FICT secures special award and three medals at In-ViDE 2021

The participation by Faculty of Information and Communication Technology academic Ts Dr Lee Chen Kang and his students, namely Lim ShienShen and Tan Jian Yee in the International Virtual Expo of Innovation Product and System Design 2021 (In-ViDE 2021) saw the trio winning a special award and three medals for their research.
Themed ‘Revolutionized Innovation: Embracing the New Norm’, the expo aimed to give exposure to various levels of inventors, as well as encourage the culture of innovation design focused on latest technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Covid- 19 related technologies and inventions, in line with the theme of the expo. It was organised by University Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Malaysia Innovation Foundation, and National Planetarium Malaysia from 27 October to 22 November 2021.

Dr Lee was awarded the “National Planetarium Best Innovation Award” and “Inventor Gold Award” for his research titled “Advanced Technology Assisted Learning Software for Mechanic Dynamics”. “It is an honour for me to get the first place, joining the various experts to deliver our research findings in such a competitive platform. I participated in the expo to gain further constructive feedback from the judges and experts to improve my research innovation. I did not expect a medal, therefore, I am very grateful and happy for the recognition received and I extend my gratitude to my collaboration partner Ts Prof Dr Manjit for his courage and guidance throughout my research journey,” enthused Dr Lee.

He added, “Gaining this honour and recognition would have not been possible without the support from the FICT management and colleagues. Their motivations have enabled me to complete my research. I am also thankful to UTAR for providing the essential support and facilities to make all these happen. I hope that all researchers will keep their spirit of exploring, investigating and validating because these are the important elements to complete a research.”

In this research, Dr Lee and his team invented and employed an innovative approach using digital media technologies that involved 2-D animation, 3-D animation and Desktop Virtual Reality (DVR) to design and implement an integrated unique 3-D engineering problem-solving software. The technique and design approach (step-by-step sequential approach) showed that the application did help the students in understanding the problem better through proper visualization with the aid of interactivity features. His research is also related to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education that served the needs of engineering education 4.0 by providing better interactivity to engage the learners further in aiding the visualization for problem-solving process in engineering mechanics dynamics.

He further explained, “This research is the extension efforts of my previous PhD research that aimed to assist the Mechanical engineering students to solve their problems, especially the difficulty in visualizing some of the engineering concepts that involved dynamic motions, complex calculations, particularly in the z-axis. This research is a collaboration research with Universiti Tenaga Nasional that intend to contribute to better engineering education, especially during the era of industrial revolution 4.0. Through the use of digital media technologies that involved 2-D animation and 3-D animation, we convert the static engineering model illustrated in plain text and static image into the dynamic form of illustration. The empirical result of the invention is positive and encouraging, especially in supporting / aiding engineering problem-solving. The outcome of the research innovation is helpful especially to aid in the visualization of engineering problem-solving  associated with mechanics dynamics in tertiary education (engineering domain).”

Lim also won the “Inventor Gold Award” with her research titled “Computer Aided Learning (CAL) Software for Geography”. “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Lee, who had given me the opportunity to undertake this development research. I also appreciate my supervisor for introducing and encouraging me to take part in it. He had given me much useful guidance and advice all along the way. I would like to send my thanks to UTAR for providing me with the resources and opportunities for the development of my character. I appreciate that UTAR has offered various courses that enabled me to have a more comprehensive development on my foundation and this is one of the contributing factors to my achievement,” enthused Lim.

The learning software in Lim’s research is mainly developed with the content focusing on Form Two geography syllabus on global warming, which also makes the Form Two students her target audience. The aim was to increase their awareness of global warming. Her research is also related to SDG 13: Climate Action.

She explained, “Climate change is a widely discussed topic and every country has been affected by it. Hence, there is a need to raise awareness of climate change among the communities. It can be done by instilling this awareness in smaller groups, and gradually, more people will be aware of the importance of taking action towards climate change. Essentially, this will contribute to the sustainable development of climate action. Apart from raising awareness on climate change, I was also interested in developing multimedia research, and because of this research and usage of multimedia, I am able to include many different learning processes and environments for the target audience.”

Tan, on the other hand, was awarded the “Inventor Silver Award” for his research titled “Digital Cultural Heritage Learning Software for WayangKulit”. “I feel very grateful to Dr Lee for introducing this expo to me. It was a good platform not only for my breakthrough, but also for exchanging knowledge with other participants. Learning has no limit, so the knowledge I receive will help me to improve further. With good knowledge and skills in incorporating business needs or information systems/solutions, I managed to win the judges’ hearts. Innovation is very important to me because every innovation is precious. It provided me with an opportunity to attain a breakthrough. Thank you UTAR for giving me this opportunity to challenge myself. I am happy to be able to apply the learning skills I have learned at UTAR, such as multimedia knowledge which includes text, audio, graphics, animation and other elements, to complete my research,” enthused Tan.

He also explained, “This research is not like any other researches as it requires one to understand the content before developing it.  It was a big challenge for to me to multitask. However, it was very meaningful to do this topic because I know it will make some contribution to society. It helps people to easily get familiar with the topic by utilising multimedia elements. With this software, people will be able to learn about the history and culture of WayangKulit anytime, anywhere, by providing the users with basic knowledge of WayangKulit, restoring the performance of WayangKulit, giving users augmented reality experience of the characters, and educating users on the process of making WayangKulit.”

Tan’s research is also related to SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities, specifically on the target that calls for strengthening efforts to protect and safeguard the world's cultural and natural heritage. “This software is related to the history and culture of WayangKulit, so it is very meaningful to work on this research so we can preserve it and pass it on to the next generation. There are still some parts of the software that can be further improved and modified, so I am looking forward to enhancing the features,” said Tan.

International Virtual Expo of Innovation Product and System Design 2021 (In-ViDE 2021) is an innovation competition, in which, innovation products and systems related to various science and technological fields are exhibited as a solution for the presented problems. The expo was held for the first time as a national level exhibition in 2020. It received a total of 220 participants from various schools and institutes of higher learning (IHL) as well as open inventors. It is hoped that the expo will be able to open the mind of the participants towards the latest technologies and design.