Report on SOfE 2009

Report on IMechE Asia-Oceania Regional Speak Out for Engineering (SOfE) Competition 2009

Venue: Plenary Theatre, Monash University Sunway Campus

Date: 4^th April 2009

Time: 2.00 pm to 6.00pm

By: Madhav Shyami

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) Malaysia branch and its Young Members Panel hosted the said event which took place at the Plenary Theatre, Monash University Sunway Campus. It was held on the 4^th of April 2009, which was a Saturday.

With respect to the involvement of the IMechE-UNITEN Student Chapter in this event, we have sent a total of six (6) members (three (3) of whom are committee members) as volunteers for the event. In addition to that, several other members attended as supporters for the Malaysian representative, our Immediate Past President of the chapter, Mr. Dominic Hua Shi Hao.

The volunteers gathered at the Plenary Theatre at about 12 pm to meet with Dr. Raj Durairaj, the IMechE Malaysia Young Members Section President; who was in charge of the volunteers. Together with him were two volunteers from the host university, to help us with our way around the campus to facilitate our duties.

Starting from approximately 1 pm we were posted at our delegated locations. From the six, each entrance to the campus was occupied by two volunteers each; one was stationed midway from the main entrance to the theatre, and another from the back entrance to the venue. During the one-hour period, we were tasked to direct each attendee to the venue, and escort the VIPs. The VIPs for that day was Prof. William Banks, President of IMechE and Mr. Matthew Thomas, Immediate Past President of IMechE Malaysia.

At 2 pm, we completed our tasks as volunteers and entered the theatre as observers/supporters. The competition started on time as Dr Satesh Namasivayam, the Immediate Past Chairman of the IMechE Malaysia YMS, took charge as the emcee and got the event underway after a brief overview of the rules and regulations of the competition and a short speech from Mr. Matthew Thomas. Soon the first contestant, representing China, Ms. Hao Rui came on stage with renewable materials as her topic for the day. After her, Mr. Dominic Hua, representing Malaysia (and UNITEN) came on stage with bio-materials as his topic of interest.

Once Dominic was done, we broke for tea at 3.40 pm. After the light refreshments, at 3.40 pm the event continued with Ms. Eunice Chan from Hong Kong presenting her topic on piezoelectric. The last participant was Mr. David Ackland from Australia, presenting his topic of interest which was biomechanics of the human shoulder. After the last participant, the judges convened at a separate area while the others were entertained with a multimedia presentation of IMechE Malaysia’s events and achievements over the past year. After 20 minutes, the judges were back to the theatre. After the speech from Prof. William Banks, the chief judge gave a brief comment on the competition as whole. He has mentioned that each of the four participants had done very well in their presentations thus making the task of selecting the winner of the competition a difficult one.

After the speeches, the results were released; the runner-up was Mr. David Ackland and the winner was Ms. Eunice Chan from Hong Kong. The prize-giving ceremony began which included presenting the winner with a plaque and photo-sessions marked the end of the event. Dr. Raj thanked us personally for our part in the event. The event ended at around 5.45 pm.

The event went on like clock-work, as Prof. William Banks mentioned, partly due to the contributions of IMechE-UNITEN Student Chapter not only because in terms of volunteering in the event, but also as supporters, as UNITEN made up a big part of the audience on that day. This reflects our student chapter as one of the most active (if not the most) in Malaysia. This event also marks the progression of the chapter, as we are now, from having in-campus activities and trips organized by our chapter, to involving ourselves directly with the events held by IMechE Malaysia Branch, on the Asia-Ocenia Regional level, with the attendance of representatives of IMechE UK. It is hoped that this would be a stepping stone for this chapter to reach greater heights.