Season 7, Episode 9: So SEDEX...

"There will be no fade out, this is not the end.
I'm down now, but i'll be standing tall again.
Times are hard but, i was built tough.
I'm gonna show you all what i'm made of..." - Haven't Seen The Last of Me, Cher, Burlesque.

After weeks of working together, preparing, rushing and practicing, the moment of truth arrived. Our project prototype was tested and evaluated. Three rounds. First, it was by the supervisor. Then, the pre-SEDEX examiners. And finally, it qualified to be showcased at the SEDEX exhibition in my uni and evaluated by another set of judges. It was a journey well taken by the team. Meet AVIAxii.

So, what is it actually? What is AVIAxii? Explaining to you would not be my last, and definitely not my first. AVIAxii comes from two words- AVIA from aviation and xii the number 12, symbolizing our team's goal to fly high and our team number in the project course known as the Engineering Team Project, ETP. Our project involves the knowledge of rack and pinion, and the understanding to electromagnetism, or electromagnetic induction specifically. The device invented is an add-on to your shoes whereby as you walk, it charges the battery.

As you walk, the rack moves the pinion, which in turn moves the gear fixed with a magnet. The magnetic field cuts the metal plates fixed at the bottom, causing magnetic flux and induces emf. This project is inspired by the use in torchlight.

We were grouped randomly. The team comprises of another PE mate, and each from EE, ME, CE and CV. I set the goal of the project really high- a gold medalist in the exhibition. So, being qualified to the SEDEX was one step closer to realizing the goal. It was being optimistic and believing in the prototype, and pray for good examiners, that i believed got us through to the exhibition.

After our pre-SEDEX evaluation with the poster and prototype.

Our prototype, undressed.

On the day of the exhibition, i somehow felt our team project wasn't as fascinating as others or as big as those nearby my booth, and i began to question my team's fate. Whether it was gold worthy. Perhaps, i have been seeing it almost more than 5 weeks that i look to it as something usual. Anyway, i still hoped.

Against the posters in the booth during SEDEX.

Then we had our turn to present to the judges. The presentation was different. It felt different. It was different. Something broke during our demonstration. And i somehow thought the team might not be rewarded any medal after what happened. I didn't put my hopes high by i tried to remain as optimistic as possible, for the team, for myself, until the moment results were announced. Grateful and thrilled, AVIAxii wins the Silver medal.

Team members with the medal.

The Silver medal.

No doubt, the journey AVIAxii has been through, is one i will remember. The experience with the team members was amazing and despite the differences, i believe in the end we managed to pull through a pretty good show that bore us splendid results. Not gold, but a gold winner at heart- it's not a loser man's saying, it's the echo to the truth of what we felt. In fact, from my experience in SEDEX, or ETP on the whole, there are no losers. We have worked and achieved something together, and that lies deeper and far beyond the meaning of producing just a prototype. We learn along the way, of people, of developing a project.

This is not my first and clearly, not the last.

wc11 congratulates to all. Gold. Silver. Bronze. And other ETP groups. Remember, only you know if you really have won.