Curtin Sarawak connects with students through competitions

Miri – 26 October 2016 – In its bid to connect with potential students during its annual open day recently, Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) organised a variety of inter-school competitions that saw scores of secondary school students from East Malaysia and Brunei participating. Hundreds more, accompanied by school principals, teachers and counsellors, turned up to support their teams.

For participants and supporters alike, it was an exceptional experience as it was the first time so many competitions were being run simultaneously in conjunction with the Curtin Sarawak Open Day.

In all, over 9,000 visitors thronged the campus for the event, which also featured showcases of its faculties, day-long entertainment, food and retail booths and lucky draws.

Billed as the event’s signature competition, the ‘Curtin Ultimate Croc Challenge’ saw keen competition between 18 teams from nine Miri schools for the top three cash prizes of RM2,000, RM1,000 and RM500.

Organised by Curtin Sarawak’s Faculty of Engineering and Science and Office of Research and Development, the competition aimed to promote an interest in electronics and engineering among students as well as an appreciation of crocodiles as a natural and integral part of Sarawak’s eco-system.

It required participating teams to design and develop simple electronic systems that can sense the presence of crocodiles using programmable microcontroller kits and basic programming skills.

The three winning teams were SMK Luar Bandar in first place, SMK St. Columba in second and SMK Pujut in third.

There was also fierce competition between teams in the ‘Curtin Business Challenge’ organised by the Faculty of Business. Nine teams from eight secondary schools competed in the business knowledge quiz, with SMK Lutong, SMK Chung Hua Miri and SM Pei Min taking first to third place respectively.

Another exciting competition was the ‘Do You Think You Can Spell?’ spelling challenge organised by the Faculty of Humanities. 79 students from 20 schools in Miri, Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu, Labuan, Kota Kinabalu and Brunei took part.

Woo Wai Yeng of Chung Hua Middle School in Kuala Belait, Brunei took top spot, followed by Michael Jun Ze Kong of SMK Chung Hua, Miri and Nur Amalia Haji Abdul Bari, also of Chung Hua Middle School, Kuala Belait.

Meanwhile, 23 teams from 11 secondary schools in Miri took part in ‘Young Innovate Miri 2016’, an electronics design showcase and competition held as part of the nationwide ‘Young Innovate Malaysia’ programme aimed at inspiring passion in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), developing students’ living skills and exposing them to open-source hardware and software.

‘Young Innovate Miri’ was organised by the Curtin Sarawak Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) Student Chapter, the university’s Leadership and Entrepreneurship Centre and Faculty of Engineering and Science in partnership with Dreamcatcher, Chumbaka, Sarawak Energy, TEGAS and iM4U.

Luak Team 2.0 from SMK Luak, The Graphite Atoms of SMK St. Joseph and Team Alpha of SMK Merbau emerged the top three teams. They will go on to compete at the upcoming national-level ‘Young Innovate Malaysia 2016’ and KL Engineering Science Fair (KLESF) Challenge in Kuala Lumpur from 5 to 6 November.

The largest competition in terms of number of spectators was the Curtin Gaming Championship in the 420-seat Auditorium which was jam-packed with gaming enthusiasts throughout the day.

It was jointly organised by the Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin Sarawak Student Council and International Students Association and sponsored by Assistant Minister for Land and Air Transportation and Safety and Assistant Minister for Tourism Datuk Lee Kim Shin, StratOS PC and the Miri City Council.

Teams competed in DOTA 2 and FIFA with Miracle Generation Reborn emerging champion and lifting the YB Datuk Lee Kim Shin Trophy, followed by Belligerent Gaming and Hawaii +4. The winners in FIFA was Kathireswaran a/l Sugumaran, Ihab Dhafer Yaseen and Thinesh Periasamy

Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Jim Mienczakowski addressing Curtin Ultimate Croc Challenge participants.

Students demonstrating their crocodile sensing system.

Winners of Curtin Ultimate Croc Challenge, SMK Luar Bandar.

Curtin Business Challenge in progress.

Curtin Business Challenge champions SMK Lutong with Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof Jim Mienczakowski and Faculty of Business Dean Prof Jonathan Winterton and Deputy Dean Assoc. Prof Pauline Ho.

So You Think You Can Spell challenge in progress.

Winners of spelling challenge from Chung Hua Middle School Kuala Belait receiving their prize from Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof Beena Giridharan.

Festival-like atmosphere at Young Innovate Miri.

The three Young Innovate Miri teams that will go on to compete in national finals.

Packed auditorium during Curtin Gaming Challenge.