UTAR students win OGTEC prizes

Two Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) team won prizes at the Oil and Gas Technology Expo and Conference (OGTEC) 2011 held in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai from 22 to 24 November 2011.

It was the first time the UTM student chapter of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) organised the OGTEC, which aimed to promote students' interest in the latest trends and technology of the oil and gas industry.

UTAR team comprising first-year Petrochemical Engineering students Choo Chun Yap and Voon Zhen Yu won the second prize in a visual art competition on future technology in oil and gas industry.  While second- year Petrochemical Engineering students Chan Jiun Haur, Daniel Yong Onn Hee, Fan Kar Hoe, Ooi Chee Cheng and Ooi San Nee finished the SPE Student Chapter Charity Explore Race in the fourth place. 

Choo and Voon designed their winning poster entitled "Think Green, Think Hybrid" based on their research on hydrogen hybrid car.  In the visual art competition, each team was required to create a 2D poster depicting an aspect of health, safety and environment, which is to be judged based on the relevance of the idea and the team's creativity.

"The judges commented that our concept was specific and well expressed in the poster, but the fonts used in the poster could not deliver a strong impression to the audience," said Choo.  He added that his team was weak in presentation and the competition provided them with an opportunity to learn presentation skills from other teams.

"In the race, we learned the importance of teamwork and cooperation, and to think logically and rationally in different situations. We also had a great time mingling with students from other universities," said Chan.   The charity explore race was held to strengthen the bond among the student chapters of the participating universities while doing charity.  The proceeds from the cash prizes were donated to charity homes.  Chan hoped that they could participate in such a race again.

Activities held at the OGTEC included a conference, talks by industrial experts, paper presentation, and competitions.  There was a discussion session among the student chapters of participating universities, which were UTAR, UTM and Universiti Teknologi Mara from Malaysia; Institute Teknologi Bandung, Universitas Indonesia, and Universitas Yogyakarta from Indonesia; Peking University, China; and University of Wellesley, Australia.

UTAR partcipants Choo (second from left) and Voon (Choo's right) with other participants



UTAR racers (from left): Chan, Yong, Fan, Chee Cheng, and San Nee