| Rokiah Mahmud |
HIS Royal Highness Prince (Dr) Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah ibni His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Pro-Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB), yesterday officiated at UTB’s 4th Convocation Festival 2017.
Upon arrival at the Library Complex in UTB, His Royal Highness was greeted by Minister of Education and Chairman of UTB Council Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman and Professor Dr Hajah Zohrah binti Haji Sulaiman, Vice-Chancellor of UTB.
Also present at the ceremony were members of UTB Council, high commissioners, ambassadors, senior government officials, industry partners and staff and students of UTB.
The ceremony commenced with recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah and Doa Selamat led by Pehin Orang Kaya Paduka Seri Utama Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Salim bin Haji Besar, Chief Syar’ie Judge.
His Royal Highness then consented to deliver a sabda launching UTB’s 4th Convocation Festival 2017 which was followed by the call of Takbir and a multimedia show. His Royal Highness then toured the ‘Innov8’ exhibition.
In ensuring competitiveness through constant improvements in quality, efficiency and productivity, ‘Innov8’ was the chosen theme for this year’s convocation festival.
Innov8 is derived from the word innovate which means making changes to the current state through the introduction of something new including new process, idea, methods and products.
Innovation is critical in a higher educational institution as the digit ‘8’ in the theme signifies that eight important areas where innovation has been applied in order to produce quality graduates who can make an impactful contribution to the nation. These areas are: Innov8 Network, Innov8 Research, Innov8 Campus, Innov8 FEng, Innov8 SCI, Innov8 UTB SB, Innov8 Enterprise and Innov8 Leader. The theme is also in line with the university’s ambition to achieve excellence in the areas of teaching, research and community engagement.
To innovate is also one of the core values of UTB. The other core values are professionalism, integrity, being passionate and engaging.
‘Innov8 Network’ features the network of collaborations with various local and international institutions and organisations through which innovative ideas can be generated.
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Postgraduate students are an important link between research and generation of new ideas. ‘Innov8 Research’ showcased two projects by graduate students from MSc in Mechanical Engineering programme named Development of Bio-inspired Polydimethysiloxane-coated Fibrous Membrane for Oil Water Separation’, and ‘The Characterisation of Mechanical and Thermal properties of Fibre Reinforced Plaster’.
Under ‘Innov8 Campus’, His Royal Highness viewed the ISLE Garden that was officiated during the 2nd UTB Convocation Festival in 2015. The ISLE Garden was opened as part of UTB’s effort to provide a conducive campus and strengthening the infrastructure for research and learning.
‘Innov8 UTB SB’ and ‘Innov8 FEng’ exhibitions are dedicated to innovate products developed by Business, Computing and Engineering undergraduates. At the ‘Innov8 UTB SB’ exhibition, three start-ups – Plus Exp, DAH and Mayang Couture and three business projects ‘Let’s Fly’, ‘Terpisah by Creight Media’, and ‘Your Transit in Brunei UTBCare’ were presented.
His Royal Highness later launched the UTB Start-Up Kiosk that is a space to accommodate selected business start-ups by students. Currently, the kiosk houses Plus Exp GroMinda, an online career development platform for graduates seeking for work experience through internship.
At the Lecture Theatre, His Royal Highness viewed a short horror film ‘Terpisah’ that was produced by a group of students from UTB School of Business.
Four projects are showcased at the ‘Innov8 SCI’. Two of them – ‘Subduing the Audience in an Immersive Digital Environment’ and ‘Interactive Driving Lessons using Virtual Reality’- are presented under the Creative Multimedia programme area.
Two other projects – ‘Smart LED Street Light System Using Sensor and Wireless Network’ which has won the first prize under the Tertiary Category at the Brunei ICT Awards (BICTA) 2017, and ‘Smart Waste Management and Monitoring System’- are presented under the Computer Network and Security programme area.
The ‘Innov8 FEng’ features seven engineering projects, namely: Development on the Design and Fabrication of an Automated Shoe Rack, Design and Fabrication of Bionic Leg, Autonomous Robot Pat Planning under the Mechanical Engineering programme area; Automated Fertigation with GSM Alert System under the Electrical and Electronic Engineering programme area; the Effects of Coir Fibre in the Consolidation Behaviour of Soft Clay; Earthquake Design of Buildings under the Civil Engineering programme area; and Production of Benzene via the Hydro Dealkylation of Toluene under the Petroleum and Chemical Engineering programme area.
UTB students who have won awards at the BICTA ICT Awards 2017 also presented their inventions before His Royal Highness including ‘Brunei Forest Prevention System’, ‘Mobile Incident Reporting and Web-Based GIS for Disaster Management’ that have won second and third place respectively under the Tertiary Category, and ‘VRIS – Virtual Reality Interactive Science’, which received the Special Awards in Emerging Technology Category.
The ‘Innov8 Enterprise’ highlights UTB’s community involvement. The Enterprise Office, a newly established unit which aims to provide high quality training to participants who are interested in enhancing their technology in the area of communication skills, leadership, business, engineering and technology, features three initiatives – Bridging for the Hopes of Tomorrow (BRIGHT) School Adoption Programme; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Challenge; and participation in international robotics competition FIRST Global Challenge 2017.
‘Innov8 Leader’ showcases innovative implementation of community engagement programmes such as the #iReach Programme and the Student Leadership and Development Programme.
After viewing the exhibition, His Royal Highness consented for a group photo with members of UTB Student Representative Council and later received a pesambah from them.
The Convocation Festival is held annually to celebrate students who have successfully completed their studies and will be graduating in the upcoming UTB Convocation. A series of events have been lined up in conjunction with the festival that include Khatam Al-Quran ceremony, Innov8 UTB SB Homegrown Entrepreneurs, UTB Sports Fiesta, Innov8 Run & Cycle, Innov8 Pop-Up Vendor, Innov8 Career Fair, UTB Charity festival and UTP Photomarathon.
The UTB Convocation 2017 will be held on September 30, 2017 at the Plenary Hall of International Convention Centre in Berakas.
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