UTAR Stair Climbing Campaign

Tired of waiting for the elevators on campus all the time? There is no better time to join the UTAR Stair Climbing Campaign from now until 10 April 2016 at UTAR Sungai Long Campus. Studies show that lack of physical activities can heighten the risk of many non-communicable diseases.

“This initiative aims to improve campus health by reducing elevator congestion and the energy used by elevators in the transportation of staff and students up and down on campus,” said Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) Head of Department of Medicine and Chairperson of Centre for Research on Non-Communicable Disease (CRNCD) Prof Dr Shelly Soo.

Elevator congestion at KB block and physical inactivity among staff and students sparked the need for Prof Soo to improve campus health. “I was also told that a few other lecturers from Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science (LKC FES) are also keen to solve the elevator congestion at KB block as well. Therefore, we got together and started this campaign,” she said.

Stair climbing is a unique form of exercise that can have a powerful and positive impact on your health over time. It does not require any special skills, training, or sporting prowess. Climbing just eight flights of stairs a day lowers average early mortality risk by 33%.

By raising our heart rate, stair climbing helps protect against high blood pressure, weight gain, and clogging of blood vessels. In addition, climbing stairs improves strength, bone density, mental health, and muscle tone. It reduces the risk of developing chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, vascular dementia, osteoporosis, and even some cancers.

Together with LKC FES, a unique mobile application was developed to enable users to track their stats such as number of steps climbed, travelling time, calories burnt, amount of energy saved, and the like. 

“We hope the data on the app would be able to encourage and motivate people to use the stairs more often. The app is the fruit and labour of LKC FES lecturers and students, who built and designed the app inhouse for the campaign,” Prof Soo said.

Led by Prof Soo, the campaign is a joint effort by LKC FES lecturers, Ir Dr Khoo Hooi Ling, Dr Tan Lee Fan, Dr Gloria Teng Ai Hui, Chua Kein Huat, Ooi Ean Huat, and Chew Chun Hong; and FMHS lecturers, Dr Thinn Yu Aung, Dr Hnin Pwint Phyu, and Pramod Divakara Shenoy.

UTAR Stair Campaign mobile app tutorial

UTAR Stair Campaign app on Google Play

To get the app for Android, head to the Google Play Store, search for UTAR Stair Campaign and download the app. For first time users, you are required to sign up. A detailed guide on using the app can be found here, http://bit.ly/1TRQxsb. Users are able to scan the QR codes located on every level. Once you reach your destination make sure to scan out and you will receive the data.

AppSheet for iOS

iOS users are required to download an app called AppSheet from the Apple App Store. Next, open this URL, http://bit.ly/24CSvjN, using the Safari on your iDevices. Users will be greeted with the following menu.

Select, install UTAR Stair Climbing Record and you will be prompted to add the app onto your home screen. Click on the added app on the home screen, and you will be taken to the registration page.

Unlike the Android version, there will be no QR scanner. Instead, select Level In when you start climbing. Once you arrive at your destination, select Level Out. Select Save and the data will be available.