21 Oct. 2019, Kuala Lumpur – In conjunction with Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics’ Research Week 2019, a series of activities were organized by the Science, Management and Design (SMD) Department on 17 October 2019. The program was a part of the department’s effort to promote research, scholarship and creative activities and encourage the reflection of research values among its staff and students. For this year, the theme of “Beyond Boundaries” was chosen to reflect the department’s broad interpretation of research as a process of systematic and creative inquiry that entails collection, analysis and interpretation of critical information. The idea was to be creative, have fun and get the audience excited and aware that elements of research are present in everyday life.

The day kicked off with a Treasure Hunt which attracted participation of 17 teams tasked to employ knowledge and research skills to solve a series of clues and complete physical challenges.

Accomplishing challenges

Following the Treasure Hunt challenge, a seminar was held at Bilik Ilmuan 1 which showcased captains from various industries shared their perspectives on how research could reach beyond the boundaries and change the landscape. The invited guest speakers were Dr. Hj. Noorhisham Bin Mohd Alwi, an Organizational Development Consultant from Linkfarr Sdn. Bhd., Mr. Nik Ariff Bin Nik Omar, the Director of Sales of SAS Institute Sdn. Bhd., and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Hariri Bin Abdullah, the Director of Malaysia Design Council.

Later in the afternoon, the Beyond Boundaries Design Competition was held for walk-in participants. The competition’s goal was  to promote innovative engineering design and saw the participants tasked to designing and constructing a miniature loader crane using only matchsticks and string.  Also, throughout the day, an exhibition featuring posters that detailed SMD Department’s own undergraduate and postgraduate students’ projects were put on display at BATC.

Based on the target audience’s interest and approval in the activities organized, it can be said that the SMD Department’s Beyond Boundaries Research Day was a roaring success!