Month: November 2022

The Malaysia Education Blueprint reaffirmed the student’s primacy in transforming the education system. In tandem with UiTM 2025 Strategic Plan, Faculty of Applied Sciences (FSG) strives to provide a conducive learning environment that produces holistic graduates with entrepreneurial skills who are globally competitive. However, preparing the students to thrive in this complex and ever-changing future necessitates equally exceptional supports from the institution.

FSG has a dedicated team responsible for providing outstanding academic and non-academic support to its 4623 students. A total of 108 virtual activities were conducted in 2021 through collaborative efforts between the Managements, HEP, Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar (MPP), Sekretariat Mahasiswa Fakulti (SMF), and 14 student associations, fostering student’s leadership, entrepreneurial skills, community-based volunteerism, and providing a platform for students to unleash their potential in co-curricular activities related to innovations, e-sports and international linkages.

Encouragement, administrative procedure and funding support are always given to engage with international peers, co-curricular activities and entrepreneurship programs. In 2021, FSG sent 4 students to AIMS mobility programs at Mae Fah Luang University, Thailand and an exchange program at Southern Connecticut State University, USA; 40 students interned at multinational companies, and 2 of which were Forbes 2000 companies; one student was named a UiTM Unicorn Scholar for a start-up company called Sulam Global Enterprise; and one student won first place for 2021 Voice Out Loud competition.

Facing the ODL, FSG welcomed and equipped new students with relevant academic and social information via a virtual Get-To-Know-Day. Tips and sharing sessions about ODL tools were also shared during the event. This initiative aids students’ transition into the university system when they begin. FSG also created a year-round platform for students to express concerns or share ODL feedback via e-aduan. The MPP presented 440 feedbacks to the Management teams which helped improve the ODL session. Consequently, Dean lists increased from 1181 in October 2020 to 1343 in Mac 2021. Monetary incentive was provided to all Dean list students to encourage their academic excellence.

Beyond the academic matter, FSG is deeply concerned with students’ well-being especially in times of anxiety and uncertainty. Unique to FSG, students have access to a telegram group (FSGXCIC) with an in-house counsellor who assists them in coping with any aspect of student life. This platform shares infographics on study tips, mental health awareness, and career paths periodically. Less fortunate students were assisted through faculty welfare funds in addition to zakat and other contributions from faculty members:15 LENOVO smart tabs worth RM 6300 raised through “Tabung Prihatin FSG” were distributed to assist students in their learning, while 140 students stranded in college were given RM 100 one-off via Bantuan Khas Non-Resident during the recent MCO. Following unfortunate events, 43 students involved in the recent flood received flash donations or Derma Ikhlas.

The compassion and support provided enhance trust and sense of belonging, expectation and positive experiences for the current and incoming students. Despite the unprecedented impact of pandemic, students will have the reassurance that FSG cares about their welfare as proclaimed in the taglines #UiTMdihatiku #FSGKuSayang#FSGpadu.

On 8th June 2022, Dr. Ikmal Hisham Md Tah moderated a forum session “MyCEKAP Public Facilities: Inclusivity Discussion on Policy and Initiative by the Ministry of Transport Malaysia”. The forum session discussed matters concerning public facility and inclusivity, with the objective of providing information to People with Disabilities (PWD) on the Government’s efforts in improving policies, action plans and programmes that benefit vulnerable communities which include persons with disabilities.

In addition, the forum session also aimed to encourage participation from the community to build an inclusive society; and to create participants’ profiles to ensure sharing of information in an effective manner. The forum session was organised by the People With Disabilities Communication Unit, Department of Information Malaysia, Putrajaya.

Ms. Ayuni Mahammad Zin, officer from the Ministry of Transport Malaysia, elaborated on various initiatives by the Ministry that benefit PWD during the session. They include accessible public transport, transport licence, and audit access on transport facilities. Works and continuous improvements on public transport, including trains and buses, have been carried out to ensure that the facilities are disabled-friendly and accessible to everyone.

In addition, the Malaysian government has also provided numerous initiatives, including the discount card for PWD, the accessible ticket counter, the PWD platform and ample accessible places within public transport infrastructure for wheelchair users, the portable ramp, and the emergency button. Ministry of Transport Malaysia, through its National Transport Policy and Action Plan, has provided continuous improvements, including best practices on the transport system and facilities to ensure that they would be accessible and could provide more benefits to the PWD community in Malaysia. This program demonstrates a significant contribution of UiTMLaw expert at the forefront of disability inclusion within society through accessible and disabled-friendly transport systems and facilities in Malaysia.

Adapting to the new normal arises from COVID-19 pandemic has evolved digitalization initiatives within the Faculty of Applied Sciences’ (FSG, UiTM) various operational systems. In the key operational systems, the faculty began the transition from manual to digital logging. These processes involve the synergy of both academic and administrative staff. These include the centralised log of chemical stocks, which previously faced challenges of excess orders due to non-centered laboratories and a wide range of research fields. The existence of a digital platform called “Setulus” that records the availability of chemical stock; remarkably, no more redundancy in orders, cutting the cost by 50% and allowing researchers and students to find chemicals 60% quicker.

The final year students may still be affected by the uncertain conditions post-COVID-19. During their internships, the report now has been accomplished via digital logbook. Faculty are concerned that the majority of articles produced as a result of final year research projects went unpublished, thus we established, Junior Science Communication (JSC); an online publication where final-year students may publish short articles on their research findings. In 2021, 12 issues were produced, including contributions from all UiTM platforms.

As a top research faculty, communications are vital for reporting the achievements. The RIA page was created to serve as the official website for the department of research, industry, and alumni. All research procedures and processes are centralised on a single platform to eliminate under-reporting and misunderstandings among employees over where to report, Single Chanel Reporting was created. This digital platform simplifies the process of locating the required information, and has now processed over a hundred data points. Hence, academics interested in joining the research track will be able to apply entirely online. This permits year-round applications and the approval procedure is speedier than the traditional approach, requiring just two weeks instead of two months, and had assisted about a third of FSG’s research track aspiring.

As all creative minds at all levels are celebrated, various innovations have emerged in 2021. The anti-locked door knob was created by technical and academic staff of FSG. Missing the key in the room has been remedied at a very low installation cost. Other discoveries include the Thumb Print Analysis Box, based on a forensic powder experiment, that keeps the powder out of the lab and keeps it clean.

FSG researchers continue creating substantial advances for society. AgroFarm2U exemplifies FSG and a local enterprise working together. They built an Agrofarm2U IoT-based vegetable growing system. The Internet of Things optimises fertiliser and water consumption, allowing farmers to monitor plant settings. FSG textile scientists designed the Malaysian Olympic Sailing team’s outfit in partnership with Fitech Asia Plt. Our athletes’ textiles are designed to be breathable and comfortable. Sternazip was created to help heart patients prevent infection after open chest surgery. Together with a heart surgeon, FSG scientists created an anti-bacterial silicon substance that has gained worldwide renown. These key insights will help build in intrinsic agility which further strike that right digital balance and disrupt to make FSG different.

Over the past few years, we have begun to detect a pattern of declining student interest for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-based be it in school and at the university level. This phenomenon will affect the ‘output’ of engineers, scientists, and doctors. Adding to this, it will also have implications for the specialist workforce, even thwarting efforts to achieve the status of a developed country. Industry players especially those involved in the industrial revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) have aware of this issue and creating concern among them. Effort has to be made and one of the ways to overcome this phenomenon is to diversify methods in conducting STEM-based experiments at the high school level by leveraging the experience and expertise of lecturers and graduate students at local universities.

In order to implement this effort, a group of lecturers and graduate students from the Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Negeri Sembilan Branch (UiTMCNS) Malaysia have implemented a joint venture program with one of the high schools in the state, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seremban Jaya 2 (SMKSJ2) entitled “STEM Empowerment Program”. The main objective of this program is to guide students to carry out an experiment by hands-on experience. Besides that, this program is also focusing to enhance their skills in handling the experiments to prepare them to sit for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination practical papers.

In this program, the subject areas involved were Physics, Chemistry and Biology. For the Physics experiments, the students were performing two experiments: the free fall and thermodynamic. As for the Chemistry, the students have carried out copper electroplating and titration experiment. Last but not least, students have carried out experiments related to Biology in which they studied the effect of temperature on the activity of amylase enzymes and carried out cell division by mitosis. All experiments were successfully conducted with the guidance of professional facilitators from each field. On top of that, the students were given the opportunity to explore and conduct each experiment themselves. In this way, students can develop their passion in STEM and hopefully pursue their studies in the STEM fields. Apart from conducting experiments, the students were also guided on how to produce a good scientific report. These skills are very important to prepare them as future scientists and researchers in STEM fields.

The “STEM Empowerment Program” ended successfully and received amazing feedback from the students and their teachers. This kind of program provide hands-on and minds-on lessons for the student. It has made STEM activities fun and interesting which in turn helps the student to do much more than just learn.

It is hoped that more programs outside the school in collaboration with UiTM can be continued, especially for rural students who lack in terms of laboratory facilities and expertise. Together with the Malaysian government support toward the IR4.0 industry, this program can generate a positive impact to increase the student’s interest in STEM-based area and eventually prepares professionals who can transform society with innovation and sustainable solutions.