Graduate and undergraduate students from the Environmental and Life Sciences programme won best paper, poster and research output video competition awards at the 7th Southeast Asian Agricultural Engineering Student Chapter Annual Regional Convention 2021 (7th ARC2021). The convention was an entirely virtual event held on Tuesday, 10th August 2021.

 

The 7th ARC2021 convention, which was themed ‘Advancement of IR 4.0 for Agriculture Sustainability and Food Security’ and organized by Universiti Putra Malaysia and the Malaysian Society of Agricultural and Food Engineers (MSAE), showcased agricultural and food engineering as well as technological research conducted by a total of 171 teams from more than 20 universities in the ASEAN region. In addition to the keynote speeches from research experts in Universiti Putra Malaysia, National University Singapore and Telkom University Indonesia during the closing ceremony, several student activities, such as best paper, poster, research output video and model construction video, were held under the following sub-themes: Agricultural Engineering, Food Engineering, Biotechnology, Green Technology and Agricultural Waste Management. Two teams from UBD, consisting of ELS undergraduate and graduate students, participated under the Green Technology and Biotechnology subthemes and won several medals as follows:

 

• Gold Medal for Best Paper Award and Silver Medal for Poster Competition in Green Technology (Dk Nasriah Rabiatul Adawiyah Pg Abdul Karim, Amanda Liew Wei Yi and Nurul ‘Aqilah Asyahirah Abd Aziz, led by Dr Faizah Metali) - Mulch Your Garden: Using Organic Mulching from Seaweed • Silver Medal for Poster Competition in Green Technology (Ak Abdul Muizz Al Azim Pg Hj Abdul Halim, Anis Nadiah Abdillah and Muhamad Nur Abadi Mohd Nizam, led by Dr Pooja Shivanand and Dr Faizah Metali) - Application of Newly Isolated Trichoderma sp. as Biocontrol Agent and Biofertilizer • Bronze Medal for Research Output Video Competition in Biotechnology (Anis Nadiah Abdillah, Muhamad Nur Abadi Mohd Nizam and Ak Abdul Muizz Al Azim Pg Hj Abdul Halim, led by Dr Pooja Shivanand and Dr Faizah Metali) - Bioprospecting of Bacterial Endophytes and Its Potential Agricultural Application

 

This was the first time that the students had participated in such an annual event, and they did not expect to win any awards. The students participated in this event for a multitude of reasons including to share research outcomes with the wider scientific community, to gain experience and increase the visibility of their work, and to network with researchers in the same field. The Southeast Asian Agricultural Engineering Student Chapter Annual Regional Convention is an annual event that targets students in the field of Agricultural Engineering and Technology from ASEAN countries. Next year, the meeting will be hosted by the Philippine Society of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineers.

 

 

 

7th Southeast Asian Agricultural Engineering Student Chapter Annual Regional Convention 2021 banner.

 

 

Gold medal for best paper award winners (top, left to right) Dk Nasriah Rabiatul Adawiyah Pg Abdul Karim, Amanda Liew Wei Yi and Nurul ‘Aqilah Asyahirah Abd Aziz; Silver medal poster competition and bronze medal research output video competition winners (bottom, left to right) Ak Abdul Muizz Al Azim Pg Hj Abdul Halim, Anis Nadiah Abdillah and Muhamad Nur Abadi Mohd Nizam.