Day 5 - Our highly anticipated visit to Shell's Make the Future Festival London!!

Brief Introduction of our Day

Today, we made our way all the way to Stratford for Shell's Make the Future Festival London! We had a chance to meet other Make the Future Festival teams from all over the United Kingdom and enjoyed the numerous activities planned out for us including a boat ride, AcelorMittal Orbit slide ride, and the Shell Eco Marathon Workshop! As all good things must come to an end, we then had to make our way back to Heathrow Airport to where it all began and put a nice close to this wonderful chapter! Read on to find out more!

Day 5

Today we went for the highlight of our trip - Shell's Make the Future Festival! Set in the beautiful Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the festival showcased many innovative ideas for the future and was also host to The Bright Ideas Challenge Finals UK. To our lovely surprise, we got a chance to meet the other winning teams of the regional Bright Ideas Challenge UK and spend the day with them! 

"I'll never forget the emotions I had when our team won The Bright Ideas Challenge in Singapore so I was quite thrilled to meet the winners of the competition in London." - Benjamin

We are here! Make the Future Festival London!

First up was a boat ride down East London's historic waterways. Our boatman explained to us the history of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as we passed sights such at the London Stadium and AcelorMittal Orbit. Did you know that all the bridges built across the river were built using the rubble from the original buildings torn down in the construction of the Olympic Village for the 2012 Olympics? And now, the pockets in the rubble act as shelters for an assortment of insects and birds during the winter season! What a sustainable effort!

Getting ready to go on our boat ride down the historic waterway

On the boat ride!

After that we got a real treat! We got to ride on the AcelorMittal Orbit!!

What an amazing piece of architecture!

Check out these views from the top!

"When I first looked at it from a distance, I was extremely excited and couldn't wait to go on! We took a lift all the way up and were awed by views as breathtaking as that at the Shard. We could see the whole of London from up there. As I looked at the whole city, I realised that I may never come back again and promised to make full use of the remaining hours we had in London. When it was going to be my turn to slide, my heart was pounding quicker. I was very anxious but yet I managed to stay calm and seize the moment. It was the best 30 seconds of my life! It was full of unexpected turns and deep plunges and I really enjoyed it!" - Benjamin 

Next, we headed to the Make The Future Festival and I realised that it was a lot different from the one in Singapore. There were many interactive booths showing the public ways to conserve and generate electricity in a sustainable manner in order to reduce pollution and our carbon footprint.

Making our way into the future

One of the many interactive booths

"At the Festival I saw many great ideas! One idea that struck me was how Shell is working to make their service stations more energy-efficient by supplying lower fuels and building more sustainable stations. With features like LED lights, rainwater harvesting, solar panels, efficient heating and cooling, clever reflective glass and recycling bins, Shell's effort to change the world one station at a time inspired me." - Aminah  

"What I liked best about the Festival was getting to build the saltwater car! It intrigued me that it did not run on batteries or fuel. The whole working mechanism of the car was just two pieces of metal with a piece of paper in between! When salt water was dropped onto the setup, the piece of paper absorbed the water and acted as a connection between the two pieces of metal. I learnt that the salt water provided the electrolyte used in the chemical reaction inside the fuel cell. The chemical reaction creates electricity in a way similar to how a battery creates electricity, allowing the car to run. Initially we had a lot of difficulties building the car but we persevered and managed to race our cars on the mini track." - Siyu 

Racing our saltwater cars!

We then headed to the main stage to watch the announcement of The Bright Ideas Challenge Winners in the UK. The winning team's ideas was to generate electricity by placing a device in shoes to convert steps into electricity! That was our senior's idea! Hopefully someone can really make the idea a reality then we can truly power our world one step at a time!

After lunch, we attend the Shell Eco Marathon workshop. Earlier in the day we saw some teams assembling and testing their Eco Marathon cars. The determination and teamwork displayed by the teams was really inspiring and we hope to be able to do something larger scale like this when we head on to Polytechnic and University in the future! 

Stringent tests and checks on the cars being carried out

At the Workshop we learnt about the purpose of the Shell Eco Marathon and also learnt about what makes a winning car. We first learnt about the motor system in a basic car. Then we learnt more about the suit and helmets that the drivers have to wear from one of the Singaporeans who worked at Shell in London, Mr Naveen. What a small world indeed! We found out that Carbon Aramid is used to make the racers' helmets as it is heat resistant. Who knew that the driver's suit had so much research poured into it to make sure it's made of the best materials to keep the driver safe in case of a crash or fire! We then explored a typical Eco Marathon car body and learnt about the choice of materials like carbon fibre to make a lightweight car that not only travels fast but is energy efficient! 

At the SEM workshop!

 

We were then given a chance to suggest modifications we would like to make to the setup and thought of incorporating our very own bright idea! Since the cars move very fast and noisily around the track, why not convert that otherwise wasted sound energy into useful energy to power the car even more! By placing an array of Zinc Oxide Nanorods around the wheels of the car or at the engine, the vibrations of sound can be captured, converted into energy and reused by the car! We had a chance to share our idea with the fellow winners and hear theirs too! It was a great session of learning!

Putting our bright idea to good use!

We then had to make our way back to Stratford town to catch our transfer to Heathrow Airport for our long flights back to Singapore!

Thank you Make the Future London!! TTFN!

Thoughts to last us a lifetime as we fly back to Singapore...

"My favourite part of the entire trip was spending time with my bestie Aminah. I cannot imagine the trip without her and I'm very grateful to Shell, Science Centre, our School Leaders and teachers for the opportunity. We made beautiful memories walking down the streets and taking in the beautiful scenery. I definitely would like to travel with her to London again!" - Siyu

"My favourite moments of the trip was getting the chance to walk around London with my friends and teachers. Everyone worked very hard to allow us to have a good time and I will never forget the opportunity we had to learn new things and to admire the beautiful scenery around us." - Aminah

"I have really enjoyed myself during this trip. I have learnt many interesting things and have gained lots of knowledge. Apart from the Science, I will never forget what I've learnt on our visit to Buckingham Palace and British Musuem. My favourite moment was definitely riding on the AcelorMittal Orbit. It was no doubt the most fun I've had in a long time! London is a very beautiful city and I will work hard and try my best to come back again in the future." - Benjamin

On that note, we've come to the end of our last blog post! Our heartfelt thanks goes out to the following people for making this trip possible and such a once in a lifetime experience for us:

Shell for sponsoring the best learning journey of our lives

Our Shell mentor Mr Bing Yeow for his valuable advice

Science Centre Singapore and STEM INC for organising The Bright Ideas Challenge and taking good care of us at the Festival

Mr Chester Ong for his unwavering support and encouragement 

Our STEM INC mentor Mr Ee Yang for guiding us and helping us improve our bright idea

Our School Leaders for believing in us and granting us this opportunity

Our Teachers for their support, understanding, care and concern over the course of this journey

Our Families for supporting us and for being proud of us

Our friends for sending us off at the airport and for being our cheerleaders

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you! 

- Aminah, Benjamin & Siyu

Day 4 - By the River Thames

Brief Introduction of our Day

Today, we stayed by the River Thames, wandering around Borough Market and learning about Tower Bridge and the Tower of London from our knowledgeable guide. We then went to Queen Mary University of London for the Campus Tour which was special because we based our Bright Idea on one of the research discoveries made at that very university! Read on to find out more!

Day 4

"The first place we visited today was Borough Market! It was very vibrant with great variety as it sold vegetables, fruits, cheese and cooked food and drinks at the same time, making it very different from the markets in Singapore. From my point of view, it was similar to the ‘Geylang Ramadan Bazaar’ we have back at home." -Aminah

Iconic green structure of Borough Market

"At Borough Market, we saw lots of spices, fruits and vegetables and many other food items being sold. There was free tastings at some stalls and when I tried some, I was amused at how flavourful the samples were. My favourite were the strawberries that were very fresh and sweet! There was food from many different and far away countries like Croatia and Thailand even. We had fish and chips for lunch and it tasted a lot better than those i've tried before. I also tried ice cappuccino which tasted out of the world! I was shocked at how a small cup of cappuccino which costs £4 could taste so good!" -Benjamin

"Next, we went to the Shard to get a spectacular panoramic view of London from the 35th floor of the building. One thing that I found interesting was the fact that the lift in the Shard only served the ground floor and the 35th floor rather than buttons for every floor like regular lifts. I was also taken aback at how fast the lift was up and down! Can you believe that it only took 20 seconds to go up/ down 35 floors!" - Benjamin

Spectacular view of this bustling city

After that, we went for a walk along the River Thames and learnt more about the Tower of London where the Queen's crown jewels are kept. Originally, the Tower of London had a moat, but they decided to fill it with grass because the water smelled very unpleasant. There are also crosses in the walls for soldiers to fire arrows if enemies were to attack the tower. Below the tower, there was a gate called Traitors Gate where traitors would enter for their execution. After being executed, the beheaded head of the criminal would be hung on a big spike near London Bridge for everyone to see.

Tower of London 

Traitor's Gate

"Then we found out that Tower Bridge was not the London Bridge we sing about in our nursery rhymes. I thought that if a bridge was name after it's city, it should look really amazing and unmistakable. However, London Bridge was just a plain old bridge with nothing special on it at all. In actual fact, Tower Bridge is the really pretty one with the castle-like structure on it." - Siyu 

Us in front of Tower Bridge (no, this is not London Bridge!)

The rather ordinary London Bridge

"We then crossed Tower Bridge! We found out that the bridge would open up in the middle to allow big ships to go through. Though we didn’t see the bright opening, I found this very interesting as it not common in Singapore and I have never seen a bridge that can open up before." -Aminah

Crossing the bridge in a moment

"Lastly, we headed to Queen Mary University of London and we had the chance to do a tour around the campus. I noticed that there were only a few students in the school and I learned that this was because the students' exams had just finished and they were taking a break. I was amazed when I learnt that the university had facilities like free medical checkups, consultations and even a gym. The university was also very huge with different buildings for different subjects. This trip motivates me to work hard and go to a university in the future." - Benjamin

The old at Queen Mary University

The new at Queen Mary University

With our third guide Ms Anne-Marie 

As we come to the end of our fourth day somethings we are grateful for that we take for granted easily...

I am grateful for our tour guides for making the trip more interesting and enjoyable. -Aminah

I am grateful for the three guides who were very good at explaining British history and the history of all the interesting artifacts in the various museums. They were also so entertaining, energetic and detailed that I could write our blogposts on all the places we visited without even looking or searching them up on Google! If I get to visit London again, I would want to meet them!! -Siyu

I am grateful that the teachers always bought water for us and kept us hydrated. Back in Singapore, I took this for granted and did not have the habit of staying hydrated which made me feel quite tired throughout the school day. But over the past four days here in London, I kept myself hydrated and felt energised everyday! I would like to make this a good habit and drink more water everyday especially when I return back to Singapore. -Benjamin

Tomorrow is our last day and what an exciting day it will be at the Make the Future Festival! 

Time to get some sleep before our most exciting (and longest day) yet!

Day 3 - Museums Galore

Brief Introduction of our Day

Today, we started off at the Science Museum and then made our way to King's Cross Station, one of London's busiest and most popular train stations. There we met our guide who took us through the British Library and British Museum. We ended off the night on a high with the Wicked Musical! Read on to find out more!

Day 3

Firstly, we went to the Science museum where we learnt about the science things; planes, trains, household items, etc. Some of the exhibits of old appliances looked very interesting and so many of them look very different from the ones we have now.

"Most of the machines on display were manually powered powered. One interactive exhibit allowed us to generate electricity manually. We managed to light up a light bulb but couldn't power a heater because it required too much energy and was too difficult. This taught me to appreciate electricity a lot more! It made me realise that we take for granted how we can just turn on a light with a click of a button and only pay the price in the form of bills, when in the past people had to labour for hours just to power their homes." -Siyu

Old school computer games

The evolution of lighting

"From walking through the exhibits, we learnt a lot about the scientific experimental process and that in Science, you have to persevere and never give up because you may meet failure more than success. It may take a lot of calculations and even trial and error before you achieve success but that's the beauty of science isn't it? The saying goes, "when there's a will, there's a way"!

For example, a hardworking Mr Bleriot experimented tirelessly and survived many crashes before he came up with a simple but effective airplane. With his success, he became a major French aircraft manufacturer! There was also an airplane constructed by the Short Brothers for Moore Brabazon, and he used this plane to win a prize of £1000 for the first 1 mile circular flight ever!" -Aminah

"I really liked the area in the Science Museum which showcased many fighter planes and also the first few airplanes that were invented. The museum explained how the inventors were inspired to make airplanes because they always wanted to fly like birds! This made me feel appreciate of the inventors of airplanes because without them, we would've have the airplanes that we have today." - Benjamin

Planes at the very beginning. Early models originating from the Wright brothers.
We can see the modifications made to improve the design over the years.

Lots of trial and error over the years. This shows us the importance of prototyping.

Along the way to the British Library, we took in the beautiful Gothic style architecture of the St. Pancras building. Its an important building where the Eurostar trains connected Britain to France and shortened commute to 2 and a half hours.

  Gothic style architecture of St. Pancras

 Busy commuters and shoppers at St. Pancras

We then made our way to the British library. There are approximately 30 million books available at the British Library! All of the books are arrange according to height and not book category just because it's easier to store and display. Since it is a reference library, the books are not meant to be borrowed out. We found out that once, there was a person who brought a book home and brought it back the next day. As a result of her disobeying the rules, the British Library contacted all the libraries worldwide and blacklisted her! She will never be able to borrow books from libraries again!

The British Library

Millions of books categorised according to height

The library kept maps, holy texts and music recordings too!

After the British Library, we went to the British Museum and saw a lot of artifacts from all over the world. We saw artifacts from Greece, Egypt and all over the world.

Beautiful architecture with high ceilings.
The natural light reduces the need to use energy to power lighting in the building.
Less pollution!

Artifacts from Greece

"Our favourite was the mummies! We learnt how the method of preserving bodies in ancient Egypt changed from one to another. At first bodies were placed in direct contact with the sand, that preserved it very well because the sand helped to desiccate the bodies. Later on, the bodies were placed in a wooden box but that did not preserve them very well, so this method stopped. The reason being that the body must be well preserved for religious purposes. In their culture and religion, it was important to keep the body as lifelike as possible for the afterlife. So they finally came up with mummification as it preserved the body the best. The mummification process took 70 days! It was also very expensive and only 3% percent of the population would have been able to afford it.

Real mummies on display

I found mummification very interesting as it not common now and I'm so glad I got to learn about its significance, how they do it and how much time and effort was needed for this process. One question I still have is how the ancient Egyptians thought of mummification and the process." - Aminah

We were very fortunate to have our guide Ms Mary explain to us in detail about the different exhibits! Thank you Ms Mary! 

With our lovely guide Ms Mary

"T‌o end off the night, we went to watch the musical Wicked. The musical was performed by a cast that was absolutely fantastic! I felt like the cast all sang their hearts out, especially the woman who played the lead role of Elphaba." - Benjamin 

Waiting for the show to begin!

What was surprising was how the set, lighting and special effects were used make certain scenes stand out and come to life. The way technology was seamlessly incorporated into the show made the whole experience magical and unforgettable right in front of our very eyes. It's amazing to think that all the famous musicals are performed every night in London! 

It's late now! Goodnight London!