These senior high school students have claimed international awards with their impressive astronomical calculations, noninvasive glucometer and an herbal tea that could help to cure cancer.

A year ago, Hilmi Nuruzzaman had to beg his parents to allow him to take part in the astronomy olympiad at provincial level.

He had dengue fever, but his parents eventually allowed him to go to the competition venue in Anyer, Banten, in a hospital ambulance with a drip still attached to his arm.

The student of MAN Insan Cendekia state Islamic boarding senior high school in Serpong, South Tangerang, passed the selection to the national level.

“It’s his perseverance and sincerity that has brought him to pass each stage of the competition,” said school headmistress Persahini Sidik in a recent interview.

As the national competition’s absolute gold medalist — an award given to the participant with the highest scores both on the written test and practice, Hilmi was one of five Indonesian senior high school students selected to compete in the 13th International Olympiad of Astronomy and Astrophysics 2019 in Keszthely, Hungary, from Aug. 2 to 10.

He returned with a silver medal in the individual competition among 260 students from 47 countries and another bronze medal in a team competition in which the teams consists of six students from different countries.

“Astronomy and astrophysics is actually a complicated science that requires both mathematics and physics eloquence,” said Grade 12 student Hilmi, who turned 17 last June and is now planning to become a programmer or data analyst in the future.

Possible panacea: With the help of their teacher, three students from Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan (from left) Yazid, Anggina Rafitri and Aysa Aurealya Maharani developed a herbal tea that can help to cure cancer.(kompas.com/Kurnia Tarigan)

Another student of the school also took part in the olympiad this year and won bronze in economics, but had actually graduated before the competition started.

“Hilmi is the youngest medalist in our school’s history,” Persahini said.

An aficionado of star charts since he was young, he signed up for the science olympiad’s preparation classes at the school at the start of his high school years.

Within the same year, Hilmi passed the first qualification stage at South Tangerang municipal level, which according to Persahini was as tight a competition as the International Olympiad itself.

“All the schools participating in South Tangerang are medalist makers. We are grateful for the school teachers and the national tutors for our students’ achievements despite the limited facilities we have here.

“Winning in August is a gift for the country’s 74th year of independence,” said Persahini.

Other Indonesian high school students recently received international accolades for their achievements in science.

Celestine Wenardy, 16, was one of the five awardees at the Google Science Fair 2019.

The affordable noninvasive glucometer she developed made her eligible for the Virgin Galactic Pioneer Award and scholarships worth US$15,000.

“I have developed an unprecedented noninvasive continuous glucometer that allows for the regular monitoring of blood glucose concentration without drawing blood,” wrote the Grade 10 student of British School Jakarta in her summary of her invention on googlesciencefair.com.

Needle-free: Celestine Wenardy, 16, nabbed an award at the Google Science Fair 2019 with her affordable noninvasive continuous glucometer.(indonesia.googleblog.com)

Realizing how many Indonesians, especially in rural areas, are afraid of syringes, Celeste created the device, which is claimed to be highly accurate despite its low production cost.

Also recently, a team of three students of SMA 2 state senior high school in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, made headlines after achieving a gold medal at the 8th World Invention Creativity Olympic 2019 in Seoul, South Korea.

The students, Yazid, Anggina Rafitri and Aysa Aurealya Maharani, developed herbal tea they concocted from the wood of bajakah — a plant endemic to Kalimantan forests — that can help to cure cancer.

With the help of their biology teacher Herlita Gusran, they started their research in 2017 to examine Yazid’s family’s ancestral concoction which, according to Yazid, had been used to cure cancer.

As currently many people visit Palangkaraya to meet with the students and look for the bajakah plant, the provincial administration will soon file for patent rights of the plant and its use.