Introducing IEM UTP Student Chapter (IEM-UTP-SC), an interview with Muhammad Aidid Ghani.
Theme of The Month (October 2021): TECHTOBER
Techtober is the time of the year where like-minded people spend time discussing technology, entrepreneurship, and how to build the future.
Today we will look at:
The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia — Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS — Student Chapter (IEM-UTP-SC) whose motto is:
“Building the Future through Professional Engineering”
According to the Association for Computing Machinery (the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society), a student chapter “serves as a gateway to forums, panel discussions … that further a student’s professional development. [They also] allow students to test their technical expertise.”
As an academic student society, IEM-UTP-SC is a branch of the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM). IEM is a society which aims to be the premier learned engineering society championing the adoption of ethics and professional best practices in all sectors of the industry.
The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) was established in 1959 with the main goal of promoting and advancing the science and profession of engineering in its disciplines.
The purpose of the student chapter (IEM-UTP-SC), similarly, is to propagate knowledge, skills, and ethics in professional engineering practices as well as nurturing public interest in the various fields of engineering.
Logo Design Explained, according to Sashivarma Saravanan:
“First of all, I avoided the use of circles and tried a different design because I wanted the logo to be more unique.
Next, the gear depicts IEM-UTP-SC as an engineering club since many immediately think of buildings or machines when they hear the word, ‘engineering’. Hence, I added a gear which relates to machines.
Since gears are commonplace, I added a picture of a robot to the design.
It represents our motto, ‘Building the Future through Professional Engineering’.
I believe robots and AI presently pave the way for the future.
IEM members will be reminded of our motto when they see the logo.
The colours are represents UTP which are blue, gold, and grey.”
1. Can you introduce yourself? Why did you choose to be an engineer?
I am an undergraduate student in the Electrical & Electronics Engineering field. During my early foundation studies, I was given the opportunity to serve as a Student Representative Council (SRC) in UTP after winning the campus elections in 2020. I was appointed as Chairman of the contesting party for the new SRC tenure. Unfortunately, this year my team lost by a small margin. Currently, I am serving as a co-founder and Vice President 1 for IEM-UTP-SC.
I chose to be an engineer as I want to pursue a field that challenges me to polish my critical thinking and practical skills. Coming from a pure sciences background, I get to discover a lot of things, delve into the mysteries behind a system’s mechanisms in engineering.
2. How did IEM-UTP-SC come about? Whose idea was it?
It was an idea proposed by AP Ir. Dr. Nursyarizal (Vice President of IEM Perak Branch and lecturer of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS) and Mr. M. Zamri B Abdullah (Manager of UTP Technopreneurship Office) to nurture professional engineering practices among like-minded students. Along with a group of students who now form the High Committee of IEM-UTP-SC, the club was soon established.
3. What is the aim of the club? Can you further elaborate?
Well, the club aims to provide awareness and the significance of engineering to the community at large, but from a grassroots level while also to uphold the standing image of professional engineering through various programs we plan to run.
4. How do you pass on the baton once you graduate or move on from this point? Concerning club leadership.
The existing members are to be appointed high committee to be specific.
Hence, it is a must for me to search for me to search for a new successors. It is because an organization is very different from an event.
Clubs and societies are established to pass on the culture of that particular organization, for the purposes of long term planning or developmental processes, whereby if compared to activities which consist of short term planning, they are short-lived.
I will train those who catch my eyes, promote them to be the next high committee.
At this point, [ideally], this club will survive.
5. A lot of students lament that they are short on time to commit to clubs in university, what would you say to them to convince them otherwise?
Let me give you an example, as one of the high committee of IEM-UTP-SC, I can see the overview of my subordinates to start adopting themselves to the commitment required of the club but when they quit, I don’t take it personally. I have to do a lot of explaining during the invitation, elaborate how they can develop themselves so they cannot commit any more, I can at least help them to go through the organizations.
6. What are the milestones of the club so far?
We had a family day where we got to bond with one another, we conducted online distance learning because we cannot meet physically.
We conducted our first workshop — Ardui(know) Workshop with UTP Technopreneurship Centre, I am proud to say that it was successfully done.
The 35 of us — the first members — the pioneers began to market our club with our first recruitment drive, as a result, membership has since doubled to 60 and above. We actually plan to do a virtual tour but it did not realize.
We also recently held a women leadership summit too.
During the May semester, a mentorship program for IEM-UTP-SC members began, they are conducted by IEM members, who are professional engineers.
One main event, IEM EXPO — this has been drafted as the main event. This event is projected to be held next year in May 2022, in conjunction with the celebration of UTP’s 25th anniversary.
At IEM-UTP-SC, one of our goals is to encourage the younger generation to take up engineering, as it is a much needed expertise in our society. In line with this, we recently held a webinar on technology and a workshop on web-page development by Ir. Ts. Sukhairul Nizam (A council member of IEM) and Mr. Vikneswaran Arumugam (Founder of VASST Enterprise Solutions) respectively. These two events were opened to secondary school students from all over Malaysia.
7. Can you give us any hints of the future events the club will implement to reach its objectives?
IEM Expo 2022 is projected as an event organized under the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia, UTP Student Chapter (IEM-UTP-SC).
Tentatively, it is projected to be a hybrid event encompassing a 2 day conference alongside multiple innovation exhibitions simultaneously.
We will be having real life PEs (professional engineers) as conference speakers as well as prominent companies and talented students who will showcase their innovations at the event in 2022.
8. How can the student club committee stay balanced and hopeful in running the club so that it won’t die off after a year or two? Do you have any suggestions?
We must fully utilize our human resource department. We must maintain an environment where we can enjoy to contribute.
Milestones, a gallery:
Contact:
- Email: utp.iem@utp.edu.my
Social Media, Resource Links:
- LinkedIn: bit.ly/3vnxXyZ
- Facebook: bit.ly/3vntkom
- Instagram: @iem.utpsc
- Telegram Channel: t.me/joinchat/JQiJ7ZLPpQs3MTJl
- Telegram Chat Room: t.me/joinchat/8YxFemBKL_8yZGJl
- LinkTree: linktr.ee/iemutpsc
- Upcoming newsletter: [Coming Soon]
Building the Future through Professional Engineering
Many thanks to the all of the club’s high committee in adding the final touches to this article, despite their hectic schedule and multiple commitments.
This article also appears on UTPWriG.
Happy Techtober!
