Winning a scholarship to study abroad thanks to his passion for invention

Without having an impressive academic record and no experience in hunting for scholarships, but with their passion for invention, two late 9X guys won scholarships to study abroad this fall in Thailand and the United States.

They are Hoang Pham Gia Khang, grade 12 IT student at Ho Chi Minh City Gifted High School, with a full scholarship of over 230 million VND/year from KMUTT University of Technology (Thailand) and Nguyen Hoang Ngan - former student of Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, Ho Chi Minh City - author of the all-terrain wheelchair that won third prize at the Intel Isef 2016 international competition.

Ngan's four-year scholarship is worth more than VND4.7 billion (about USD210,000) from Pitzer College (USA).

Conquer more than 10 competitions

Despite not having the chance to win any awards, Gia Khang still diligently competes in competitions and events related to science, technology, and innovation. Starting with “empty hands” when participating in the City Youth Informatics Competition in the summer of grade 9, Khang was specially trained in hardware programming to compete in the national round.

From there, Khang determined his passion to pursue the field of hardware programming in the direction of automation and IoTs (Internet of Things). Searching for events for inventors, Khang boldly registered, packed his backpack and got on the bus to anywhere to learn.

Each competition Khang chose was an opportunity for the 10th grade student at that time to explore the world: Young Makers Challenge, Young Informatics Competition, National Science and Technology Competition, Ho Chi Minh City Youth Creativity, Makerthon, Technology Summer Camp...

Never having touched first prize, Khang accumulated lessons through each time he was "empty-handed", acquired new knowledge, and honed specific skills to start researching and inventing.

Khang added: “Some competitions allow students and working people to try their hand at it. The groups compete creatively while helping and exchanging knowledge because no one cares about winning or losing.

At TOM (an invention competition originating from Israel), my group was assigned the task of helping a disabled child move using technology. I learned directly while working on the product with my colleagues and friends specializing in many different fields."

After three years of pursuing dozens of ideas about IoTs and automation, Gia Khang performed excellently at a summer camp for international high school students in Thailand, receiving a full scholarship worth 348,000 baht/year (equivalent to 233 million VND) and maintained if his academic performance is stable.

To support the generation of students who are starting to invent and innovate, Khang initiated the Association of Inventors for Gifted High Schools (WIMP) operating online and offline.

“The group publicly shares events, technology classes, programming, posts experimental clips, introduces books, and translates foreign language documents for the community to refer to. This is also the group’s workshop to take care of some serious investment ideas” - Khang proudly introduces his “child”.

Studying abroad becomes a boost

“I’m so lazy!” Nguyen Hoang Ngan, a former student of Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, confessed. “My goal of studying abroad was only determined at the end of grade 12, too late compared to many of my friends. At that time, I was completely unprepared in terms of English and experience in “hunting” for scholarships.

Although I really liked it, studying abroad was a distant and chaotic dream. Luckily, I started making all-terrain wheelchairs. I encouraged myself that if I did well, this would be an advantage when competing for scholarships."

With that motivation, Ngan spent most of his 12th grade year tinkering with mechanics, using professional simulation software, and studying English documents to narrow the technology investment gap compared to 1,700 other candidates worldwide. Studying abroad became a boost for this bright boy who admitted to being “extremely lazy”.

Ngan shared: “I took a risk and devoted all my time to design, without taking extra classes or homework, just studying enough for the graduation exam. The teacher was very worried. But with my independence from a young age, I identified opportunities and risks in each of my decisions.

If successful, I will study abroad, otherwise I will have to rush to study for the university entrance exam in a month. Many people have tried this path and failed because the working time is too short. Although I am lazy, if I like something, I will definitely do it to the end.

The result of months of training is the TN98 all-terrain wheelchair design that took Ngan from Dong Nai to Arizona (USA) and impressed Pitzer College - which just awarded Ngan a four-year scholarship worth 210,000 USD (about 4.7 billion VND).

According to TTO