The pair--representing the foundation of young scientists in Luxembourg (FJSL), which announced the win on Friday--bring back the silver medal for their work, which uses the example of noise-cancelling headphones to explain the mechanisms and applications behind the Fourier analysis. The two first showcased at FJSL’s 50th National Jonk Fuerscher contest end-March. 

“We are really excited to have participated in Intoc and actually be on the podium,” Ma (pictured above, left) and Luo (above, right) said of the win. “We especially appreciated the support and guidance from our supervisors.” 

The two also won first prize in their project field of mathematics, and their second rank overall win placed them just after the Philippines and ahead of the US. 

Theirs was one of 186 projects from 21 countries at Intoc, which this year saw 550 individuals pitch to a panel of scientists and researchers from a wide range of fields. Also amongst the participants was Sarah Mackel (17), fellow ISL student and National Jonk Fuerscher participant, whose chemistry project explored the role of sulfur dioxide in the winemaking process, through the exploration of Ripper titration. 

Intoc Global--which took place in Ankara, Turkey, from 29 May to 5 June--aims to encourage youngsters to find solutions to real-world problems.