Double awards for Curtin Malaysia’s IEEE student branch

Miri – 31 January 2017 – The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Student Branch of Curtin University, Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) bested over 20 other Malaysian IEEE student branches to win the IEEE Outstanding Student Branch Award 2016 at the recent annual general meeting (AGM) of the IEEE Malaysia Section held in Shah Alam recently.

Curtin Malaysia alumnus and former president (2014) of the student branch, Saaveethya Sivakumar, also received the Outstanding Woman in Engineering (WIE) Volunteer Award 2016.

Saaveethya’s most significant contributions to IEEE include being the Chair and Founder of WIE Student Network Malaysia, Malaysia Section; member of the Promotion Team of the R10 WIE Supporting Volunteer Committee, Region 10; and Secretary of Women in Leadership Subcommittee of WIE Global.

She said it is a great honour to receive the volunteer award and that it has motivated her to strive harder to achieve her goals in the betterment of women in engineering.

Commenting on the Outstanding Student Branch Award, meanwhile, current President and fourth-year electrical power engineering student Kong Sheng How said the student branch has given him a good platform to demonstrate his leadership skills.

“I am proud to head the student branch under the supervision of our advisor, Dr. Garenth Lim. This is our first outstanding student branch award from the IEEE Malaysia section and definitely spurs our committee members to do even better in the future,” Kong said.

Dr. Lim, who was elected to the committee of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology society (EMBS) during the AGM, remarked that the Curtin Malaysia IEEE Student Branch allows students to learn independently, lead profoundly and create impact in the community with their knowledge.

The Curtin Malaysia IEEE Student Branch was established in 2008 and currently has about 120 members. To find out more about it, visit www.facebook.com/CurtinSarawak.IEEE or email ieee.curtinsarawak@gmail.com.

Dr Zuhaina Zakaria, past chair of IEEE Malaysia Section presenting award to Kong as Dr Lim looks on.

(L–R) Dr Lim, Kong and Saaveethya posing with their awards.