BINTULU: MSAE-SC Club Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Campus (UPMKB) Sarawak stood out when six of its Diploma in Agricultural Technology Engineering students won gold and silver medals in the agricultural innovation competition at the Faculty of Engineering UPM Serdang from 20 to 26 August 2023. 

The competition was in conjunction with the "Southeast Asian Agricultural and Food Engineering Student Chapter Annual Regional Convention (ARC2023). The six students were Za'im Zuhairrudin Akhmal Zailani, Chiah Yi Hua, Muhammad Irfan Isyraf Rosdi, Ainnul Mardiah Shafiee, Cyril Oneil Micheal Musa Onell and Keagan Chandi. They are under the guidance of UPMKB Science and Technology Department Lecturers Dr Wan Nor Zanariah Zainol @ Abdullah, Dr Nozieana Khairuddin and Dr Nor Hanifawati Inai.

The UPMKB spokesperson said the competition was also attended by students from the Philippines (Caraga State University, Mindoro State University), Thailand (Suranee University of Technology), Indonesia (Gadjah Mada University, Andalas University, Brawijaya University) and several local universities and higher education institutions (UPM Serdang and UPMKB, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Perda Institute of Higher Skills, Kota Bharu Polytechnic and Jeli Polytechnic).

"The six-day programme aims to provide an opportunity for students with backgrounds in agricultural engineering from ASEAN countries to exchange their experience and opinions in the field," he said in a statement today.

At the same time, he said, the programme provides an opportunity for students especially from abroad to explore agricultural technology in Malaysia. He said the diversity of participation is expected to open up a space for participants to gain new experiences and establish good relations among future agricultural engineers in ASEAN countries.
     
He said various activities were organised by the organisers of this ARC2023 such as ARC Amazing Race which presents various exciting and challenging challenges to be completed by the participants. "This challenge is implemented to measure the level of cooperation between group members and high-level thinking skills in solving the challenges presented," he explained. 

Apart from that, he said, the activity that is of interest is the Agricultural Engineering Quiz which tests the level of knowledge of the participants in the field of agricultural technology and engineering. He added that another competition was the Multimedia Public Speech themed 'Moving Beyond Silos Towards Transdisciplinary in Sustainable Food and Agriculture'. 

"The theme has been specially chosen by the organisers to highlight the role of various parties to ensure sustainable agricultural development for survival," he said. Apart from that, he said, there was a cultural evening activity which was a space for students of various countries to exchange cultures with the ceremony starting with a ngajat dance performance from UPMKB participants and ending with a sumazau dance by representatives of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) participants. 

"The programme of interest and excitement for the participants is a technical and cultural tour around the Selangor area to Putrajaya. " The locations preferred by the organisers are UPM Agro Voltaic Farm, Malay Heritage Museum, Putra Mosque and Secret Garden in Putrajaya," he said.

He said the activity ended with students outside the campus, participants and instructors sharing innovation projects with the public in the grounds of the Faculty of Engineering UPM Serdang.

Date of Input: 07/09/2023 | Updated: 13/09/2023 | lanz