Bong delivers his presentation on ‘Plastic as a source, not a waste’ at the national final.
KUCHING: Swinburne student Paul Cornelius Bong will represent Malaysia at the IET Present Around the World (PATW) Asia Pacific Final in Hong Kong in August.
The second-year electrical and electronics engineering student recently won the national final at UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, to receive RM500.
PATW is a global competition for young professionals and students aged 18 to 30 within the field of engineering to develop and showcase their presentation skills.
Organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the competition requires participants to deliver a 10-minute presentation on any engineering or technology related area with the objectives to enhance their knowledge, develop their presentation skills, and increase their profile.
Bong competed against other finalists from University of Southampton Malaysia Campus, Taylor’s University, UCSI University, Multimedia University Melaka Campus, Mahsa University, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, and Universiti Tenaga Nasional.
The panel of judges included Heriot Watt University assistant professor Dr Yew Weng Kean; IET Malaysia main committee member 2018/2020 Jimmy Fam Deng Fong, and Electrical and Electronics Association of Malaysia past president Chris Chew Shee Fuee.
Delivering his presentation on ‘Plastic as a source, not a waste’, Bong spoke on the potentials of tapping into plastic waste to produce plastic concrete.
Motivated by the environmental crises resulting from plastic waste, Bong hopes that his idea would inspire the use of plastic concrete in building construction, especially in Malaysia where the country is known as one of the world’s worst plastic polluters.
Commenting on his participation, Bong said the experience has been an amazing as he was able to share his ideas and compete among other admirable presenters.
He looks forward to bringing the knowledge he learned to the next level and to pick up more skills from other professionals in the Asia Pacific leg of the competition.
“Everyone was brimming with confidence and exuded the true meaning of showmanship.
“The presenters had us hanging onto their every word and filled the hall with laughter, a difficult feat to pull off when under the pressure of countless watchful eyes,” he said.
Bong thanked his supervisors Swinburne School of Engineering deputy head Dr Chua Hong Siang, School of Foundation Studies senior lecturer Christina Yin, and School of Information and Communications Technologies lecturer Dr Mark Tee Kit Tsun, who helped him prepared for the competition.