USM’s success in Egypt… (from left) Dr. Cheah Yu-N, Mathew Phiong Yoon Kheong, Jassy Liew Suet Yan, Ooi keng Siang, Loo Wan Koe (below, left) Lim Kian Long, Maziani Sabudin, Steven Lim Jun Liang, Marilyn Lim Chien Hui celebrating their success at the Imagine Cup World Finals.
A total of 144 teams from more than 70 countries throughout the world participated in the competition. The two teams from USM were selected to represent Malaysia after they were crowned champions and first runner-up for the Imagine Cup National Level on 18 May 2009 in Kuala Lumpur.
Team Cosmic, comprising Mathew Phiong Yoon Kheong, Jasy Liew Suet Yan, Ooi Keng Siang, Loo Wan Koe won first place and were supervised by Dr Cheah Yu-N, a lecturer at the School of Computer Sciences. The team took home a cash prize of USD 10,000. Team Capricorn, on the other hand won third place. The team, made up of Lim Kian Long, Steven Lim Jun Liang, Marilyn Lim Chien Hui were mentored by Mohd Azam Osman and Maziani Sabudin. They took home a cash prize of USD 1, 000.
Team Cosmic showcased the ‘Virtual Health Connect‘, a system for monitoring health which has the capacity to provide information on the health status and needs of a patient from the time of birth till adulthood. Team Capricorn, on the other hand, exhibited the ‘GreenEve2Peace’, that acts as a warning and information disseminating system through the short messaging system (sms) to padi planters under the supervision of the Muda Agricultural Development Authority.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Tan Sri Dato’ Dzulkifli Abdul Razak was very proud of this achievement.
“This success will only spur other students on to succeed in any endeavour they undertake and bring honour and glory to the university and the country,” said Prof. Tan Sri Dato’ Dzulkifli, who is attending the Higher Education Conference in Paris.
“It is right to celebrate this success and to share the moment with the new students in USM. It will act as a motivation for them to excel in whatever they do,“ he added.
Meanwhile, Prof. Rosni Abdullah, Dean of the School of Computer Sciences expressed his pride at the success and said that it was a very meaningful achievement.
He added that the success was due to the close cooperation between the students and their lecturers. This showed their determination and hardwork to place the university and the country on the world map, more so because the competition was a very challenging one.
The Imagine Cup challenges the participants to develop software according to the theme for this year, ‘Imagine a World Where Technology Helps Solve the World’s Toughest Problem’.
In the Competition, both teams had to give a 20 minute presentation for the category ‘Software Design’ and a 30 minute presentation for the category ‘Design for Development’ by justifying how the software would help solve global problems.
