Image via The Star
How would you feel if your teacher from school starts winning awards for something she invented? We believe that students of SJKT Kangkar Pulai must be very proud of this unsung hero who’s part of the DIGIyin Saathanai Hero-kkal campaign.
S. Gomathy, a science teacher based in Johor, used her passion in science and innovation to fuel her inventions, which led to her winning 73 international awards and over 50 national awards!
Since beginning her side hobby in 2010, her most recent inventions bagged her gold medals from the 5th Invention Innovation Competition in Canada (iCAN) 2020, an annual event that gives inventors and researchers around the world the chance to display their inventions.
Image via Persatuan Sahabat Selangor
The 47-year-old and PhD student was awarded a gold medal for a mobile application she invented, which acts as a library for postgraduate students.
“I faced a problem having a long list of journals and reference materials that are tricky to keep track of. So I decided to develop an application to keep tabs on all my notes and materials, which I can access easily on my smartphone or laptop,” Gomathy said.
The app is called Crunchy Centella Asiatica “MCCC”. MCCC actually stands for Malaysian software, Careful checking of references, Clear and well-written, and Consistent in the way the thesis is written. Interestingly, she also named the app after one of her past inventions, sweets made from the centella asiatica herb, commonly known as pegaga.
“Pegaga is a type of food known to benefit the brain but it’s difficult to get kids to eat it because of its bitter taste. So I decided to incorporate the herb into recipes for murukku, chips, cupcakes and sweets, which were a hit with my pupils, who called the snacks ‘brain tonic’, ” she added.
The name reflects its function to store information for her tertiary studies, which is similar to the human brain.
Gomathy’s other award-winning invention is a line of hair products made from all-natural ingredients, including hair serum, oil, soap, and mask. She experimented about 30 times for three months before she finally got the right concoction of chemical-free ingredients!
After receiving a lab report to certify that the products were safe to use, she gifted samples to relatives and friends around her who were suffering from hair loss due to chemotherapy. And the products worked like a miracle!
Image via S. Gomathy
This most recent award was actually Gomathy’s third consecutive year of having her inventions recognised by iCAN. She previously won a silver medal in 2018 and two gold medals in 2019.
Her creations also picked up the World Invention Intellectual Property Associations 2020 Special Award and Toronto International Society of Innovation and Advanced Skills (TISIAS) Special Award last year.
These inventions of hers come from curiosity and passion, and she has no intention to turn it into a business because she sees herself first and foremost as a teacher, not an entrepreneur. “I get my ideas from simple everyday things and sometimes it will pop up while I’m interacting with my pupils in class and I’ll get them to experiment with me to make the classes more interesting,” she said.
Her innovation and natural sense of curiosity has also rubbed off on her students. During the Movement Control Order (MCO), she continued to give online classes and assignments for the kids to experiment at home. Not only that, she also started a YouTube channel to connect with her students out of the classroom. With 23 years of experience as a teacher, she sure knows what she’s doing!
Having just a few months to go before she completes her PhD studies, Gomathy hopes to continue experimenting and inventing problem-solving products, and to inspire future inventors and scientists.
As part of the DIGIyin Saathanai Hero-kkal campaign, we’re constantly looking to share stories of Malaysian ‘superheroes’ that live amongst us.
If you know a hero or if you have an inspirational story about overcoming challenges, we’d love to hear from you. Just submit your story at RAAGA’s website or click the image above.