The UTAR - Malaysian Invention and Design Society (MINDS) Chapter was officially launched at UTAR Kampar Campus on 8 July 2023.

Invited to officiate the opening of the UTAR-MINDS Chapter was President of MINDS Academician Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Augustine Ong Soon Hock. On hand to receive him was UTAR Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong. Other invited guests included Chairman of MINDS Perak Chairman Tan Kim Seng, and esteemed speakers, namely Dr Chakr Sri Na Nagara, Dr Leo Ann Mean, P. Kandiah and Cheah Bok Eng.

Congratulating UTAR for being one of the local institutions of higher learning to have a student chapter, Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Augustine Ong welcomed the members to keep in close contact with MINDS. He expressed his confidence and enthused, “I hope that UTAR-MINDS Chapter will collaborate to jointly look into more invention, creativity, innovation, research and development, and industrial design.”

On behalf of UTAR, Prof Choong expressed, “UTAR is thankful to collaborate with MINDS to launch the UTAR-MINDS Student Chapter, which aims to encourage creative thinking and spirit of invention among the students at UTAR. I hope through the UTAR-MINDS Chapter, UTAR students will get support and guidance in new inventions and products idea.”

The event reached its highlight when the guests were invited to officially launch the opening of the UTAR-MINDS Chapter. The event was then followed by four insightful talks by speakers, aimed at providing participants with updates and knowledge on inventions. 

The seminar kick-started with the first talk titled “Creativity, invention and innovation” by Dr Leo Ann Mean. The talk provided a unique opportunity for young minds to explore creativity, invention, science and humanities.

Subsequently, the event was followed by another enriching talk titled “Intellectual property” by P. Kandiah. Kandiah has vast experience in assisting local and foreign clients in obtaining patents, registered trademarks and registered designs, having done so since 1987. In his talk, he shared his experience in assisting inventors in obtaining strong patents that provided broader scope of exclusivity of the invention; conducting freedom to operate (FTO) analysis; creating new products or processes together with clients that do not infringe third party patent or design right.

The seminar then continued with the third talk titled “Innovation from the lens of industry” by Cheah Bok Eng. Cheah is a senior staff engineer. He is responsible for the electrical development works of mixed-signal intellectual property (IP) designs for client, 5G networking, and server applications. He said innovation is about problem-solving and an equation that solves complex problems and formulate solutions that help improve the way people live and communicate. His talk touched the aspects of semiconductor packaging and interconnect technologies for computing, laptop and mobile device applications.

Last but not least, the final talk was delivered by Dr Chakr Sri Na Nagara. The talk titled “Invention” explained invention meaning something that has never been made before, or the process of creating something that has never been made before. Dr Chakr also explained that the current era is marked by the rapid convergence of various cutting-edge technologies, which have led to groundbreaking inventions in various fields. He emphasised that one of the most influential areas of innovation is Artificial Intelligence (AI) and he said it has permeated nearly every aspect of our lives, from personalised digital assistants to advanced medical diagnostics and self-driving vehicles.

The seminar then came to an end with souvenir presentations and a group photography session.