Heartiest congratulations to UTM 5 Excellence Tracks Programme student – Yap Sin Yee on being offered a research internship at the University of Cambridge starting from this September 2019. She will be doing her research on the application of machine learning to the analysis of neuroimaging at Cambridge.
Sin Yee is a fourth-year student in the Faculty of Engineering who has been named on the Dean’s list since her first year. As a 5ETP student, she has represented UTM to join different types of student activities at the international level as well as national level.
The list of Sin Yee’s achievements during her university years are as follows:
- The Best Research Poster Award, Applied Science and Technology Undergraduate Symposium 2019
- The Best Biodiversity Project Award, International Community and Technology Camp Highlight 2018
- Deputy Director, Global Outreach Program to New Zealand 2018
- Head Facilitator, MyAgrosis USR Kembara Kemboja Vietnam 2018
- Director, Malaysia Bioinformatics Students Conference 2018
- Referee & Head Facilitator, Petrosains RBTX (Robotics) Challenge 2018
- Cohort 6, University Entrepreneurship Masterclass 2018
- The Best Presentation Award, Junior Chamber International (JCI) 2017
- Deputy Director, Townhall Mahasiswa 2.0
- Vice President of External Affairs, Southern Regional Leadership Conference (SRLC) AIESEC 2017
5 Excellence Tracks Programme is a unique program under the Office of Student Affairs which aims to cultivate and retain students’ talent and encouraging the holistic development of a student. (http://www.utm.my/studentaffairs/excellent-tracks-programme-etp/)
We believe that the success story of Sin Yee will be a great inspiration to other students in UTM. Therefore, we have asked Sin Yee some questions about her background and the stories behind her success:
How do you get this internship offer from University of Cambridge?
I sent my application to a professor at the University of Cambridge. As I know our 5ETP alumnus – Yong Bang Xiang is studying at University of Cambridge, I get the advice from him on how to write for my application, and I am glad that I got the recommendations from Dr Lai Meng-Chuan (He was once the honorary Director of Research at Autism Research Centre of the University of Cambridge) and Prof Durrishah (Deputy Vice-Chancellor in UTM). After passing the interview and test, I have been offered the opportunity to do my research internship at Cambridge.
What are the challenges along with this opportunity to intern in Cambridge? How did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge is the financial problem, since the living costs whilst my internship at Cambridge is not covered by Cambridge University. Luckily with the help from my faculty lecturers and HEP (Office of Student Affairs), particularly 5 Excellence Tracks Programme, I managed to get financial support from many parties, including 5ETP funds, corporate organizations, and crowd-funding.
How do you manage your time in university?
I like to list down my tasks and mark the due date on my Google calendar so that I will not forget the important assignments and it also ensures I never miss out the interesting events that I want to join. I believe that the journey in university can’t be only about academic. We need to come out of our comfort zone and try out different things in university.
Any inspirational quote that you would like to share with other students?
“Don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try.”
