Curtin Malaysia students light up rural communities with solar lamps

Miri – 25 May 2019 – The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Student Branch of Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) successfully concluded its 2019 ‘Light of Borneo’ project involving the fabrication and delivery of ‘Solar Study Lamps’ to students in several rural communities in Miri Division recently.

The ‘Light of Borneo’ project is the signature project of the student branch initiated by former president Francelouis Ting in collaboration with the Datuk Temenggong Lawai Jau (DTLJ) Education Trust based in Miri and Kuala Lumpur. The novel project provides students in rural communities that have no electricity supply with portable solar lamps so that they can study at night.

The project is also aimed at promoting the use of renewable energy and instilling an interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) among the students. It is hoped that such initiatives will inspire them to pursue further studies in STEM-related fields in the future.

A total of 500 solar lamps built by volunteers comprising student branch members and other students of the university are to be distributed to rural students this year. So far, 200 lamps fabricated during technical workshops for the volunteers in April have been distributed to students at Sekolah Kebangsaan Bario, Sekolah Kebangsaan Pa’ Dalih and Sekolah Kebangsaan Long Selawan in the Bario Highlands.

Another 300 lamps will be built during a second technical workshop in July and will be delivered by the year end.

The project involves three stages – soldering workshops, solar technical workshops and delivery of the lamps. The first soldering workshop was conducted on 13 April 2019 at the Digital Maker Hub at the university. It was conducted to familiarise about 35 volunteers with basic soldering techniques prior to assembling the solar lamps during a technical workshop in the university’s Electronic and Embedded Systems Laboratory on 20 and 24 April.

From 26 to 28 April, nine ‘Light Up Borneo’ project committee members were in Bario to distribute 140 solar lamps to students at SK Bario and SK Pa’ Dalih.

The distribution ceremony at SK Bario on 26 April, where 100 lamps were distributed, was organised by the DTLJ Education Trust and the parent-teacher association of the school. In addition to speeches by DTLJ Education Trust representative Sean Francis and IEEE Curtin Malaysia Student Branch co-secretary and ‘Light Up Borneo’ project chairperson Nurul Ain Hamizan, there was a demonstration of how to operate and maintain the solar lamps.

The following day, the project committee members and a number of DTLJ Education Trust volunteers travelled to SK Pa’ Dalih where they distributed another 40 solar lamps.

A separate trip to Long Selawan to distribute 60 lamps to students at the school there was made by DTLJ Education Trust volunteers on 14 May.

Nurul Ain commented that although making so many lamps was quite challenging, the satisfaction at completing them and knowing that they would help alleviate the hardship of the villagers made the project worthwhile.

Meanwhile, advisor to the IEEE Curtin Malaysia Student Branch, Associate Professor Garenth Lim, said the student branch’s activities are aligned to the IEEE’s vision of promoting technology for humanity.

“Through projects like Light Up Borneo, our student branch members are in effect extending their learning outside the classroom and leveraging the knowledge and skills they have acquired from their courses to help communities in need,” he said.

According to Associate Professor Lim, the ‘Light Up Borneo’ project started off as a one-off project to demonstrate students’ knowledge and skills in the use of solar power, but it has since become a highly successful annual project that has benefitted many rural communities in the area.

The IEEE Curtin Malaysia Student Branch has also carried out projects on campus and is currently involved in installing solar-powered floodlights at the university’s football field.

Curtin students soldering the circuitry needed in the solar lamps.

SK Pa’ Dalih students holding their solar lamps in a group photo with IEEE Student Branch and DTLJ Education Trust volunteers.

Students of SK Bario pose for a group photo with IEEE Student Branch and DTLJ Education Trust volunteers.