactobacillus sp. and its effects on RAFFLES INSTITUTION microbial antagonism. A quasi-static approach to calculating the sinking time of damaged floaters and Oh Shuyi verification of model’s predictive power with motion path analysis DUNMAN HIGH SCHOOL Coloured Carbon Black: A Laser Initiation SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

BRONZE

Foo Lyn-Li, Kimberly Ang Jan Syi Alistair Cheong Liang Chuen Tan Yun Xuan Beh Chuen Yang Wu Jiayang METHODIST GIRLS’ SCHOOL HWA CHONG INSTITUTION In-vitro propagation of Tillandsia bulbosa Explaining Adversarial Vulnerability with a Data Sparsity Hypothesis Ethan Koh Hao Goh Kai Meng Timothy Luke Navaneethan Sanjai 32 ANGLO-CHINESE SCHOOL Nachiappan Hari Subramanian (INDEPENDENT) Sri Naren Omprakash investigating how charcoal to soil ratio NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF aids in remediating allelopathy MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Evaluation of divided attention performance using overt and covert SSVEP with different He Yida visual angles RAFFLES INSTITUTION COVID-19 fake news detection using Tan Shannon Amy Ling Yuhui deep learning Natasha Yeo Ting Yu RAFFLES INSTITUTION Lu Haomeng Zhu Jiabao Human Movement Analysis using Handphone NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE IMU sensors Evaluation of a new multivariate uniformity metric based on information entropy for Chen Yijia efficiently accessing the uniformity of a meta-dataset based on an expertise space NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE Assessment of highly sensitive surface plasmon resonance biosensors for Law Rui Xi Yen Jun Hung the SARS-CoV-2 virus detection by NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF computational modeling & simulation MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Automating the playtesting of turn based Lucia Li Tanya Tan Xin Yu strategy games using AI Gwen Yeo Wenning RAFFLES INSTITUTION Tan Yi Kai Low Wei Sheng Automatic Classification of Tau-PET images HWA CHONG INSTITUTION using Deep Learning Document Layout Analysis via Machine Learning SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

MERIT

Quah You Chen Roy Joon Kew Cheng Tan Qi Xuan HWA CHONG INSTITUTION HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Epigenetic modifications of fruitless in Investigating the application of the separation mushroom bodies influence male Drosophila capabilities of a Zirconium MOF B-oriented courtship behaviour MFI zeolite membrane

Lye Yu Xuan Lee Kia En Paige Soh Si Ying NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF Arunasalam S/O Senkuttuvan MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE RAFFLES INSTITUTION An Ex Vivo Beating Heart Study Model Chitosan-modified rice husk biochar and its effects on heavy metal ion sorbency Lau Wan Sin Claudia Lai Jane Sim Jia Zhen Han Yijia Delfina Poernomo NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE Nico Tan Jing Ya Effects of listening to motivational high and NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE low tempo music on 400m sprint performance Crude Oil Reclamation from polluted waters in female youths using Nets and Blowers

Jin Xiaoxuan Lee Wai Yee Ho Xu Ying Nicole Pok Yuen Xuan HWA CHONG INSTITUTION DUNMAN HIGH SCHOOL Personalized Guided Perceptual Learning Study of the properties of fruit seed starch bioplastics and the effects of gelatin and used coffee grounds on it 33 Chen Xinpeng Li Yee Shin Carlyne NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Fei Yaowei Xiong Hongrui Justin Low Renkai Asymmetric remote functionalization for enantioselective synthesis of RAFFLES INSTITUTION pharmaceutical molecules Effectiveness of Canards Compared to Strakes as High Lift Devices Yap Vit Chun May Phu Pwint NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF Reuben Ong Ng Si Han MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF Metal Ion Release Assembly (MIRA): A Novel MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Approach to Ultrafast Deposition of Conformal Traffic Strategy for Mixed Traffic in Two-Dimensional Material Multilayers on Container Terminals Arbitrary Substrates SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

MERIT

Phoebe Wee Sarah Wong Ee Min Jiang Kai Jie Leroy Wong Yan Zhe RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) Zachary Loh Zi-Yang Where Does the Signal Come From NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Investigating Number of 5G Small Cells Yap Jun Yan Chan Kin Chung Ravan Required in Singapore Yu Fei HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Jay Tai Kin Heng Sim Hui Xiang Investigation and Construction of a Hot 34 Gabriel Tan Jiaxu Wire Anemometer NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Liang Yusen Lee Jia Qing Brannan’s conjecture and trigonometric ANGLO-CHINESE JUNIOR COLLEGE polynomials Future of solar energy: Global optimisation of all perovskite tandem solar cells through Tan Jia Jun Shaun Phua Jia Yang artificial intelligence HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Comparison of Microbial Safety and Quality Tey Yi Fan He Donghang Indicators in Spontaneous v.s. Probiotic- Chow Guan Ze Controlled Fermentation of Carrots in a Home HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Fermentation Setting Functional Equations with Permutations of Finite Order Jennifer Goh Zhen Ni Christophyr Yeoh Kai Xiang Chua Rui Hong Ooi Xuan Shan NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF Javier Chan Yan Kai MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE HWA CHONG INSTITUTION The Combinatory Effects of Microplastics Optimisation of Water Systems and Emerging Contaminants on model green alga Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii Le Viet Hung Xu Yu RAFFLES INSTITUTION, Liang Ying Hao Matthew VICTORIA JUNIOR COLLEGE NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE Variants of the Gale-Berlekamp Switching Winding-less magnetometer to measure Game and their Solutions: Balancing the permeability and core losses Rectangle and the Cube SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

MERIT

Chua Yao Xuan Glenda Chong Rui Ting RIVER VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL Chin Ling Xing, Lance A Numerical Simulation Study on Opinion RIVER VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL Evolution in Complex Social Networks Into the Online World: Human or Bot?

Li Xinrui Tee Ren Jie Komati Reddy Nikhita HWA CHONG INSTITUTION RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) Dynamics of a bouncing rigid capsule Determining feasibility of mixed integer linear programming problem by machine learning Tan Jun Wei Mikail Firas Abdul Jabbar NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF Lim Yi Dawn Adele MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE, HWA CHONG INSTITUTION RAFFLES INSTITUTION AI Panorama Art of Proteins with Image A Comprehensive Study into the Magnetic Blending Deep Learning Levitation of a Magnetic Stirrer Sean Lim Shi-An Karis Yuen Xin Er Sun Xiaoqing Ryan Nathaniel Thesman RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF Viscous flow around a bottle MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE AI-driven data sentiment analysis 35 Matthew Yar Kwok Jway RAFFLES INSTITUTION Ang Yan Lin Chen Peiran An aeroacoustic study of the swinging HWA CHONG INSTITUTION sound tube Finding Nemo: a fish-inspired soft robotic drone Low Ta Ken Samantha Suchita Wibawa NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE Jovern Teo, Lyon Toh Akhil Chandran Nair Effects of UV Light on Plant Development NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Motion Tracking for Fingers

Tan Huan Xi Gregory Neo Souw Chuan HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Self-supervised Learning with Deep Neural Networks for Computer Vision SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

SPECIAL AWARD

ECS SPECIAL AWARD Sruthi Muralikrishna Wong Yu Zhen Ooi Xin Yien 36 RAFFLES INSTITUTION Chloe Young Interfacial Engineering for High Efficiency NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE Perovskite Solar Cells Electricity Generation from Quercetin and Anthocyanin using Microbial Fuel Cell Liang Yusen Lee Jia Qing ANGLO-CHINESE JUNIOR COLLEGE Future of solar energy: Global optimisation of all perovskite tandem solar cells through artificial intelligence

ICHEME SINGAPORE AWARD Balakrishnan Naveen Mani Kumar Wong Yu Zhen Ooi Xin Yien Mothiki Eswara Anirudh Chloe Young NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Electricity Generation from Quercetin and Thermal Signature Analysis of Singapore’s Anthocyanin using Microbial Fuel Cell Housing Infrastructure

SAAS SPECIAL AWARD Lee Yuan Xi Zoey Lau Eddula Jyotsna Reddy Adeena Ansari Ess Alexander Jones Shijie Aina Afrina Bte Mohd Faizal RAFFLES INSTITUTION, RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) TEMASEK JUNIOR COLLEGE Investigating Methods of Producing The Evolution of Colours in Butterflies Bioplastics and its Physical Properties with Different Amounts of HCl Lee Zhi Yan, Natalie Aurelia Azifa Chelfannisa CEDAR GIRLS’ SECONDARY SCHOOL SORBET Project SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

SPECIAL AWARD

SAAS SPECIAL AWARD Lim Ainsley Bryan Lee Jia Cheng Tan Jo Shin Eishwar Ravichandran N D Durghadeve NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF CLEMENTI TOWN SECONDARY SCHOOL MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Host Target Proteins for the Spike protein of Deep-Learning Driven IoT System for Noise Sars-Cov-2 Pollution Analysis on Marine Biodiversity

Allysa Tan Li Ying Malcolm Sow Miao Geng NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF A Computational Model of Microtubule MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Dynamics for Multi-Nuclei Positioning in Emergence of Fluorescence Properties in Myotubes Human Hair tailored by Focused Laser Beam

Kiefer Ong Xian Yao Ng See Jay Shua Yee En, Cheryl Teo Zuo Rui Pierre Yeap Yu Song DUNMAN HIGH SCHOOL HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Don’t Trash the Ash - Burning Characteristics Synthesis of an Eco-friendly and Reusable of the Fluorescence and Conductivity of Magnetic Ferrofluid using Orange Peel Extract Bottom Ash for Oil Spill Cleanup Ayyappan Lakshmanan Luo Zhongyi Yan Jun Jie Merwin Tham Weng Yahn Kyi Cin Thet Zhang Kai Wen RAFFLES INSTITUTION HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Effectiveness of Non-defatted Carica Papaya Fabrication of eco-friendly cellulose-reduced Seed Powder as a Low-cost Biosorbent in the graphene oxide hybrid aerogel from various Removal of Wastewater Pollutants fruit wastes for water purification Nathaniel Tan Xin Rui 37 Kevin Ong Gheng Seong RAFFLES INSTITUTION He Yue, Hu Buyan Liar Liar Pants on Fire: A Computer Vision HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Approach to Deception Detection Investigating the effect of bacteria and its synergistic effect on biodegradation of plastic Tew Ci Heng Nathan Jotham Lim Jia Liang Foo Lyn-Li, Kimberly Ang Jan Syi RAFFLES INSTITUTION Tan Yun Xuan Improved graphical user interface for METHODIST GIRLS’ SCHOOL interactive pixel tight segmentation In-vitro propagation of Tillandsia bulbosa SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

SPECIAL AWARD

SMS AWARD FOR INGENUITY Yin Junren, Ryan Chow Xing Yu Tey Yi Fan He Donghang Wong Yee Hern Chow Guan Ze HWA CHONG INSTITUTION HWA CHONG INSTITUTION The Wheels of Life Functional Equations with Permutations of Finite Order

SSMB SPECIAL AWARD Tsai King Ron Yang Dexin 38 Vishal Vijay Kumar RAFFLES INSTITUTION Investigating how the microbial community in the soil changes when Food Waste Anaerobic Digestate is used as fertiliser for the cultivation of the vegetables Bayam (Amaranthus dubius) and Chinese Cabbage (Brassica rapa) and its implications on growth and yield

SUTD R&I AWARD: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE He Yida Toh Jing En Daniel RAFFLES INSTITUTION Kan Rui Xian Matthew COVID-19 fake news detection using NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF deep learning MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Investigating James Stein paradox and applying James Stein estimation to machine learning problems SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

SPECIAL AWARD

SUTD R&I AWARD: AVIATION Bernice Chong Boon Yen Yu Shuhuai RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Reliability Design and the In-Orbit Lifetime Airfoil shape optimization using machine of Satellites learning techniques

SUTD R&I AWARD: CITIES Senthilkumar Iniya Adhvika Mohan Ho Xu Ying Nicole Pok Yuen Xuan Singaravelan Divyashree DUNMAN HIGH SCHOOL RAFFLES INSTITUTION Study of the properties of fruit seed starch Synthesis of activated carbon from coconut bioplastics and the effects of gelatin and used endocarp for the adsorption of microplastics coffee grounds on it and heavy metal ions removal

SUTD R&I AWARD: HEALTHCARE 39 Lu Shiyi Rachel Sheryl Tay Ke Ying Glenda Tan Hui En Goh Xin Ru Karin RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) Elucidating the role of MAMDC2 in head and Stool Recognition for Colorectal Cancer neck squamous cancer Detection through Deep Learning

SUTD R&I AWARD: MULTI-DISCIPLINARY Zhou Xinyan Chua Yao Xuan RAFFLES INSTITUTION RIVER VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL Electrocardiogram-based Arrhythmia A Numerical Simulation Study on Opinion Classification using Machine Learning and Evolution in Complex Social Networks Complexity Analysis Techniques SSEF 2021 MAIN CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS

SPECIAL AWARD

YALE-NUS SPECIAL AWARD Lim Yi Ting, Erica Zhang Yu Dhanabalan Jeevakaarthik Gong Yong Jia Siddharth S Arumuganainar RIVER VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL Krishnan Nithesh Investigating the effect of different types of NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF vinegar as adjuvants on the toxicity of Radix MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Bupleuri (RB) Riemann Zeta Function: A Real Analytic Approach Paramasivam Shaveen Gajaananan ANGLO-CHINESE SCHOOL Vannessa Toh Hui Ying Chan Dong Jun 40 (INDEPENDENT) HWA CHONG INSTITUTION To investigate the effect of temperature on Formation and stability of tannic acid and shrimp-shell derived chitosan’s adsorption gelatin multi-layers capacity onto cationic and anionic toxic dyes (Methylene Blue and Eriochrome Black T Li Xinrui Tee Ren Jie respectively) HWA CHONG INSTITUTION Dynamics of a bouncing rigid capsule Goh Si Hui, Angela Tan Yen Lin, Alyssa Zhang Qi NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE Tan Jun Wei Mikail Firas Abdul Jabbar reDISHsign your bins NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE, RAFFLES INSTITUTION Paul Seow Jian Hao Akshat Chaudhary A Comprehensive Study into the Magnetic NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF Levitation of a Magnetic Stirrer MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Brannan’s conjecture and trigonometric Li Yue Chen polynomials: the case strictly between 0.5 and 1 NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE A Novel and Lightweight Virtual Proctoring Jiang Kai Jie Leroy Wong Yan Zhe System for Online Assessments Zachary Loh Zi-Yang NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Investigating Number of 5G Small Cells Required in Singapore SSEF 2021 JUNIOR SCIENTIST AWARD WINNERS

PROJECT AWARD

DISTINCTION AWARD Zhang Haiyun Hilary Chee Xin Yi Dolot Shine Mikaela Maminta Anastasiya Samushkova Magbitang Callista Ysabelle Acuna RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) Ho Ke Ying Constructing a Prototype of Air Filter out NGEE ANN SECONDARY SCHOOL of Plant Materials Investigation of the effectiveness of different plain weave structures on the tensile strength of rope bridges Natalie Ho Shu Yi Swetha Sivakumar Phang Zhi Xuan Belle METHODIST GIRLS’ SCHOOL Lam Chi Ki Daisy Zhang Songbo Jerald Yeo In Vitro Propagation Of Chinese Kale And Chinese Cabbage As An Alternative DUNMAN HIGH SCHOOL Method Of Growing Food Investigation on the Effectiveness of Indoor Plants on Absorbing Volatile Organic Compounds

MERIT AWARD 41 Looi Zi Jenn Cheah Zong Heng Selvakumar Vigneshwaran Krishang Joshi Drew Michael Terren Ramirez RAFFLES INSTITUTION NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF Development and characterisation of a facile, MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE environmentally-friendly aluminium-oxygen Quoridor batteries using coffee capsules and common household gelling agents gelatin and agar agar SSEF 2021 JUNIOR SCIENTIST AWARD WINNERS

VIDEO AWARD

DISTINCTION AWARD Natalie Ho Shu Yi Swetha Sivakumar Phang Zhi Xuan Belle METHODIST GIRLS’ SCHOOL In Vitro Propagation Of Chinese Kale And Chinese Cabbage As An Alternative Method Of Growing Food

MERIT AWARD Zhang Haiyun Hilary Chee Xin Yi Alex Teng Yi Jaeden Soon Chuankai 42 Anastasiya Samushkova Favian Lim Wey Yee RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) NUS HIGH SCHOOL OF Constructing a Prototype of Air Filter out MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE of Plant Materials Testing the Strength of Pykrete

Lam Chi Ki Daisy Zhang Songbo Teng Ywee See Myat Noe Ein Chai Jerald Yeo NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE DUNMAN HIGH SCHOOL Effect of salinity stress on Plant Growth Investigation on the Effectiveness of of Microgreen Indoor Plants on Absorbing Volatile Organic Compounds Ang Chong Zhe Chew Yu Heng Dong Huanran Joella Hau Ryae Ning Chan Kai Ling DUNMAN HIGH SCHOOL Isabel Kye Li Ho Biofuel production through transesterification RAFFLES GIRLS’ SCHOOL (SECONDARY) of different plant oils Prototyping Biodegradable Food Containers made from Durian Rind Material ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

43 THANK YOU

We would like to thank the following organisations that have contributed their domain experts to serve as judges for the Singapore Science and Engineering Fair 2021.

Agency for Science, Orison QEHS LLP Technology and Research Prime Management Services PSB Academy Central Narcotics Bureau Punggol 21 CCMC DSO National Laboratories Republic Polytechnic Duke-NUS Medical School Seeds Capital GAG Engineering Services Pte Ltd Science Centre Singapore Health Sciences Authority Singapore Botanic Gardens IEEE Singapore Section Singapore Civil Defence Force IPOS International Singapore Institute of Technology JTC Corporation Singapore Management University KLA – Tencor Singapore Mathematical Society Ministry of Education Singapore Police Force Ministry of Home Affairs National Institute of Education, Singapore Singapore Prison Service National Neuroscience Institute Singapore University of Social Sciences Nanyang Polytechnic Singapore University of Nanyang Technological University Technology and Design National University Health System Singtel National University of Singapore Tan Tock Seng Hospital Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan Newcastle University, Singapore Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory University of Glasgow Singapore To find out more, please visit the SSEF website: science.edu.sg/ssef