Medallion for Excellence award

They are both Bachelor of Software Engineering (Hons) students at TAR UMT, and have no experience competing in any local or international competitions.

Even so, Wong Wai Zhong and Chan Yung Her decided to step out of their comfort zone to represent Malaysia and TAR UMT at Worldskills ASEAN 2023 from 23 -25 July 2023 in Singapore, by taking part in the Internet of Things (IoT) category.

Competing with representatives from Singapore, Indonesia and Philippines, Wai Zhong and Yung Her were tasked to simulate various situations utilising IoT systems effectively such as smart office, smart home, and intuitive security network.

Their demonstration of good adaptability and solid understanding of the subject matter impressed the judging panel enough to award them the Medallion for Excellence award.

(Wai Zhong (left) and Yung Her (right) showing their Medallion for Excellence.)

“It was a nerve-racking experience since this is our first foray into an international competition, plus we are not that familiar with IoT as we are from a software engineering background.

“But my family encouraged me to take the challenge, saying that ‘representing Malaysia is a great opportunity.’, so I decided to focus and prepare well for this competition,” said Yung Her.

Recollecting the late night practices they did to prepare for the Worldskills ASEAN, Wai Zhong said: “Since we were not familiar with IoT, we spent more time trying to understand it better. With the new knowledge we have learnt coupled with our strong foundation in software engineering, we managed to put up a commendable effort in the competition. We are grateful for our advisor Assoc Prof Ts Dr Tew Yiqi who helped us understand more about IoT and for his valuable guidance and support.

“On top of our good communication as a team, our experience at TAR UMT gave us valuable skills such as adaptability and critical thinking that helped us to understand an unfamiliar concept fast. We believe transferable skills like this will be an asset to us, especially for our future careers,” he added.