AWARD WINNERS: (From left) Dr Kho; Connie Tham, an executive committee member of student chapter; Priscilla and Ivan show the awards they received while Alex (second right) and Associate Professor Dennis Wong (right), the acting head of the School of Engineering, Computing and Science of the university, look on.
KUCHING: The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Malaysia recently named its student chapter at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, the most promising, and awarded three of its members for exemplary leadership.
The institution presented the Swinburne Sarawak IET Student Chapter with the Most Promising Student Chapter Award for 2011-2012 at its annual dinner for its young professionals section in Kuala Lumpur.
The award is presented to a student chapter in recognition of its success in building up its membership and actively organising beneficial activities for its members.
This is the second time the student chapter has won the award. It was first awarded in 2010, and was second runner-up last year.
Its vice-president Ivan Ling Ting Yang, education, events and welfare officer Priscilla Toh Wen Hui, and treasurer Fong Kit How received the Leadership Award for exhibiting a high level of inter-personal skills and team work in organising events and helping members achieve their potential through professional development resources including mentoring and training.
“Teamwork plays a significant role and guidance from our club advisors contributed to the success of every event we organised. The good support from members was another contributing factor for winning the award,” said president of the chapter Alex Kueh.
He said among the events the chapter organised were the Pi Challenge, Dota Tournament, site visit to Taiyo Yuden (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, and a field trip to Mukah where they visited Press Metal Sarawak Sdn Bhd and Mukah Power Generation Sdn Bhd.
“Through these activities our members were able to connect with engineers in various disciplines and establish networks to enhance their skills, expand their experience and understand the industry,” Kueh said.
The student chapter was set up in 2010 with lecturer Dr Kho Yau Hee from the School of Engineering, Computing and Science, as the main advisor.
“One of the objectives of the chapter is to provide a platform for students to develop the desired attributes and competencies learnt in the classroom and putting them into practice. It is most rewarding to see them making full use of the opportunity, and being recognised for their efforts,” said Kho.
The IET is one of the world’s leading professional societies for the engineering and technology community.
It has more than 150,000 members in 127 countries and offices in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.
The institution provides a global knowledge network to facilitate the exchange of ideas and promote the positive role of science, engineering and technology.