UM’s science summer camp helps secondary school students cultivate interest in science
澳大科普營增中學生探索科學興趣

The University of Macau (UM) Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) recently held a closing ceremony for its Summer Camp 2017. This year’s summer camp attracted 140 students from 26 secondary schools in Macao. Some participants say that they have learned a lot of scientific knowledge that could be applied to their daily lives, adding that they hope to pursue further education in the same field.

The FST organised six summer camps this year, namely Civil Engineering Summer Camp, 3D Reconstruction with Quadcopters Summer Camp, Computer Vision and Human-Machine Interaction Summer Camp, Wireless Technology Study Summer Camp, Robot and Artificial Intelligence Summer Camp, and Green Vehicle Summer Camp.

Lee, a participant who is interested in wireless technology, met many like-minded friends in the camp and learned more about the latest technologies and products in wireless technology. Having experienced UM’s campus life, Lee thinks that the university provides a very good environment for teaching and research and hopes to study at UM after graduation. Chen, another participant in the summer camp, is a robotics enthusiast. He says the camp provides an opportunity for him to learn more about the science behind artificial intelligence and the basic operations of robots, which he cannot learn from his classes in school. He adds that the group discussions allowed students to learn from each other, and hopes to study robotics when he starts college.

Guests who attended the closing ceremony included Tam Kam Weng and Wong Pak Kin, associate deans of the FST; Yang Zhixin, assistant dean of the FST; and Samuel Chan Wan Hei, a member of the Macao Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT)’s Administrative Committee. In his speech, Yang said he believed that the participants were able to discover their interest in scientific research and broadened their horizons through the various experiments and activities in the camp. He added that many start-up companies got their inspiration from science and technology and try to integrate them into their products to improve the quality of people’s lives. The summer camp was sponsored by the Macao Science and Technology Development Fund.

澳門大學科技學院主辦的科普夏令營圓滿結束，今屆共吸引本澳26間中學近140名學生參與。有學員表示，是次夏令營活動豐富多元，而且所學科學知識與生活息息相關，因而對科學探索深感興趣，期望日後升學能修讀相關學科。

今屆六個科普夏令營圍繞不同主題，分別為土木工程、四軸飛行器三維重構、計算機視覺與人機交互、無線科技研習、機械人與人工智慧及環保交通工具。對無線科技深感興趣的李同學表示，很高興能認識一班志同道合的朋友，一起學習最新的無線科技產品及知識，而且有機會體驗澳大大學生活，認為澳大的教學環境良好，希望將來有機會入讀澳大。另一位機械人愛好者陳同學表示，科普營讓他接觸到很多新奇有趣的人工智能、機器人的基本操作，平常在課堂上都學不到。他認為科普營的小組討論有助互相學習，期望日後升學能選修相關學科。

澳大科技學院副院長譚錦榮及王百鍵、助理院長楊志新，澳門科學技術發展基金行政委員會委員陳允熙等出席活動閉幕禮。楊志新致辭時表示，期望學生能從科普營的實驗和科學活動中，發掘自己對科研的興趣，擴闊科學視野。同時，他指現今初創企業多數以科學技術為靈感來源，令科學技術更好地融入日常生活，從而創造出有利社會發展的科研成果。是次科普營獲澳門科學技術發展基金資助。