The idea of founding the Engineering Inspiration Forum began to take root during a summer school program I attended. Sitting in a conference room at the Singh Center, listening to professors from various fields of engineering give talks, I realized that engineering is not just about machinery, as many people might imagine.
In fact, as a discipline, engineering is more like a painter's palette, blending biology, chemistry, physics, and even sociology to create a vibrant picture of our world. However, I felt it was unfortunate that many students interested in engineering might not have the opportunity to interact with experts from such diverse fields. So many ideas with the potential to grow into towering trees might be forgotten, lacking fertile soil and nourishment.
I wanted to bring this guest-lecture model to SCIE, creating a platform where all students interested in engineering could easily connect and exchange ideas. By sharing our creativity and thoughts, I hoped that everyone could ultimately find a topic they were passionate about and develop it into a tangible project.
This led to the birth of the Engineering Inspiration Forum (EIF).
With this enthusiasm, my good friend Jayden and I jumped straight into planning the club—organizing, recruiting, promoting, and all the essential tasks needed to bring this forum to life. Finally, before the ECA Fair, we were fortunate to make our vision a reality, attracting our first group of students who shared the same passion for engineering as we did.
About Us page of EIF official Website
Our first period members
(Third from the right: President Steven, eighth from the left: Vice President Jayden)As we had envisioned, we successfully invited David from Singapore American School to share insights on the integration of business and engineering, Chanel from our school to give a presentation on Arduino kits, and both the vice president and I presented on the mysteries behind semiconductors, quantum dots, and complex networks.
The successful execution of these events boosted our club's confidence significantly. We launched our own social media account to share club updates and elected several outstanding division leaders to prepare for the club's future expansion.
Speech materials shared on EIF website
If inviting high school students from around the world to give talks was just a warm-up, then inviting Tsinghua University PhD student, Senior Huang Jing, to give an in-person lecture at SCIE was definitely a highlight for both me and the entire club.
This was not only our first time organizing a public lecture at the university level but also our first opportunity as high school students to connect with a university student—especially a PhD candidate from Tsinghua University.
Miss Huang Jing’s lecture took place on October 24, 2024, but we began planning and preparing everything three weeks in advance. Fortunately, I had previously attended the winter and summer programs at Tsinghua University's X-Institute in Shenzhen, where I was honored to be selected as a "Star Youth." So, when we decided to invite a university-level guest speaker to SCIE, X-Institute was the first place that came to mind.
I reached out to the teachers there, asking for help in connecting us with a Tsinghua University student to host a session for our club, our school, and students eager to learn more about engineering.
First Email to the Shenzhen High School Alliance and X-Institute Inviting Alumni to Give a Talk
Fortunately, the teachers at the X-Institute did not reject us just because we are high school students. On the contrary, Mr. Jackie was very enthusiastic in helping us get in touch with Miss Huang Jing, who was also willing to share everything she knows about the development of targeted cancer drugs.
As a result, preparations for this important public event for the Engineering Inspiration Forum began in full swing. We made promotional posters, communicated with Miss Huang about the start time and specific schedule of the event, and sent over twenty emails to the school to apply for internal promotion, venue usage, and the invitation for Senior Huang's visit. Among them, Mr. Ian (Head of Science and also my chemistry teacher in G Level) and Ms. Sarkar tirelessly provided us with many constructive suggestions as well as assistance in the venue arrangements and planning. On behalf of the Engineering Inspiration Forum, I would like to once again express our most sincere gratitude to these two teachers!
On the surface, the entire event seemed to go very smoothly. However, as we were still inexperienced, there were inevitably a few small hiccups in the arrangements. Before the event, the plan set by me and the vice president Jayden was to hold the public lecture at the Halo Theater. However, there was a misunderstanding in our communication with school. As a result, the venue for the event was changed from the Halo Theater to the large classroom A613.
The event was successfully held in A613 in the end.
Although we were unable to use Halo Theater, we learned a lot from this experience about areas we can improve for future events. For example, we should start planning and promoting the event earlier to attract more students to attend, and we should also create a form to track the number of potential participants.
What left the deepest impression on me, and was most beneficial, was the lesson Mr. Boris taught us about hospitality. Originally, we wanted to use the Halo Theater as the event venue because we believed its formality would reflect our respect for Miss Huang Jing. However, Mr. Boris pointed out that while the Halo Theater has many seats, the number of students attending the event was much smaller, and having empty seats in the venue might actually come across as disrespectful to our guests. This made me realize that as a novice in organizing large events, I still lacked consideration in some aspects. However, I believe that through continuous practice, the Engineering Inspiration Forum will be able to showcase excellent organizational skills in the near future and bring even more students into our fold!
Group photo after the event
From left to right: Jayden, Miss Huang Jing, Mr. Ian, StevenWe are never afraid to imagine the future, but at the same time, we never forget to stay grounded. This is, in my opinion, the most important mindset for learning engineering. With this mindset, the Engineering Inspiration Forum will, in the near future, hold scientific tea talks, project exchange meetings, and collaborate with the Teaching Support Society.
One step at a time, and as a witness to these steps, the excitement and pride I feel cannot be expressed in words!
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Article｜Steven Li
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