Philippine Science High School team tops Project Tuklas

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Science High School (PSHS) students topped the Project Tuklas science contest sponsored by Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation (Shell) in coordination with the Philippine Development Foundation (PhilDev) and AIESEC Philippines.

“It’s something very innovative,” said Julia Alexander Chu, president of Project Tuklas organizer AIESEC University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, referring to the project of PSHS juniors Creo Baylon, Miguel Ortega, and Otto Lorenzo Uylangco. “It could probably power cities or towns.”

The winning project, “Determination of the Most Efficient Generator of Harvesting Energy from Human Walking Motion,” captured electricity generated from walking. It bested projects from 11 other teams of third year students from different public high schools in Metro Manila. The prototype, consisting of strips of metal wired together, is placed under the insole of shoes. Foot pressure from walking then activates the device. Small amounts of electricity generated from the walking motion can power a small light, motor or transmitter.

“The PSHS team created and submitted the best example of innovation in energy, one of the criteria of the contest aimed at encouraging public high school students to pursue college degrees and careers in science and technology,” said Gerrard Ortega, vice president and general manager for human resources of Shell.

“Their experiment itself may not be the ‘future of energy,’ but it’s a starting point. They’re already starting to think out of the box,” said Ortega, who awarded the P75,000 cash prize from Shell to the three boys during awarding ceremonies held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.

Project Tuklas’ theme was “Future of Energy” and participating teams were asked to submit entries that would best showcase it.

Shell also awarded the same cash prizes to PSHS and LHS to fund the schools’ respective teachers’ development programs.

Chu announced the next edition of Project Tuklas this summer will be nationwide in scope to discover more potential scientists and engineers. The format will be different in that the contest will be held during the summer break and that fourth year students from the top 50 public high schools in the country, which are mostly from the Visayas and Mindanao, will be invited to participate.

Ortega said Shell plans to recruit and hire Project Tuklas scholars after they graduate to work in the growing energy sector in the Philippines.