Young scientists come to town

Potential application: Mej-Jen Hanafiah and Royal Military College commandant Kolonel Wan Ghazali Wan Din (left) listening to Ananya (right) and Akanksa’s briefing on their invention at the Asia Pacific Conference of Young Scientists in Kuala Lumpur.

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 80 budding scientists from around Asia are here to share what they know with each other in a bid to grow the region’s future leaders.

Among them are Indian students Ananya Chadha and Akanksa Tanwar, both 16, who have come up with an idea that may protect the survivors of a nuclear explosion.

“We designed a radiation mask,” Ananya said.

“People in the periphery of a nuclear blast absorb radiation in the body – one through ingestion and the other inhalation.

“We made this mask so that radiation will not go inside their bodies,” Ananya told The Star at the 2015 Asia Pacific Conference of Young Scientists (APCYS).

However, she has yet to test the mask in an actual blast area.

“God forbid, I hope that will never happen,” she added.

The conference will see the students, aged 13 to 19 from eight areas, including Guam, and their projects in various sciences judged.

Hosted by the Royal Military College here, it is also the first time it is being held in Malaysia during its four-year history.

APCYS president and founder Monika Raharti said the conference was to appreciate students who have a strong interest in science and to give them some foreign exposure.

She said with the APCYS, students would have a wider interest in science and could take that back to their universities later.

She, however, implied that there was not enough public interest.

“I hope people will come to see what the students have come up with,” said Monika.

Mejar-Jeneral Datuk Hanafiah Jaafar, who officiated the conference, said APCYS was not only a platform for research to be shared but for friendships to be made.

“It is my hope that the friendship built here will be beneficial in the future,” he said in a speech.

Mej-Jen Hanafiah is also the assistant chief of staff for the Defence Ministry’s Defence Logistics Division.