Game developers: (From left) Cheng, Tan, Ang and Goh created a two-dimensional action-adventure platform game.
UNIVERSITI Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) students recently did the varsity proud by emerging top winners at two national design competitions.
UTAR Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science student Ho Wei Liang came out tops in an online artificial intelligence (AI) design competition that was aimed at providing youths with the opportunity to learn AI skills and apply them responsibly to the designing of any AI solution.
Standing out with his final-year project (FYP) titled “Fire Monitoring and Detection Using Federated Learning Approach”, he was the winner of the AI Impact Creator (over 18s) category at the 2022 Intel Building Digital Readiness Programme.
“This project uses the computer vision method with a fire and smoke detection algorithm to spot the warning signs of a wildfire before it fully breaks out.
AI Impact Creator: Ho developed an innovative approach to spot the warning signs of a wildfire before it fully breaks out.
“I presented an innovative approach that uses drones to monitor the forest according to a schedule, while protecting the data at the same time to avoid breaking any privacy laws, using the federated learning approach,” said Ho in a recent press release.
To develop the system, Ho shared that he used Intel technologies such as the OpenFL framework, OpenVINO Toolkit, and Next Unit of Computing (NUC).
For his win, he took home prizes, which included one unit of Intel NUC 11 Pro Kit NUC11TNKv5 which, he said, he would utilise to further enhance his FYP.
He also scored a special invitation to the Intel AI Global Impact Festival 2022.
Reflecting on his participation, he said the competition gave him new exposure and pushed him beyond his boundaries.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank my FYP supervisor Dr Tham Mau Luen and my co-supervisor Dr Kwan Ban Hoe for their support, guidance and help in completing my FYP,” he said, adding that he is grateful to the varsity for empowering him academically and allowing him to develop his potential through the competition.
Organised by Intel Malaysia in collaboration with the Communications and Multimedia Ministry, and the Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (Crest) Centre, the competition was developed for youths aged 13 to 19, tertiary students, and educators from secondary schools and tertiary institutions.
The award ceremony took place on July 23 via Microsoft Teams.
Meanwhile, UTAR Faculty of Creative Industries (FCI) Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Game Design students Hudson Goh Tai Run, Tan Yu Zhe, Cherry Cheng Sook Yin, together with FCI deputy dean for Student Development and Industrial Training Ang Kok Yew, won the Best Game Design award and an RM2,000 cash prize at the 48 Hour Folklore (Online) Game Jam.
Held from July 29 to 31, it was aimed at creating a platform for game developers to brainstorm, design and collaboratively build a digital game within the folklore niche.
Taking inspiration from the story of Puteri Ulek Mayang, the team created a game called “Dendam Puteri”, a two-dimensional action-adventure platform game.
Commenting on their win, Ang said, “Creativity has no boundaries. I’m very glad to have had a very cooperative team that showed positive effort.”
On the designing process, Goh said, “Time can be limited but not your creation.”
To budding designers, Tan had this advice: “You will never know your potential until you push yourself out of your comfort zone. Work smart, don’t work hard.”
Cheng, however, reminded students to “check your mental health when you push yourself to do the unexpected”.
The event, which was held via Discord and Zoom, was organised by the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage.
