UM’s FST Summer Camp broadens secondary school students’ research horizons

The Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) of the University of Macau (UM) recently held the FST Summer Camp. It featured nine technology-related themes and attracted 240 students from 30 secondary schools in Macao. The summer camp was rich in content and enabled local secondary school students to learn about advanced research fields and broaden their horizons through a combination of lectures and hands-on experiences.

The summer camp covered various topics such as new environmental materials, mechatronics engineering, robotics, artificial intelligence, marine science and technology, smart city, internet of things, climate change, civil engineering, numerical computation, integrated circuit design, and autonomous driving. The students participated in activities on different themes according to their interests. Led by professors and postgraduate students from the faculty, the students visited several laboratories at UM as well as private enterprises outside the campus. They also gained a better understanding of research at the university by attending lectures and having access to state-of-the-art research equipment. In addition, the students also visited the UM campus, residential colleges, exhibition halls, and the library to learn more about the university’s history, academic achievements, and teaching and research development, and experienced its international education setup and academic atmosphere.

In particular, 40 students who joined the integrated circuit design summer camp visited the State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI of UM. They took part in the chip design process, attended lectures, and engaged in experiment sessions to measure electronic circuits, so as to familiarise themselves with integrated circuit design and the relevant research. The students also interacted with UM professors and researchers to acquire professional knowledge.

The FST has been dedicated to promoting innovation and education in science and technology in Macao over the years. The summer camp provided local secondary school students with learning opportunities and a platform for exchange and communication. It aimed to foster their interest and potential in science and technology, stimulate their innovative thinking, and enhance their organisational and teamwork skills, thus promoting the cultivation of technological professionals and the development of research in Macao.