by AUFA MARDHIAH / pic source: Petrosains FB

MERCEDES-BENZ Malaysia together with Petrosains have launched its Virtual STEM Series to inspire secondary and tertiary students to proactively think about responsible energy planning towards sustainable and safer living.

The programme encompasses two parts which is “The Vision of an Electric Future” and “Sustainable Mobility for Tomorrow”. The programme, which was officially started on Feb 15, will run for three weeks with meet the expert session (Feb 15-16), mentoring sessions (Feb 18-25) and followed by graduation day on March 4.

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia CEO and president Sagree Sardien said, “In a rapidly evolving world, a sustainable future must be envisioned and ensured via responsible energy planning and development globally. The need for sustainable technological advances is now more revolutionary than ever. It will shape the course of our lives well into the future.

“With the electric future rapidly approaching, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia is excited to collaborate with Petrosains to conduct the Virtual STEM Series through the Petrosains e-Design Thinking Process (PeDTP). It is guaranteed to enlighten the younger generations about the importance of sustainable mobility, and how we can accomplish it.”

Meanwhile, Petrosains Sdn Bhd CEO Ezarisma Azni Mohamad believes that advances in energy breakthroughs and Internet of Things (IoT) are the way forward towards finding sustainable solutions to daily life in harmony with nature and its resources.

“The Virtual STEM Series aligns to the very heart of what we do at Petrosains — to inspire experiential learning in science and technology among our young people, as part of our nation-building efforts towards enabling a future workforce that can establish solutions towards better and safer living standards. In this regard, the Virtual STEM Series is specially curated to develop High Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) to nurture critical and creative thinking skills among students,” he said.

In both sessions, participants will be given the opportunity to join the sharing session with the experts followed by an on-boarding session to PeDTP. For the conclusion of the programme, participants are required to produce a lean/tangible prototype and make a pitch in the Ideas Presentation Challenge.

Furthermore, the learning content and challenge requirements are developed and customised to meet four Sustainable Development Goals indicators including quality education, affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities and climate action.

The programme will also test both secondary and tertiary participants in terms of problem understanding, clarity of the proposed solution, validation of the proposed solution with users, validation of the proposed solution, lean prototype and storytelling.

Each winner will receive a plaque and a digital certificate. Few winners will be selected from both categories — three group winners from secondary students’ category (100 participants) and five group winners from tertiary students’ category (50 participants). In addition, winners from the tertiary category will earn a six-month internship spot with Mercedes-Benz Malaysia.

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia has begun ramping up its local electric vehicle (EV) strategy with a holistic approach to drive the future of mobility in Malaysia, align with its Ambition 2039 — path to sustainable mobility as Mercedes-Benz Malaysia pursues the goal of a carbon neutral fleet of new vehicles from 2039 across the entire value chain.

All efforts will be channelled towards implementing, strengthening and amplifying local EV readiness starting with the soon to be introduced EQ range.

Furthermore, from 2039, Mercedes-Benz will only allow production materials that are CO2-neutral at all stages of the value chain through its factory gates.