The road to the National Science and Technology Competition of the 'two brothers' of Vinh city

The project's co-authors are two students, Ho Manh Thang and Nguyen Nhan Nhat Minh, with an admirable journey, even though they are not from the same school, not the same age, and have completely different personalities...

The "test" of two brothers

The corner of the stairs in the living room and the small room on the second floor of Ho Manh Thang in Le Mao ward is like a miniature laboratory with a "clutter" of machines, electronic circuits, chemicals and some products in the research process... This is also the place where Thang and Minh have spent a lot of time since they both decided to participate in the Provincial Science and Technology Competition.

Ho Manh Thang is currently a 12th grade student at Le Viet Thuat High School and Nguyen Nhan Nhat Minh is a 11th grade student majoring in Physics at Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted.

Two students Ho Manh Thang and Nguyen Nhan Nhat Minh. Photo: My Ha

The two brothers had never known each other until they learned about the Provincial Science and Technology Competition. The person who connected them was teacher Dang Thi Thom - Nhat Minh's direct instructor and mother.

I taught Physics in Thang’s class, but because this was a class that focused on block D, not many students were interested in Physics. But Thang was different, because it seemed like every class he asked questions and sometimes he even shared some of the topics he was working on. Later, by chance, I was the one who directly guided the scientific and technical topics he was working on and connected with Nhat Minh to be able to promote each individual’s strengths.

Teacher Dang Thi Thom - Le Viet Thuat High School

Before working together on this project, Manh Thang was the one who came up with the idea and took the first steps. As for Nhat Minh, from the first day his mother took him to Thang’s house to get to know him and then they both had a day to participate in the “startup triangle” festival in Hanoi to introduce the idea, he was really convinced.

Minh's impression of his brother is that he is very passionate about scientific research, "doing it without caring about the surroundings", has a high ability to self-study, is persistent and has creative thinking. Thang's only weakness is "theory", "arranging problems" is the advantage of a Physics major like Minh. Thanks to such support, after a short time of getting to know each other, both of them started working on the project enthusiastically.

The idea of ​​implementing the topic was nurtured by student Ho Manh Thang for nearly 3 years. Photo: My Ha

During that process, teacher Dang Thi Thom played the role of an “assistant” to listen, give feedback to students’ opinions, guide students to prepare their profiles, discuss the presentations and connect with other teachers to ask for advice and support. Teacher Dang Thi Thom also said: The project “Water condensation system using semiconductor technology” is a project completely carried out by students from the time of coming up with the topic, building the implementation plan and implementing it until completion. Personally, I was also surprised when accompanying the students…

Bring fresh water to remote areas

“The semiconductor water condensing system” is not a very eye-catching project, because apart from the “frame” which was fabricated at a mechanical workshop near the house, the rest was designed and constructed by Thang and Minh themselves.

Talking about this project, Thang said: When researching the reality, we realized that the shortage of fresh water is an alarming problem globally, including Vietnam, especially in island areas, areas with alum-contaminated groundwater, or areas with harsh weather. Our project focuses on semiconductor technology, a growing industry in the world, helping to optimize systems, increasingly miniaturize electronic devices to save energy, be easy to use and help impact the global environment.

Nhat Minh and Manh Thang with teachers guiding the experimental project in Quy Hop district. Photo: My Ha

For many objective reasons and to ensure confidentiality for the upcoming competition, the group of authors did not share much about their project. However, in a simple way, Thang easily helped viewers understand the operating process. In which, the most important thing is how to utilize the water vapor in the air to create drinking water. During the implementation process, Thang also said that the two argued a lot by one person giving ideas, the other person objecting and discussing to find a common voice. In addition, both read a lot of documents, consulted the internet, experts, sponsors, etc.

Previously, the group of authors also shared: Since 2019, a group of students has carried out this topic but was not successful. Therefore, in the initial implementation, we tried to overcome the limitations that the group of students had not solved. During the implementation process, we also had to try at least 4 times to succeed.

Leaders of the Department of Education and Training awarded First Prize to students Ho Manh Thang and Nguyen Nhan Nhat Minh. Photo: My Ha

Confidence through scientific research

To reach the first prize at the provincial level, the project “Water condensation system using semiconductor technology” also went through many difficulties. The one who brought this project to the competition was none other than Ho Manh Thang - the builder and also the main author.

Previously, since grade 9 at Le Mao Secondary School, Thang had participated in the City-level Science and Technology Competition and won first prize. However, when he entered high school, with a rather special personality and not being a diligent student, Thang was not a student who easily gained the trust of his teachers. Perhaps that is why, in grade 11, Thang also had a project to participate inScience and Technology Competitionat school but i am not successful.

Discussion helps the two students find common ground during the implementation process. Photo: My Ha.

In grade 12, even though Thang asked about this contest every day and expressed his desire to participate, he still could not attract attention. The first person who understood Thang and always supported Thang was teacher Le Viet Ha - Thang's homeroom teacher in grade 12D.

Talking about this, she said: Thang is very smart but not hard-working and likes to argue a lot. That sometimes annoys teachers. Just talking about scientific research makes him passionate and never gets bored. To convince teachers to believe in his project, Thang said, he started researching since the beginning of grade 10 and had 3 years of preparation. His biggest desire is to participate in the Science and Technology Competition.

The family's small staircase corner is where Manh Thang carries out his research ideas. Photo: My Ha

Thang's love for scientific research did not happen overnight, but was kindled since he was a child. Witnessing this process of his youngest son, Thang's father was often upset because since he was a child, "whenever Thang bought toys, he would take them apart to study. His father's computer, his mother's rice cooker, whenever he had a chance, Thang would tinker with them, sometimes damaging them. By the end of 9th grade, in order to have his own products, Thang had damaged at least 5 televisions. Even now, many times when sitting at home, his parents are still worried because Thang occasionally buys some chemicals to make things."

Later, from being against, Thang's family changed to agreeing, supporting and accepting the youngest son's differences. With the support of his family, Thang was given the opportunity to pursue his passion. During the implementation of the projects, his father also discussed and gave suggestions and was willing to spend time taking his children to practice, experiment and support financially.

Because he loves this job, Thang watches and studies a lot of documents online. He has a special talent that he can't remember the theory in class, his English grammar is not good, but he can assemble and complete electrical circuits, and repair household electrical appliances like a skilled worker. As for English, thanks to "research" to the point of memorizing many foreign clips, Thang can now listen and speak English fluently, and can give presentations in English.

Teacher Dang Thi Thom and students. Photo: NVCC

Knowing his weaknesses, Ho Manh Thang highly appreciated his colleague - Nguyen Nhan Nhat Minh.

Speaking more about this, Thang confessed: I am not good at searching for theoretical information, I often say wrong parameters about temperature, physics formulas, I am not good at speaking so Nhat Minh helped me systematize my knowledge, draft documents and support the presentation. Nhat Minh is also a very intelligent person, he may know about scientific research later but he can apply theory, calculate very well and approach the project quickly...

I think that the majority of the credit for the project belongs to Mr. Manh Thang and I am proud to have accompanied him in this project.

For me, the project winning First Prize brought joy but that was not all. During the process of participating in the project, I learned that there was a time when Mr. Thang was quite self-conscious because his friends used to tease him or not everyone believed in him.

I was like that before and later when the project was awarded First Prize by the Jury, it helped Thang overcome that inferiority complex. I am happy because I helped him gain confidence and overcome himself.

Nguyen Nhan Nhat Minh

With the desire to conquer the Science and Technology Competition, Ho Manh Thang and Nhat Minh have succeeded and this March their project was honored to be selected to participate in the National Science and Technology Competition in Quang Ninh province. This is also the only high school project to participate in the competition in the 2022-2023 school year./.