Recognising the importance of developing a creative and innovative future generation in the era of digital economy, TAR UC has stepped up its efforts in increasing the interest in science and technology particularly among school students. Co-organising the Digital Campus International Robothon Competition 2016 together with Eduspec Holdings Berhad and Youth On Unity (Y.O.U) which was successfully held at TAR UC’s Sports Complex on 4 December 2016, was yet another effort by TAR UC to inculcate creativity and innovation among school students through science and technology in a fun yet educational platform.
The International Robothon is an annual robotics competition which challenges school students to apply creative problem-solving skills by designing, building, and programming robots that can execute multiple tasks as well as demonstrate solutions to problems that engineers face in the real world. A total of 426 students from primary and secondary schools across Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines participated in the event with encouraging support from their parents and teachers.
In his opening speech, Mr Lim Een Hong, CEO of Eduspec Holdings Berhad spoke of the necessary skills needed by the students in order to succeed in the competition. “To excel in this competition, students are required to simulate ground-breaking technologies to solve complex problems while collaborating with each other. Aside from coding skills, this competition enables students to engage in computational thinking as well,” he said. He also took the opportunity to thank TAR UC for hosting the event.
Datuk Dr Tan Chik Heok, President of TAR UC, in his speech, shared some of the many achievements of TAR UC students in competitions related to science, engineering, information and communication technology as testament of TAR UC’s strength in the delivery of these programmes. He also strongly encouraged the student participants to focus on pursuing their studies in the fields of science, engineering or information and communication technology. “I am sure we have witnessed many innovative and inspiring masterpieces during the competition and I wish all the participants to continue to cultivate your interest in science, engineering or information & communication technology towards a brighter future,” he said.
Towards the end of the event, a prize-giving ceremony was held whereby all winners of the various categories of the competition were announced. One of the winners, Aaron John D. Dapiton from the Philippines, together with his partner, won the Best Performance Award in one of the categories and he was indeed proud and satisfied with the win. “We did our very best to win, and all our hard work has finally paid off,” he said. He also mentioned that he might pursue a career in robotics in future as he found it very interesting.
Another winner, Lim Qi Wei from Malaysia who won the Excellence Award in the category she participated in together with two other teammates, said, “The competition was indeed beneficial as we were able to learn more when compared to our normal lessons in the classroom.”
