Mumbai: Meghnaad Vijaykar, a 9-year-old Grade 4 student of Billabong High International School (BHIS) Santacruz achieved the top position in the National Design Championship 2021 for coding in the junior category. The results were announced on 26th September. Students from all over India like North, South, East & West regions participated in this championship. Meghnaad participated from the west region.
Meghanaad achieved the top position for designing a code for a memory game using his Microbit V2 mini-computer. He is now eligible for the National Level championship, where the winners of all 4 regions will participate and compete with him. Meghnaad started learning coding at the beginning of the pandemic. He learned coding by just watching YouTube videos. He kept increasing his knowledge and levels of learning by himself. When he came to know about the National Design Championship 2021, he was super excited and chose to participate in it.
Elated on winning, Meghnaad, said, “I am delighted to have won and to represent the west region. I love coding. At the event, the topic given to me was a memory game. I designed a code and used my Microbit V2 to bring the idea alive. I designed a simple yet very catchy memory game, where people had to remember a secret code in a flash of 5 seconds. The secret code had just 2 letters, A and B for the game. If someone gets it wrong, the microbit would flash across along with a sound, and the answer is right, it would flash a tick mark along with a different sound. In the jury round, I was asked many questions regarding my knowledge about coding this game. I would like to thank my parents and teachers including my principal for their continuous support, guidance and motivation, as a result of which I won this championship.”
Delighted with student achievement, Nikhat Azam, Principal, BHIS Santacruz said, “At Billabong High International School, we have ensure that our children pursue their passions. Our goal is to encourage children to find their north star- the thing they truly love and are passionate about. This is facilitated through constant encouragement when our Billabongers wish to explore different pursuits. We also have a dedicated ‘genius hour’ which is part of our curriculum that ensures our children spend 1 hour a week on their passion projects. This is something that large MNCs do, however we have started it in school itself. Children can take up any project and hone it over the year. This enhances self-directed learning which is why we have seen in Meghnaad’s case. He won the championship by learning coding all by himself during the pandemic. This is an achievement in itself. We are very proud of Meghnaad’s achievement and wish him all the best for the Nationals.”
National Design Championship provides a platform for school students, age 6 to 16 years, to showcase their creativity and talent in App Design, Game Design, Graphic Design, 3D Design, Coding, Web Design and Movie Making. Since its inception in 2014, more than 85,000 participants across India have built 5200+ Games, 1200+ Movies, 2500+ Graphics, 800+ Apps and 1100+ Industrial Design. The competition aims to empower students with digital, life and design skills that are essential to thrive in the future workplace. They can choose their career in the design & tech fields, marketing, sales and advertising, arts & crafts, broadcast media, performing arts, journalism and publishing, construction, healthcare, engineering, and manufacturing
