Front row, from left: Ooi, Cheah, Yam, Prof Saleh, Prof Chuah, Yeoh, Choo and Dr Tan giving their thumbs up with the participants
A robotics competition to raise public awareness of climate change was jointly organised by UTAR’s Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology (FEGT) and the Technological Association of Malaysia (TAM) in conjunction with FEGT’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)-centric KEY Fiesta 2019 from 22 to 23 June 2019 at UTAR Kampar Campus.
The first state-level robotics competition in Perak, the Ecobot Competition was open to primary, secondary and tertiary students to build a robot that is not only environmentally friendly but has the functions to combat climate change and its effects. The KEY Fiesta 2019, on the other hand, is an initiative by FEGT students to introduce the faculty’s departments, namely the departments of Electronic Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Petrochemical Engineering, and Construction Management, and programmes through exhibitions, workshops as well as talks. Both served as platforms which essentially promotes STEM education and learning.
Officiating the fiesta and the competition during the opening ceremony on 22 June was the Deputy Director-General of Higher Education for Private Higher Education Institution (Timbalan Ketua Pengarah Pendidikan Tinggi (IPTS)) Prof Dato’ Ir Dr Mohd Saleh Jaafar who represented the Minister of Education Dr Maszlee Malik. Also present were UTAR President Ir Prof Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik, TAM President Ts Ir Yam Teong Sian, ViTrox Corporation Berhad Senior Vice President Yeoh Shih Hoong, Jelapang state assemblyman Cheah Pau Hian, Malaysian Service Providers’ Confederation (MSPC) CEO Ts Ir Choo Kok Beng, Ecobot Competition advisor from TAM Ooi Kah Biew, FEGT Deputy Dean for Student Development and Industrial Training Dr Tan Kok Tat representing FEGT Dean Assoc Prof Dr Yap Vooi Voon, KEY Fiesta Organising Chairperson Foo Yue Yan, and Ecobot Organising Chairperson Dr Leong Kah Hon.
Highlighting UTAR’s various community engagement initiatives in line with its founding principle of by the people for the people, Prof Chuah also mentioned UTAR’s effort in promoting STEM education to pique schoolchildren’s interests. “UTAR has been working with the ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology (AAET), Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), and the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) in organising the Kuala Lumpur Engineering Science Fair (KLESF) annually since 2014. Last year alone, the three-day fair managed to attract over 65,000 visitors,” Prof Chuah said, pointing out that both KLESF and KEY Fiesta share the same purpose of making science and engineering interesting and easy to learn among schoolchildren, further giving them the confidence to pursue studies in STEM-related fields in the future.
The University President also advised the school students present at the fiesta to re-look at science and engineering differently. “We create things which have never existed before and use those creations to benefit mankind such as improving the lives of people. Therefore, I really hope most of you can consider science and engineering as your career choices because the nation needs more talents in these fields to progress further,” Prof Chuah encouraged.
Prof Chuah assuring the students that STEM subjects are not as difficult as most perceive them to be
Thanking the organisers on behalf of the Ministry of Education (MOE) for the invitation, Prof Saleh also revealed that in one of the studies reported by the Ministry, almost 70% of students have expressed low interest in STEM subjects. He said this is a worrisome problem as the nation requires STEM talents in the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). “MOE feels that STEM should be made more accessible and approachable through the implementation of three policy shifts in STEM education under the STEM For All (STEM4ALL) initiative. Such shifts include increasing students’ interest in STEM by encouraging teachers to be creative, expanding access to learn STEM subjects even to those in the rural areas and rebranding STEM to STREAM (Science, Technology, Reading, Arts and Mathematics),” he revealed, adding that plenty of the ancient scientists were also philosophers who appreciated life first before inducing science into life, thus reflecting the importance of integrating arts and science to make STEM subjects less insipid.
Likening the efforts of promoting STEM to the African proverb “It takes a whole village to raise a child”, Prof Saleh said, “MOE alone cannot push for STEM effectively without the support of various bodies. Therefore, we truly appreciate the initiatives by UTAR, in organising the annual KLESF, and TAM as a technical association for partnering with UTAR to organise the Ecobot competition.” The Deputy Director-General’s final advice to the students is that the progress of science must be matched equally with morality and humanistic values.
Prof Saleh underscoring the three policy shifts mooted by MOE to spur students’ interests in STEM
The opening ceremony reached its highlight with Prof Saleh, Prof Chuah and Yam being invited on stage to officially launch the KEY Fiesta and Ecobot competition.
Prof Saleh (middle) officiating the KEY Fiesta and Ecobot Competition while Prof Chuah (right) and Yam look on
With a total of 18 teams consisting approximately 70 participants from 10 primary and secondary schools around Perak taking part in the two-day Ecobot competition, the teams had to pitch their ideas and present their inventions to the judging panel comprising academics, researchers as well as industry experts. With most competitors being edged out in the first day’s preliminary round, each category saw three remaining teams battling it out until the following day to vie for the first spot in their respective category.
Prof Chuah (right) presenting a token of appreciation to Prof Saleh (middle) while Yam looks on
Prof Saleh (in white) listening to the presentations by the accompanying teachers on their respective students’ projects
Prof Saleh posing some questions to the participants and exploring some of the booths
Prof Saleh (in white) being accompanied by Dr Leong (second from right) and Ooi
Prof Chuah trying out a prototype by one of the participating teams
FEGT students at their respective booths promoting the different departments
The closing ceremony on 23 June was graced by Perak State Executive Council (EXCO) of Youth and Sports Development Howard Lee Chuan How who was received by Yam and Dr Yap. Also present were ViTrox People Management Manager Yeoh Siew Eng and TAM Perak Branch President Steven Shum Wai Koon.
Informing the audience that the Ecobot competition will certainly not be a first-and-last competition in the silver state, Yam said the event is in line with TAM’s social responsibility to conduct as well as support activities promoting STEM. “Organising such an event with UTAR is indeed timely because it provides a platform for discussion and evaluation of technological issues and advancement in the new paradigm of 4IR. The Ecobot competition and KEY Fiesta are testaments to the works TAM fully supports because they are the initiatives needed to cultivate the interest in science and technology among the younger generation,” Yam remarked and conveyed his gratitude to the working committee of UTAR who has tirelessly worked since August 2018.
Yam expressing his delight and honour to witness TAM and UTAR working hand in hand in promoting STEM through the Ecobot Competition
Intrigued by the Ecobot Competition’s humble approach of involving the participants and even their mentors in tackling climate change, Lee felt that the competition has proven that with STEM knowledge, anyone is capable to contribute their ideas to improve the environment. “Following the United Nations’ (UN) identification of 17 goals in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the knowledge in science and technology should be put to good use with the intention to meet sustainable goals as well as alleviate sufferings even more. You don’t have to be somebody highly qualified to help the world, but you just have to do something in your capacity,” he said, adding that climate change comes under the 13th UN SDG goal which is Climate Action.
Also shedding light on how 4IR will unprecedentedly affect human civilisation, Lee prognosticated that as much as the meteoric rise in technological progress sounds exciting, it could also lead to disruption as how the advent of digitisation did to videotapes as well as a whole industry which relied on it. “While the previous and even current technological transition gave people time to change, recover, retrain skills and adapt themselves, we may not have the luxury of time anymore in the future because the speed of transition is going to be twofold or even more. Likewise, the 50 to 70 per cent of jobs we see today will just disappear in 10 years’ time due to 5G, automation and robotics,” he stated. The Youth and Sports EXCO also assured that there is still a silver lining in the clouds if we find purpose in our work as well as invention. “In the past, ‘profit’ and ‘purpose’ were on the polar opposites. Today, some of the largest tech companies and successful businesses out there are what they are today because they have helped solve fundamental problems. Therefore, for the next 10 years or even next 10 generations, profit will be available when and only when it’s mixed with purpose as well as a greater purpose,” he encouraged.
Lee expounding the “prosperity equation” of “P (profit) + P (purpose) x P (greater purpose) = Prosperity”
The closing ceremony reached its climax when the Ecobot competition winners were revealed. The list of winning teams is as follows:
Primary Category:
Champion: SJK(C) Hua Lian Team 1 (comprising Ong Tze Tao, James Tung Teng Hin and Lee Ches Lynn)
Project Title: Super Vacuum
1st Runner-up: SJK(T) Changkat (comprising Ashlynn Joshini George, Anbuchelvan Moorthy, Veronica Anne, Reeshan and Abineshwaran Rajenthiran)
Project Title: Gajan, the Farmer’s Helper
2nd Runner-up: SJK(C) Hua Lian Team 2 (comprising Chloe Chee Shu Ting, Ahmad Qayyum bin Anuar and Wong Wai Yin)
Project Title: Environmental Fan
Secondary Category:
Champion: Kolej Melayu Kuala Kangsar (comprising Ahmad Iqbal Fikri bin Khairi, Muhammad Ameer Ridzuan bin Muhammad Helme, Muhammad Hafiy Naim bin Mohd Ismadi, Muhammad Arif bin Shahrudin and Mohammad Hilmi bin Omar)
Project Title: Safe Car Vent
1st Runner-up: SM Yuk Kwan Team 2 (comprising Yap Yu Jie, Leong Mun Hou, Lee Kevin, Sasitaran a/lGanesan and Dhanendran Rajasegaran)
Project Title: SKY-DL16
2nd Runner-up: SMA Maahad Al-Mizan (comprising Muhammad Nur Ferdaous bin Sharif, Muhammad Azim Hariz bin Zawawi and Ahmad Haziq bin Mohd Khaidzir)
Project Title: Smart Home Al-Mizan
Tertiary Category:
Champion: UTAR Team 2 (comprising Lim Jee Hean, Teoh Yuann Yun, Chong Chun Keat and Tan Ing Ming)
Project Title: Smart Collector Solar Car
1st Runner-up: UTAR Team 1 (comprising Lim Wan Xiang, Goh Ching Lei, Lim Tze Hang, Foo Long Guang and Hew Zi Bin)
Project Title: Automatic Pick-and-Plant Robot
Group photo of the guests, all winners and their accompanying teachers
Each winning team walked away with cash prize, certificates, medals and a trophy.
As the organising chairpersons, Dr Leong and Foo also expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the organising committee, fellow FEGT colleagues, and students for the concerted effort in making this inaugural fiesta and state-level competition possible despite having less than a year’s time for planning.
“What makes KEY Fiesta special is that the idea originated from FEGT’s course-based societies. The students wanted to help promote STEM and FEGT programmes to the younger generation. It also served as a good platform for the four societies to work together in helping FEGT to showcase the faculty’s students’ capability and creativity in their fields of studies as well via the exhibition of their research projects and so on,” Dr Leong said, adding that the Ecobot Competition, on the other hand, aims to inculcate the younger generation with a strong interest in science and technology. “Through this competition, we hope to inspire more budding professional technologist so that they could be the driving force in expediting the government’s vision of transforming Malaysia into a developed nation in the near future,” the Environmental Engineering academic concluded.
Themed ‘Past, Present, Future’ and coupled with the fiesta’s name “KEY”, the KEY Fiesta denotes the fields of engineering and technology as a key which could unlock the past, present as well as the future.
Sponsored by ViTrox Corporation Berhad, the KEY Fiesta and Ecobot Competition were also supported by MOE as well as the Perak State Government.
Lee (right) presenting a certificate of appreciation to ViTrox representative Yeoh (second from right) while Dr Yap (second from left) and Dr Leong look on
Yam (right) presenting a souvenir to Lee (right) while Dr Yap looks on
Lee learning about the projects by the winning teams
Lee (second from right) checking out the “Super Vacuum” project by SJK(C) Hua Lian Team 1 while Yam (third from right), Dr Yap (third from left), and Dr Leong look on
UTAR Team 2 explaining to Lee their winning project which also secured a sponsorship of RM5,000 from Lee to develop their prototype
All smiles by the guests, winning teams as well as accompanying teachers
Scintillating performances by the UTAR Wushu Club (top photo) for the opening ceremony and the Chinese Orchestra Unit (photo below) for the closing ceremony
Primary and Secondary School students exploring their STEM interests from the KEY Fiesta’s line-up of engineering and technology workshops
Talks during the KEY Fiesta
The judging panel evaluating the Ecobot Competition projects
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