TECHmentor Programme introduced in Miri for students

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Norman Lee (centre) with his teacher Yuan (second left), mentors and judge from Curtin Sarawak.

MIRI: The Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Student Branch of Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak), recently introduced the TECHmentor Programme in secondary schools here following its successful implementation in Penang.

TECHmentor is a programme led by Chumbaka, an organisation committed to re-igniting children’s passion to learn about science and technology, guided by mentors equipped with open-source learning tools.

The programme in Miri is sponsored by DreamCatcher, Sarawak Energy Berhad and Curtin Sarawak’s University Life Department.

DreamCatcher is a training provider that provides technical training to various industries such as electrical and electronics, telecommunications, oil and gas and life sciences.

The TECHmentor programme consists of three sections – Learning, Project Design and Project Implementation.

Participating students will learn the basics of embedded systems and coding with a specially-designed training kit for a fun way of learning science through a hands-on approach.

Prior to launching the programme, members of the IEEE Student Branch recruited volunteers among students of Curtin Sarawak to be mentors to the participants. Besides having to attend a full-day training programme, the mentors had to design projects to demonstrate their innovativeness and creativity.

Their projects were showcased at the university’s Open Day in September last year.

The team of Francelouis Tie Sing Yong, Wong Jin En, Kong Ing Hong, Aaron Koh Chyi Yaw and Hii Tian Hee won for their ‘Housing Alarm’ project using Arduino kits and sensory system.

In the TECHmentor programme in Miri, the mentors supervised participating students by visiting them in their schools and conducting tutorials via Skype. The students had to present their projects to their mentors.

The winning project was selected by electrical and computer engineering senior lecturer Dr Garenth Lim King Hann of Curtin Sarawak’s Faculty of Engineering and Science.

Norman Lee Jia Cheng and Jonathan Raphael of SMK St Columba won with their project entitled ‘House Motion Sensing’.

Lee said the programme provided him the opportunity to garner programming, teamwork and leadership skills.

Chairperson of the IEEE Student Branch of Curtin Sarawak, Saaveethya Sivakumar said the student branch looks forward to organising similar community outreach programmes in the near future.

The IEEE Student Branch of Curtin Sarawak was established to inspire engineering students of Curtin Sarawak to reach their full potential in line with IEEE’s motto ‘To Foster Technological Innovation and Excellence for the Benefit of Humanity’. It regularly organises site visits, technical talks, competitions and social activities for members.