Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science (LKC FES) alumni Elton Mah Song Zhe, Tan Xuan Qing, Alvin Lim Yi Xuan, Jonathan Yeo Ing Jing and LKC FES master’s student Poy Yi Ler won the Regional Winners 2023 award and Highly Commended 2023 award at the Global Undergraduate Awards 2023.

Elton Mah was awarded the Regional (Asia) Winners 2023 award and Highly Commended 2023 award for his project titled Charge-induced actuation of two dimensional (2D) Niobium based transition-metal dichalcogenides: A first-principles study; while Tan, Alvin Lim, Poy and Jonathan Yeo received Highly Commended 2023 award for their project titled Triboelectric Nanogenerator by Common Household Materials in Smart Shoe Application.

Supervised by LKC FES academics Dr Yeoh Keat Hoe and Assoc Prof Ir Dr Chee Pei Song, the winners walked away with certificates of recognition. Besides that, they were also given a chance to publish their submission in the Undergraduate Library; access the Undergraduate Awards Alumni Network, and attend the Undergraduate Awards Global Summit.

The winners said, “First of all, it was a great honour to have our work commended by international organisations. We were the only Malaysian team shortlisted in the engineering group. We never thought that our work could shine on the international stage. This, however, could never be done without the help of all my team members, who worked hard to refine the work. Our work was inspired by the ‘Microelectromechanical System’, which is taught by Dr Chee. Everyone spends a lot of time walking every day, but the energy is never captured. If we can capture the energy and convert it into a useful application, we can save our environment too.”

They added, “Being commended by the UA was an additional point to us, but most importantly we learned a lot about triboelectric nanogenerator and also completed a proper journal article. This recognition by the UA gives us confidence that our project is going in the right direction. We’ll bring this honour and continue to enhance the project application.”

The Global Undergraduate Awards is the world’s leading undergraduate awards programme which recognises top undergraduate work; shares this work with a global audience; and connects students across cultures and disciplines. This event provides a unique opportunity for undergraduates to have their work recognised by an international panel of expert judges working in some of the world’s top academic institutions.