Vietnamese students won gold medals at WICO competition

On the morning of July 30, a representative of the Board of Directors of Giang Vo Secondary School (Ba Dinh District) said that all 3 projects of 3 teams with 8 students from the school won Gold medals in the WICO competition.

Specifically, the project: Research on a model for treating water contaminated with heavy metals using filter materials combined with root system microorganisms was carried out by students: Nguyen Le Tam Trang - class 9A4, Dang Duc Luong and Nguyen Tuan Minh - class 8A2 and other students in the group under the guidance of Ms. Le Thi Loan, Mr. Trinh Hoai Duong (Giang Vo Secondary School) and Dr. Nguyen Cam Nhung (University of Transport). Through the research, the students designed a system to treat water contaminated with heavy metals by combining three physical, chemical and biological methods. This is a highly effective, low-cost and relatively simple design, easy to apply to many places with water sources contaminated with heavy metals. The project was highly appreciated and won the Grand Prix Award (there were only 3 awards in the whole competition).

Next is the project: Research on the extraction of bioactive substances from avocado leaves to make dietary supplements for patients with gastric ulcers caused by Helicobacter pylori. The project was carried out by a group of students: Nguyen Le Hoang, Tran Gia Khiem, Vu Hong Phuc - class 8A4 and other students in the group under the guidance of Mr. Trinh Hoai Duong (Giang Vo Secondary School), Nguyen Viet Linh (Institute of Biotechnology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology) and Dr. Dang Anh Duong (National Children's Hospital).

From avocado leaves, using methods such as GCMS, NMR, HPLC, the students have extracted active ingredients such as anthocyanin, flavoid and monocyclic phenolic acids. These active ingredients have been proven to have the ability to inhibit Helicobacter pylori. In collaboration with the manufacturing company, the project team has initially produced tea bags and capsules from avocado leaves to support patients with gastric ulcers caused by H. pylori.

Le Tuan Minh - class 8A4, Nguyen Bao Vi - class 9A5 and their friends in the group conducted a research project: Research on creating a product to treat household plastic waste. Thanks to the guidance of Ms. Doan Thi Lan, Mr. Trinh Hoai Duong (Giang Vo Secondary School) and Associate Professor, Dr. Le Thi Nhi Cong (Institute of Biotechnology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology) and students in the project group isolated strains of microorganisms from the intestines of plastic-eating wax worms to create a product to treat microplastics. The project is of great significance in contributing to the treatment of plastic waste - a global problem and has received a Special Prize from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

The World Invention and Creativity Olympiad (WICO) is a competition for groups of high school students with practical inventions and innovations organized annually by the Korea University Invention Association (KUIA), recognized and sponsored by the National Assembly of Korea. The competition aims to stimulate talent and passion for science and technology, as well as promote healthy competition among students from many countries around the world . The competition has brought opportunities for self-development and helped students on their future learning path.

The 12th WICO Competition in 2023 will be held directly at SETEC- Seoul, Korea from July 27 to July 29 with 27 participating countries. The Vietnamese delegation has 3 teams participating in the competition led by Mr. Pham Xuan Tien - former Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training - as the head of the delegation.

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/hoc-sinh-viet-nam-dat-huy-chuong-vang-cuoc-thi-wico-post258503.html