KUALA LUMPUR (22 JULY 2014) Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) bagged the top prize in 10th MSC Malaysia – Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) – MSC Malaysia Startup Challenge 2013/14 awards prize giving ceremony here last Thursday.
In the Business Idea category, the UTM team, comprising of Lim Thol Yong and Ng Ee Leen, with the team name 360 Degree Sensing Car System won the RM6,000 prize money and trophy for their creation of a solution using an application displayed through smartphones, which monitors the surroundings of a car with a 360 degree view.
The 360 Degree Sensing Car System provides an alert system, parking guidance and also acts as a black box to increase the safety, convenience and protection to car users.
The team, who was mentored by Dr Yeong Che Fai, demonstrated the system has strong competitive advantage compared to other similar applications as it has a wider range, lower in cost and can be installed in any type of cars.
Team WoCo, from UPM, which consisted of Ahmad Wazizi Samsudin, Mohd Fadzli Razali, Muhammad Zaid Yusoff and Puteri Suhaiza Sulaiman emerged as the champion in the Business Plan category. They walked away with RM12,000 and trophy.
The team created the WoCo Stylus (World Colour Stylus) and its drawing application. The special features of WoCo stylus are the RGB sensor that can capture the colour of objects around us. It will be of much assistance to developers who need to access the resources required to strengthen their ideas for this device and its application. The team which was guided by P.Thinagaran, created the device based on user demand on the lack of colour accuracy between the device screen colour and the real world colour for painting and design.
The competition was organised by the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC)’s Talent Division in collaboration with the Ministry of Education (MOE), a committee formed by representatives from the Institutions of Higher Learning (IHLs) and chaired by the Vice Chancellor of Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM). The competition, which was previously known as the MSC Malaysia – IHL Business Plan Competition has been renamed IHL – MSC Malaysia Startup Challenge (i-MSC) changes in the competition requirements and flow and as a new approach to scale up and attract greater participation of undergraduates, post graduate students, researchers and academicians from the IHLs.
The second place in the Business Idea category was won by The Huskey team, from Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), who invented an integrated indoor navigation application named THE HUSKEY which can be utilised during a fire. The team members, consisting of Daphne Au Poh Suan and Tan Teck Wei, won RM4,000 and trophy, with the guidance of Nidzamuddin Md. Yusof.
The application alerts users during a fire and provides navigation to safety. THE HUSKEY also assists fire fighters during the search and rescue operations by identifying the location and statistics of victims.
The third spot was won by Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) team named Intelligent Fish Indicator (I.F.I) with their I.F.I. fuzzy expert system that predicts and assists in the decision making of a boat skipper or tekong on the best fishing spot. The logic of the decision making, by the skipper, is derived from the analysis of the environment, which includes water temperature, water level, weather conditions, wind speed and other factors. The team which received RM2,000 and trophy, comprised Mohd Nazrin Mohd Nasir, Mohd Adzhar Abdul Kahar, Amirul Abdul Rahim and their advisor was Mohd Zaki Zakaria.
The second place winner in the Business Plan category was the My 2nd EYE team, from Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), who received RM8,000 and trophy. The team’s My Second Eye application, with built-in sensors allows users to scan their surrounding and spot any obstructions above the upper body level. An audio warning signal will be issued in the presence of any obstacles as well as the location of the obstruction, thus safely guiding users along the way. Albert Feisal @ Muhd Feisal Ismail advised the team, which consisted of Arman Hadi Azahar, Muhammad Ihsan Mohd Sabri and Anuar Mohamed Kassim.
Whereas the third place in the same category was won by the Body-Guts Fitness Apparel team from KDU College Penang. The team which received RM6,000 and trophy, created the Body-Guts interactive textile which calculates the heart rate, calorie burned and nutrition suggestion that is commonly needed by fitness enthusiasts during their workout routine. The team members, who were advised by Wendy Chin Siew Wen, comprised of Tan Chiang Wei, Lim Wai Xiang, Adrian Teo Wei Hong and Goh Duo Wei.
The three merit winners and best video pitch winner in each of the Business Idea and Business Plan categories received RM500 and trophy.
MDeC’s Chief Operating Officer Ms Ng Wan Peng said the competition emphasised on the importance of developing entrepreneurial skills, growing a sustainable entrepreneurship skill development eco-system, raise the standards of idea generation, innovative thinking, problem solving & business pitching skills and also to identify commercially viable ideas with IP potential for development into ICT SMEs.
The Ministry of Education’s Deputy Director-General (Public IHL Sector), Department of Higher Education Datin Paduka Ir. Dr. Siti Hamisah Tapsir said in his speech at the event, “I believe this competition has given the students a taste of ICT entrepreneurship, and what to expect in a journey of becoming one, as well as understanding the challenges of becoming entrepreneurs. It has also given them the opportunity to discover their strength, creativity, innovativeness and entrepreneurial capabilities.”
Chairman of the IHL-MSC Malaysia Startup Challenge 2013/2014 Prof. Datuk Dr Ahmad Yusoff Hassan said the rebranded competition is specially designed in line with the Ministry of Education’s mission to generate entrepreneurial graduates and hopefully, graduate entrepeneurs, in accordance to the critical agenda programme of driving entrepreneurship as one of the focus areas for IHLs.
A total of 21 universities and polytechnics took part in the competition with 55 and 45 submissions in the business ideas and business plan categories respectively.
