In the inaugural competition involving local institutions of higher education, USM won first and second place through two teams comprising students from the School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering (PPKBSM).
PPKBSM Dean, Prof. Ahmad Fauzi Mohd. Noor said that this success is a great achievement and in line with the university’s mission to champion sustainability issues.
He said USM has been dedicated and committed in ensuring that the youth are spirited and forward thinking in producing brilliant ideas that are environmental friendly and based on green technology.
“We are happy because we are able to share sustainability values with the students and this victory will inspire USM to continue efforts in producing more research on sustainability which can ensure human wellbeing,” he said.
He said this in his speech at the Flextronic Eco-Challenge Cheque Presentation Ceremony at the Engineering Campus, Nibong Tebal, recently.
Meanwhile, Human Resource Director of Flextronic Technology Sdn. Bhd, Manivanan said that they are considering turning the Flextronics Eco-Challenge competition into an annual activity, the purpose of which is to build young generation which is highly innovative.
He said that this is one of the initiatives under their corporate social responsibility aimed at decreasing carbon usage as well as acting as an academic platform for the young generation to contribute to the future.
“Sharing ideas like this is beneficial to both parties where USM students can give ideas towards the production of environmentally friendly output and Flextronics to find ways to decrease pollution in their daily operations,” he explained.
In short, this competition requires each group to perform two different tasks- the first task requires the participants to build a prototype from waste products such as chips, microchips, boxes, wires and LED lamps while the second task requires the participants to put forward ideas in front of an academic panel in 15 minutes.
USM garnered its victory through two teams, that is, Team USM A comprising Lim Shu Lee, Leow Cheah Lee, Mohamad Afiq Misman and Mohamad Ghadafy Affendy, while Team USM B made up of Ratnamalar Rajasingam, Mohd Firdaus Omar, Patrick Lim Whye Kheong and Yusriah Lazim took second place.
Mohamad Afiq said his team stole the attention of the jury with their product which had the capacity to decrease pollution from factory waste and change it into useable materials such as clean water and electrical power.
They came out with the ‘Reduce carbon dioxide gas via photocatalytic reactor to produce hydrocarbon’ project while team B’s innovative effort was the Eco-Nanomembrance Filter for Water Recycling.
According to Mohd Firdaus Omar, the representative from Team B, their second-place win was unexpected but totally rewarding as there was very stiff competition from the other IPTs that were participating in the challenge.
