From Romania to all of Europe

It was not an easy situation with which the two teachers Mihaela Giurgea and Dr. Corina Toma had to work with their students. But it did not stop them from developing the "CaeliBox" and participating in the "European Code League". 

This competition was organised by Science on Stage with the support of SAP SE. Numerous teachers applied with their innovative coding projects for STEM lessons. Many fantastic applications reached us, but the Romanian team stood out.

Using sensors, the students measured different air parameters such as concentration of CO2, humidity, pressure, temperature, noise, and other noxious substances in their town. The data was transferred to a server so the students could access and work with it at any time.

Their work certainly paid off. At the European Code League Final on 28 May, the international jury declared the two teachers and their students as winners. 

Jean-Luc Richter, board member of Science on Stage Europe and jury member, praised the team for their project: “Not only did they do honour to this coding competition by the quality of their production, but their project will be useful to improve the air quality and health of all citizens.”

The second and third places went to teams from Turkey and Greece. The winning team from Romania won non-cash prizes and a trip to the European Science on Stage festival, taking place from 24-27 March 2022 in Prague.

At this three-day educational festival, 450 teachers from over 30 countries will come together to present and exchange their innovative teaching concepts in a fair, in workshops, and in short lectures.

This way Mihaela Giurgea and Dr. Corina Toma and their students will inspire teachers throughout Europe.

The video on the final

Project descriptions of the three winning projects:

The winning team:

Mihaela Giurgea and Dr. Corina Toma, Tiberiu Popoviciu "Computer Science High School, Cluj Napoca, Romania

CaeliBox

The CaeliBox is a “magic box”. Using sensors, the students can measure different air parameters (concentration of CO2, humidity, pressure, temperature, noise and other noxious substances) present in their town. The data is transferred to a server so the students can access and work with it any time. Forexample, they could compare the data they collected on warm days with those that were collected on cold days. Also, to find out, where the most polluted areas in their city are.

You can find the project video here!

Second Place

Merve Özer and Ceyda Fidan, Doku Schools, Öveçler/Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey

Good Posture

Because of the pandemic and the resulting school closures, students around the world continue their education digitally. And so, their computer and smartphone usage time has increased. This is taking a toll on the student’s health. This application measures factors such as distance to the screen, sitting posture and movement and gives visual and audible warnings to the student, if something is wrong.

You can find the project video here!

Third Place

Astrinos Tsoutsoudakis and Ioannis Tzagkarakis, Lower Secondary School of Gazi; Model Lower Secondary School of Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Quake Alarm

Earthquakes are very common, especially in countries such as Greece. To raise awareness and cope with students’ anxiety, earthquake preparedness exercises are quite common during the whole school year. Still the experience can be quite stressful if the natural phenomenon occurs. This device first detects the primary waves advising the students to get under their desks. As soon as the secondary waves become very weak it utilizes an Artificial Intelligence (Fuzzy Logic) system to instruct them, at an appropriate time, to leave the classroom to a safer place. Thus, making sure that the evacuation was successful.

You can find the project video here!