An extraordinary gap year

Manas Biju

While his fellow CIS secondary school graduates were entering their first year of university, Manas Biju was beginning his job as a research assistant at the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

Manas is one of many CIS students who have experienced the benefits of taking a “gap year” between graduation and university. Taking a year off before going to university has become so popular that dozens of books have been published on how to get the most out of a gap year, including books for parents on how to help their children benefit from taking time off before university.

As Manas’ experiences demonstrates, a gap year does not mean a gap in learning. Students who take a break from structured academics often continue the learning process, just in a different format.

Students choose to take a gap year for many reasons. Some want to follow a passion, others want to become immersed in another culture. Others are not yet ready for university. Students who take a gap year are said to gain experience and maturity, and to be more independent, and self-directed. A gap year can help them acquire new skills and perspectives. It can offer a chance to focus on a particular area of interest in a hands on way. That is exactly what Manas did.

Manas was only 14 years old, and the youngest student in grade 11, when he joined CIS in 2014 and began the two year Diploma Programme. His father had visited several schools in Singapore before choosing CIS for his son. He was confident CIS would challenge Manas and give him the opportunity to grow and to explore his own interests beyond the classroom. According to Manas, that’s exactly what happened. At CIS he was encouraged to pursue his passions - to go beyond the syllabus and think big. The school helped him take ownership of the learning process and prepared him for the real world challenges that laid ahead.

While he worked towards his IB diploma, he balanced his studies with his passion for robotics and computer science. In January 2015, Manas was a keynote speaker at CIS’ 2nd annual Code Avengers Code Camp, showcasing his experience in these two areas. He inspired younger students by talking about his love of coding. He did this while demonstrating his unique remote controlled vehicle - one he had designed and programmed to move in a unidirectional way. Unlike traditional driving methods, the vehicle knew where “front” was, based on the position of the operator rather than front always being the front of the car.

Graduating at age 16, Manas felt he was too young to leave home for university overseas and he wanted to finish a few projects he had put on hold while he completed his IB studies. This included a robotics project to create a radio-controlled sphere.

While in the midst of his IB exams in May 2016, Manas was invited to apply for a position in the Materials Science Division at NTU. There, he collaborated with Professor Rajkumar Pant of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in Mumbai on the design and development of an indoor airship (“blimp”) that could operate on its own, by maintaining a safe distance and avoiding obstacles in an indoor hall. Watch the integration and flight testing of the airship.

Manas co-authored a paper with Professor Pant and they presented the results of their research and development at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Lighter-Than-Air Systems Technology Conference in Denver, Colorado this June.

Last month, Manas began his studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, home to one of the top 5 computer science programs in the United States. There, he will walk in the footsteps of such notable alumni as the founders of YouTube and PayPal and the creator of JavaScript. Manas plans to major in computer science and pursue his interests in physics and economics. We are incredibly proud of Manas and know that great things lay ahead for him.