KUCHING – Two teams comprising electrical and electronic engineering students from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus (Swinburne Sarawak) performed well at the 8th Innovate Malaysia Design Challenge (IMDC) Grand Finale held at MaGIC Cyberjaya recently.
Under the Microsoft Track category, students Alfred Tan Jia Yee and Lee Hui En We won the third prize with their project ‘Wastenager’, a smart waste management system that utilises Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and computer and mobile applications.
A combination of the words waste and manager, ‘Wastenager’ main objective is to provide sufficient information on waste management facilities so as to tackle illegal dumping issues, as well as allowing users to dispose their bulky waste in the most convenient, cheap and sustainable way.
Chang (left) and Haritharan developed a prototype for detection and deterrent of elephants in a safe manner.
The other team consisting of Bernard Chang and Haritharan a/l M. Nanthakumaran came in second under the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Design Challenge. Their project titled ‘Acoustic Range for Elephant Prevention with Network Security’ describes a prototype implementation for both detection and deterrent of elephants in a safe manner with the use of mobile applications for notification and data monitoring of the components in the router.
The prototype uses a passive infrared (PIR) motion sensor to activate a vibration sensor module which triggers the speaker to either attract or deter elephants. The ultrasonic sensor detects the distance of the elephant to the router and triggers the LED if it invades the set threshold distance.
The data is then transmitted using an XBee to the coordinator which uploads it to their designated database, and the mobile application both notifies and displays the uploaded data by either using graphs or tables.
Both teams were supervised by Dr Chua Hong Siang, Swinburne Sarawak’s Deputy Head of School of Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science. He opined that IMDC provides a great platform for final-year students to pitch their projects to industrial experts, adding that Swinburne Sarawak students are not only academically bright but also have the right technical skills to solve real life problems.
IMDC is the largest design competition in the country involving third-year or final-year engineering, computer science, IT and science or mathematics undergraduate students. This year, 59 teams consisting of 814 students from public and private universities nationwide took part in the event that aims to promote innovate culture in engineering design work, tackle real-world problems and produce talents for future product development, research and commercialisation.
The competition was jointly organised by Google, Intel, Keysight, MathWorks, Microsoft, SAS, SilTerra, and SOLIDWORKS, and managed by Dream Catcher Consulting Sdn Bhd.
It was supported by the Education Ministry, Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC), and Institute of Engineers Malaysia. The grand finale was also attended by Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik.
In the Technology Tracks, the teams chose to work with sophisticated technology devices provided by the organisers, while in the Design Challenge, the teams were required to work with one of the eight industry design challenges set by organisations such as Celcom, Cyberview, Daikin, Exabytes, SAINS, Sarawak Energy, Telekom Malaysia and Wildlife Conservation Society. The partnerships also gave the students opportunities to gain support in technical mentorship, field trip visits, access to lab facilities, prototyping assistance and many more.
All projects were judged on their innovation, specification or validation plan, practicality, complexity, and working design.
For more information about Swinburne Sarawak, visit the university’s website (www.swinburne.edu.my), Facebook page (@swinburnesarawak), Instagram (@swinburnesarawak), Twitter page (@Swinburne_Swk) or YouTube channel (Swinburne Sarawak).