Sponsorship of the 13th National Science Koshien Competition for Scientific Thinking and Skills
Shimadzu Corporation and Shimadzu RIKA Corporation sponsored and exhibited a booth at the 13th National Science Koshien*1 Competition, held at the Tsukuba International Congress Center from 15 to 18 March. Here we introduce the awards ceremony and the Shimadzu booth.
- *1: Koshien originally means a baseball stadium in Hyogo prefecture or Japanese High School Baseball Championship held at the stadium. By extension, it is also used to mean a national tournament.
What is the Science Koshien?
The Science Koshien is a competition organized by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) where high school students*2 compete in written and practical science thinking and skills. This year, more than 8,000 students from 704 schools across the country entered the competition, with 47 schools representing each of the 47 prefectures making it through to the national competition. The winning team will be sent to compete in the US Science Olympiad.
- *2: Include students in the second stage of secondary school and technical colleges.
One of the practical competitions in this year’s competition, the Balloon Festa in Tsukuba, required the creation of a hot air balloon that met three specified conditions.
Award Ceremony Celebrated Jubilantly with Peers
The awards ceremony was held on 17 March, where Izumi Nakai, President of Shimadzu RIKA, presented the SHIMADZU Award to the Gifu High School, which represented Gifu Prefecture and came third in the overall results.
The Gifu prefecture team that won the SHIMADZU Award. On the far left is Shimadzu RIKA President, Izumi Nakai
The winner of this year’s competition was Eiko Gakuen High School, representing Kanagawa Prefecture, which became the first school in the competition’s history to win twice in a row.
The Shimadzu Booth
Shimadzu RIKA exhibited science experiment equipment using information technology (ICT), including a mechanics trolley smart cart. In addition to sensor-based single vibration and two-body motion analysis equipment, it also exhibited experimental test equipment used at the International Physics Olympiad 2023 in Japan. The experiments were demonstrated in front of high school students with a keen interest in science.
Experimental test equipment used at the International Physics Olympiad 2023 Japan
Mechanics trolley smart cart and experiments
Shimadzu Corporation exhibited and demonstrated analytical instruments. Familiar objects were selected as samples and put into the analysis system to find out what elements they consisted of. The participating high school students were amazed to find that they could analyze the type and quantity of elements easily and quickly without any pretreatment and without destroying the sample.
Exhibition and demonstration of an energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (EDX)
Students pose as presenters at a photo spot set up to look like a venue for a press conference
Comments from the Persons in Charge
I believe that throughout the tournament everyone who participated had an experience they will remember forever. The participants crossed regional and school boundaries and perhaps met people who would become friends for life. They must also have realized the importance of teamwork, as there are many different ways of thinking about how to solve problems. We hope that this experience will contribute to nurturing future scientists, and that makes our desire to continue supporting them even stronger.
I saw the awards ceremony and booth exhibition on Day 3 of the competition. The teams were rivals as they competed to the best of their ability in the written competition on Day 1 and the practical competition on Day 2. However, on Day 3, it was striking to see that they had become friends with the other teams and visited the exhibition booths together. I would be delighted if, through such initiatives, young people who have developed such a range of skills can contribute to society through science and technology.
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