Details of the Applicants

Name: Prof Madya Dr Hafizah Husain

Address: Department of Electrical, Electronics and Sytems

Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
43600 UKM Bangi

Telephone: 03-89216300/6312

Mobile Number: 012-3041064

Email: hafizah@eng.ukm.my

Name : PROF DR NOOR INAYAH YAAKUB

Address : DEPUTY DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY PERFORMANCE N

INNOVATION MONITORING DIVISION,CENTRE FOR CORPORATE
PLANNING,UKM, 43650, BANGI, SELANGOR MALAYSIA
Telephone : 603-89214650

Mobile Number: 60193324036

Email: inayahyaakub@gmail.com

Details of Project/Initiative Implementing Agency

Name of the Organisation: YAYASAN UEM and UEMLAND SDN BHD

Address: 17-2 Mercu UEM

Jalan Stesen Sentral 5
Kuala Lumpur Sentral
50470 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

Name of the Head of the Organisation: PUAN NOR RUBAIHA MOHAMAD

NOR

Telephone: 03-27276868

Mobile: 0122171315

Email: rubaiha@uemnet.com

Web: www.uem.com.my

Details of the Programme/Project/Initiative

Brief Description of the Programme/project/initiative:

This project was initially proposed by Faculty of Engineering and Built

Environment (FKAB) via Deputy Vice-Chancellor Office (Industry and
Community Affairs) in collaboration with the UEM Group. Faculty of
Information Science and Technology (FTSM) was invited to take part in
the implementation of the project activities.

In this project, the form four students from two schools are selected to
take part in the activities where they are able to develop useful
intelligent systems using the microcontroller chip. This chip is very
versatile and can be programmed using the computer. Using simple
input and output devices, it can be developed into various automation
systems, ranging from simple fun games to the real applications in
industries. What the chip can do is endless, as it will all depend on the
youths’ creativity. In addition, the knowledge on the hardware and
software aspect in the development of microcontroller-based system
will still be an advantage to these youths when they are accepted
higher learning institutions and later on in their work.

Why Was the Project Started:

 To ensure UEM-UKM get the maximum impacts in term of visibility

to the community.

 Student will be as close as possible to providing innovative

practical solution to real life situation in their community toward
schools, house, industries, etc)

 To produce the future leader with great nurture in technology

perspective.

Objective:

Engender an innovative mind set culture among these Malaysian youths

on the following objectives:
1. Providing an avenue for them to explore technological interest
outside the classroom and to challenge them to imagine a better
world enable by theirs genius, creativity and energy.

2. Increase the participant employment opportunities by teaching

them microchip electronic skills for designing intelligent products
that can enhance human lives.

3. Raise the participants awareness of entrepreneurial opportunities

by investigating the market potential of the product designed.
Target Group:

Schoolchildren from rural and sub-urban areas at the age of 16-17 years
old

Date from which the Project became Operational:

16 November 2009

Is the Project Still Operational:

Yes, the first batch has already completed and showcased the
intelligent systems during the Johor ICT Carnival held on 11 May 2011.

The second batch has completed the microcontroller training from 15 to

18 March 2011 and now have started the design activities and is
expected to complete the projects in December 2011.

10 points that make the Programme/Project Innovative:

1. This one-year long program emphasised on the hands-on learning

process whereby they will start from understanding the basic
microcontroller concepts right to the design of intelligent
systems using both electronics and mechanical parts whereas
other similar programs are carried out on one-time basis only.
The progress of these students could be monitored and their
knowledge/understanding could be developed over a period of
time.

2. The students are able to come up with innovative ideas to

enhance the lives of the surrounding community: example – An
automatic feeder system for the special type of ducks (could be
extended to other livestock) was designed to solve a problem
faced by a farmer (his father) in which the ducks require sufficient
lighting, food and water. Devoid of this, the ducks will not be able
to lay adequate amount of eggs.

3. Besides providing technical and hands-on knowledge to enhance

their understanding on embedded systems, the UKM students who
are appointed as the mentors, can be seen to be more confident
and able to communicate effectively with the community. This
seems to be an effective approach to provide generic skills to the
students outside the lecture rooms.

4. The acquired learning experience by both the UKM students and

the schoolchildren is very unique, in the sense that, for the UKM
 students, it provide them the exposure and the understanding of
the cultures of the other race and living conditions, while for the
schoolchildren, it provide the exposure to the university students’
life and the campus activities.

5. This program is developed to cater the needs of the schoolchildren

who are more interested in skilled and hands-on knowledge in
which they are free to use their ideas and creativity to come out
with an intelligent system. This is different from the ordinary
subjects like Life Skill (Kemahiran hidup) in which most of the
projects are predefined and they have to follow the syllabus
diligently.

List 5 achievements of the programme/project?

1. The school students are able to come up with innovative

intelligent systems that they have initiated from the conceptual
design stage.

2. Based on the testimonial from the teachers, the schoolchildren

have gained more confidence and have participated voluntarily in
the school events that required team effort.

3. Have achieved the 1 Malaysia concepts in which the integration

between the races are evident in this program.

4. The schoolchildren are now familiar with science and technology

and very much interested to enrol in engineering programs.

5. This program/project has foster closer relationship between the

UEM, UKM and the schools.

List the 5 key challenges faced while implementing the

programme/project/initiative and how they were overcome?

1. To ensure that the program is carried out effectively, the design of

the training course structure, manual and the selection of the
schoolchildren was the most challenging. The committee had
initially carried out a trial run to train the mentors and a few 16-
years olds to test the course structure and the microcontroller-
based training kit. Based on the observations made, we have
made some adjustments and modifications to improve the hands-
on training module.

2. Since for this pilot program the two schools are about 300km away
from UKM, the planning of the workshops and all the activities
have to be scheduled during weekends and school holidays. In
addition, we have to also take into consideration of the the UKM
calendar so that these activities does not coincide with the
 examination week and other important compulsory learning
activities. To ensure that the schoolchildren and their mentors can
communicate to discuss any problems arise and to find out more
about the components to be used, we have developed blogs and
facebooks.

3. To develop the mechanical parts requires assistance from the

skilled technicians. This is especially challenging because in UKM,
the skilled technicians are limited and they are also required to
assist in students’ projects and competitions.

List the 5 points how the programme/project/initiative serve a a model

that can be replicated or adapted by others?

1. The training module has been refined and can effectively be used
to train the schoolchildren. This whole complete model comprise
of the training kits, manual, planned activities, technical staff,
project advisors and mentors can be adapted by others.

2. In the training workshop for Batch 2, a professor from Bulgaria

had visited and expressed interest in the module and find it would
be most useful if they could implement the same model in their
country.

List 5 points to elaborate on the scalability of the

programme/project/initiative:

1. This program requires the commitment from the industries, UKM

and the schools. As such, with enough budget and human
resources, and the already developed training modules, this
program could be effectively carried out throughout the country.

2. Through the discussion with Director General of Education, he had

expressed his interest and felt that this program has the potential
to be extended to other schools so that the students can benefit
from this learning experience. Therefore, with the support from
the ministry and the industries, we are sure that this project
would be successful to provide a totally new and different learning
experience for the schoolchildren outside the normal classrooms.