Curtin Sarawak Open Day on 8 October could change your life and inspire your future!

Miri – 26 August 2016 – Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) will be holding its tenth Open Day on 8 October 2016 and, according to the university, it could very well change your life and inspire your future – particularly if you are a potential student.

The Open Day is geared to give visitors a taste of life at Curtin Sarawak, Curtin University’s largest international campus with over 4,000 students from more than 45 countries.

This year’s event will include new features aimed at attracting potential students, who have made up the majority of visitors in recent years. It will be a great opportunity for them to explore the campus, learn more about the world-ranked Curtin courses it offers, and speak with student recruitment staff, lecturers and current students.

Among the new features will be a number of exciting competitions open to students from secondary schools throughout East Malaysia, as well as interesting showcases of the university’s faculties and graduate school at a new-concept ‘Future Students Hub’.

The competitions and showcases are designed for greater engagement with future students and give them a fun, hands-on learning experience in a festival-like atmosphere. They are also aimed at generating interest in the various fields of study at Curtin Sarawak, which are engineering and related sciences, business and humanities.

Foremost among the competitions is the ‘Curtin Ultimate Croc Challenge’, an electronics competition organised by the Faculty of Engineering and Science that is slated to become an annual feature of the Open Day. It will see 17 secondary school teams competing to design the most innovative ‘crocodile sensor’ using programmable microcontroller kits.

Other competitions will be the ‘Business Genius Challenge’, a business knowledge quiz, and the ‘So You Think You Can Spell?” spelling challenge organised by the Faculty of Business and Faculty of Humanities respectively.

They are open students in the upper forms and participation is free of charge. Winning teams stand to win attractive prizes and students and teachers from the competing schools are welcome to be spectators.

In addition, there will be the semi-finals and finals of a Curtin Gaming Championship jointly organised by the Faculty of Engineering and Science and the university’s student council and international student association. Sponsored by Stratos PC, the championship will feature up to 32 teams playing DOTA 2 and FIFA.

Yet another highlight will be the ‘Young Innovate Miri’ being held as part of the nationwide ‘Young Innovate’ programme and national embedded system design competition. ‘Young Innovate’ is aimed at inspiring secondary students’ passion in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), developing their living skills and exposing them to open-source hardware and software.

‘Young Innovate Miri’ will see the participation of some 30 teams from secondary schools, as well as 10 teams from Curtin Sarawak competing in the open category. The top three schools will represent Sarawak at ‘Young Innovate Malaysia’, the national competition to be held in Kuala Lumpur during the annual KL Engineering Science Fair.

At the ‘Future Students Hub’, future students will get to gather first-hand knowledge about what courses and how to enrol. There will also be guided tours of facilities to give them a feel of the campus.

They can also visit the showcases of the university’s three faculties and graduate school, each with interesting themes like ‘Engineer’s Land’, “Entrepreneur Hub’, ‘The Humanist’ and ‘Scholar’s Corner’. Visitors stand to receive interesting giveaways if they visit all the booths.

While there will be many new attractions, regular visitors to the Open Day will find comfort in perennial attractions like the live stage entertainment, lucky draws and wide variety of food, retail and activity stalls run by student clubs and local businesses.

In support of local charities, the event will again feature a ‘Charity & Community Corner’ where visitors can learn more about various charitable and community causes in Miri.

Another crowd-puller will be the event’s prizes and giveaways. Visitors purchasing ‘Door Gift & Lucky Draw’ tickets at RM5 each will be able to redeem door gifts and participate in lucky draws offering a range of electrical products. All proceeds from the ticket sales will go to the charities participating in Open Day.

Next to its graduation ceremonies, the Open Day is Curtin Sarawak’s most anticipated annual event. First started in 2006, it has since become an annual fixture and a key event in the university’s calendar of student recruitment and brand-building events.

Each year, it involves a massive logistical effort and the support of a large number of staff and students and attracts visitors by the thousands. Last year, close to 10,000 thronged the campus – the event’s largest crowd ever.

More information on Curtin Sarawak Open Day 2016 is available at openday.curtin.edu.my, including information for potential sponsors and participants. One can also call Curtin Sarawak’s Corporate Communications Department at 085-443806 or email corpcomm@curtin.edu.my for enquiries.

Curtin Sarawak Open Day 2016 to feature new attractions.

Chemical engineering students demonstrating project at last year’s Open Day.

Future students can find out more about studies at Curtin Sarawak.