On 15th May 2020 which was during the Movement Control Order (MCO), UTM Centre for Student Innovation & Technology Entrepreneurship (UTM XICTE) took the initiative to organize UTM XCITE IDEATION CHALLENGE 2020 (XIC 2020), a competition to encourage UTM students to generate ideas that could assist in combating COVID-19.
The objective of this competition was to provide opportunities for Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) students to express their innovative ideas through two-minute videos regarding COVID-19 based on different views of knowledge such as engineering, science, education or business aspects based on their learning in UTM. Besides that, the contest was aimed to improve students’ skills, especially in digital video production for the presentation of ideas and nurture the spirit of innovation and technopreneurship among UTM students.
It began on 17th April 2020 with calls for participants and ended on 15th May 2020 with a list of winners announced online through UTM XCITE Facebook . There were three categories featured: Medical & Healthcare Support, Social & Psychological Support, and Marginalized Community Support that were judged by various panels from both industries and academics.
Among the panels were the academics, professional, industrial expert and medical practitioners from several institutions namely, Dr. Fathi Zaki Mohd Zakaria and Dr. Hazim A. Gafa (Head of Quality Unit and Medical Officer from Hospital Sultan Ismail), Ms. Niena Najwa Mohd Rashid (Clinical Psychologist, Pusat Pakar Psikologi Jiwa Damai), Ms. Noor Suraya Muhamad (Psychologist from Hospital Tuanku Jaafar), Ms. Saw Jo Anne (Senior Lecturer and Clinical Psychologist from Faculty of Medicine, UiTM), Dr. Wan Mohd Azam Wan Mohd Yunus, Dr. Halimah Mohd Yusof and Dr. Rabeatul Husna Abdul Rahman (Representatives from Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, UTM), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Noraini Abu Talib, Dr. Adaviah Mas’od and Dr. Zuraidah Sulaiman (Representatives from Azman Hashim International Business School, UTM), and Ms. Rohaizan Khairul Anuar (Representative from Corporate Services & Industry Network, UTM.)
Chin Shi Qi from the School of Computing with her product, ‘Fingerprint Contact Tracing’ won both First Place and Medical and Healthcare Category which brought home RM 500 and an e-certificate. The second place along with a prize money of RM 400 and an e-certificate was won by Low Wie Xin from the School of Computing.
Meanwhile, the third-place along with a prize money of RM 100 with an e-certificate went to Goh Jun Kee from the School of Electrical Engineering. The winner for Marginalized Community Support Category was Tong Xin Jo from the School of Civil Engineering titled ‘Gig Trust’ received RM 200 and an e-certificate. Aside from those main winners, there were 10 consolidation prizes given to 10 participants which was RM 50 and an e-certificate for each of them.
Despite the restriction of MCO and a short period notice, this competition received 53 innovative video submissions and was entirely conducted via online platforms. This shows that UTM students have a lot of creative, innovative and entrepreneurial ideas that can be uplifted.