May 15 – The Research Carnival Month 2023 was launched successfully on May 15, 2023, by the Post-Graduate Student Society (PGSS) in collaboration with the School of Graduate Studies (SPS) at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). The event included the highly anticipated 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) Virtual Competition Event Day.
The 3MT Competition is an exciting academic event that challenges graduate students to present their research concisely and engagingly. This competition was open to all UTM Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) candidates in three distinct categories: Engineering (EE), Science and Technology (S&T), and Social Science (SS). The premise of the competition was simple, the enrolled contestants had to distill complex concepts into easily understandable presentations, highlighting the significance of their research projects in an engaging and accessible way to a non-specialist audience in no more than three minutes via a YouTube submission link.
From the 28th of April to the 5th of May 2023, a panel of juries assessed the first stage of the competition based on predetermined criteria for each of the aforementioned categories.
For the Engineering category, the session was led by Dr. Nor Ain Husein (Department of Physics, Faculty of Science), Ts. Dr. Azlin Abd. Jamil (Assistant Registrar, UTM Innovation and Commercialization Centre) and Dr. Wan Farah Wani Wan Fakhruddin (Faculty of Social Science and Humanities), while for the Science and Technology category, the session was led by Dr. Kew Si Na (Language Academy, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities), Dr. Syed Muhammad Rafy Syed Jaafar (Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying) and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norhayati Abdullah (Deputy Director of Vice Chancellor’s Office, UTM International, UTM Kuala Lumpur). Furthermore, for Social Science and Humanities category, the session was led by Dr. Mohd Saiful Azimi Mahmud (Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Department of Control and Mechatronics Engineering), Dr. Jaysuman Pusppanathan (Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences) and Dr. Dina Azleema Mohamed Nor (Registrar’s Department Center for Talent and Leadership Development).
The second stage of this competition required all finalists to engage in an online question-and-answer (Q&A) session according to their respective schedules. During this 3MT Virtual Competition Event Day, finalists were awarded scores in accordance with the predetermined judging criteria. During the deliberation session, the three juries (Dr. Nor Hasrul Akhmal Ngadiman from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Materials, Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering, Dr. Syed Muhammad Rafy Syed Jaafar and Dr. Nor Ain Husein) played a crucial role in selecting the TOP THREE WINNERS for each category based on their individual assessments and collective discussion.
The 3MT Competition had exceptional champions who delivered persuasive presentations that captivated their audiences. They are as follows:
Engineering
- Siti Fadilla Binti Md Noor (Faculty of Chemical & Energy Engineering)
- Saidatul Sophia Binti Md Sha’rani (Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology)
- Teoh Ziah Er (Faculty of Chemical & Energy Engineering)
Science and Technology
- Nurul Hidayat (Faculty of Science)
- Melvin Tan Chun Yun (Faculty of Science)
- Yamunathevi A/P Mathivanan (Faculty of Science)
Social Science and Humanities
- Norliyana Zakaria (Azman Hashim International Business School)
- Syaza Soraya Sauli (Faculty of Social Science and Humanities)
- Chua Ching Hao (Faculty of Social Science and Humanities)
The competition served as a valuable platform for Ph.D. candidates to enhance their communication abilities, exhibit their research, and interact with a broader audience beyond their academic fields. The victorious participants at the university level are eligible to compete in national or international competitions, which offer a more extensive stage for showcasing their research and communication skills. These competitions open doors for winners from different institutions to compete against each other, which further highlights their excellence in research and communication skills.
Prepared by: Sharel Raj A/P Jonson Raju (Director of 3MT)