UCSI’s Engineering Day 2019 - The First Ever Held Among Private Universities

KUALA LUMPUR, September 5, 2019 - From the newest engineering technology to smart solutions, new-age electronics, artificial intelligence and informative sessions with experts in the industry, UCSI’s Engineering Day 2019 was the first ever held among private universities in Malaysia.

The event had the theme of bridging the university with industry and saw a total of 23 industry players participating in the event including top companies such as Siemens Malaysia, Schneider Electric, FESTO, CAD Vision Systems, Harvest Engineering, CIDB Malaysia, Omron Electronics, Bentley and Wehaya Sdn Bhd among others.

“The event is held mainly to give exposure to students and provide them with training opportunities. It is a move from the conventional to revolutionised technology in line with Industry 4.0,” said UCSI’s Faculty of Engineering, Technology and Built Environment postgraduate studies head, Dr Jonathan Yong Chung Ee.

“As opposed to other similar events, this is academically-inclined, aimed to empower the university in the field of Engineering and give inspiration for future career paths” he added.

CIDB Malaysia prominently featured their product motivated by the desire to improve the way low-cost housing is designed and built. The home units are designed in a way that allows them to be modularised to allow standard sections to be fabricated off-site while the main structure is being erected on site.

“With this new technology and innovation, fewer labourers are required, construction time is reduced and there is less waste. It is a modern construction which will lead to enhanced knowledge among students especially in their Final Year project,” said CIDB Malaysia researcher, Mohammad Faedzwan Abdul Rahman.

CAD Vision Systems marketing executive, Nur Dianah Hasan Basri, was eager to share about her company. According to her, CAD stands for Computer Aided Drawing which essentially represents designs in manufacturing.

According to her, the company provides a four-day training which benefits students involved in designing especially in the field of Mechanical Engineering. Aptly, their motto is “3D Experience for Design Vision to Build Reality”.

Bentley division manager, Vincent Chong, emphasised the company’s control design software used for tasks that involve electrical schematics, connection lists, panel layouts, bills of material and many more.

“The skills we hope to develop in students are software skills, business management skills, communication and technical skills as well as equipment knowledge. The only way to learn is through experience. If students don’t see it, they don’t know it,” he said.

UCSI IChemE Student Chapter representatives, also present at the event, had the aim of developing chemical engineering skills and knowledge through training, events and publications. Many site visits were conducted to Yakult, Top Glove and other top companies where they got to apply what they learnt in their studies with real-life situations.

The event continued with a series of talks where FESTO sales engineer Mohd Azhar Abas talked about people and technology equals productivity.

He ended with an automation video clip where state-of-the-art applications were used to test durability of furniture, lifting products, bending devices and in animation.

Fatin Ahmad, representing Siemens Malaysia emphasised the future of automation which is essentially artificial intelligence resulting in more flexibility, shorter time to market, increase in quality and efficiency and new business solutions.

More speakers from participating companies such as CAD Vision, Schneider Electrics, Techsource and Open Mind also presented at the two-day event, ending with a drone demonstration and simulator practice.

The demonstration was to expose students to the training of piloting a drone. Future usages of drones may be for surveillance and monitoring purposes of engineering sites. Hence, simulator training can reduce damaging drones during on-job training. The demonstration was done by Hertford Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) Sdn Bhd.

For UCSI University, the purpose of the event was achieved. The students left with additional knowledge and were exposed to one-of-a-kind training opportunities provided by the companies. Ultimately, a bridge was built between the university and the industry; one that promised to provide students the necessary skills and expertise in Engineering gearing towards IR 4.0.