WITH the lessened interest of the youth in science and technology, there is a need to bring science to the people, said former Senator Leticia R. Shahani, during the 55th annual convention of the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science (Philaas) held last Sept. 14-15 at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex.
With the theme “Connecting People with Science,” the convention aimed to interest the youth through science and technology lectures and interactive educational exhibits.
Shahani emphasized the need to cultivate interest in science and technology among the youth by bringing science to the countryside and constant dialogue between policy-makers and scientists. She said that the youth should be exposed to different science facilities such as science parks, aquariums, and mini-planetariums, among others.
“These facilities need not be expensive or imported from abroad but they must be imaginatively conceived, with integrity, truth and honesty, reflecting and explaining our immediate surroundings,” she said.
Meanwhile, the exhibitors included Shell Philippines, Metamedia Information Systems (MIS), the Philippine Foundation for Science and Technology (PFST), and selected freshmen from the College of Science.
“The exhibits were meant to attract the young so they can see how interesting science can be,” Dr. Fortunato Sevilla, dean of the College of Science, told the Varsitarian.
Shell displayed booths of the Malampaya Deep-Water to Gas Project, while MIS and PFST held youth-oriented interactive displays that tackled forces, electricity and magnetism, perception, and light. Science students, meanwhile, demonstrated the process of creating natural and synthetic fragrances and simple forensic procedures like chemical fingerprinting.
