Taylor’s University aims to educate students through its multidisciplinary projects, life skills and mentorship modules.
One of Malaysia’s brightest young minds shares how Taylor’sphere amplified his talents
DECODING technology for the good of mankind, Taylor’s University Bachelor of Computer Science graduate, Roshen Maghhan, 24, has been dubbed as one of the brightest young minds in Malaysia.
The self-taught programmer was named as one of the best by Dcoder and HackerRank – ranked number one in Malaysia and top one per cent in the world respectively – in the area of coding.
Living in a multi-ethnic and multilingual country like Malaysia, Roshen realised that one of the everyday challenges faced by locals is understanding one another, especially in a conversation or work setting among friends and colleagues.
After having to remind his colleagues to speak in English during meetings so that he would be able to keep up or follow the conversation, Roshen embarked on his own tech journey of building his very own Google Pixel Buds to solve his struggle without burning a hole in his pocket.
“I studied the Google Pixel hardware information to understand how the device worked and built the software with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology to support my real-time earbuds translator device, which was compatible across all operating systems.
“Not only was the device able to address conversation barriers, but it could also help the deaf community to read and follow any conversation. This is because the translation process of the device will also display text when the AI feature captures the sentence communicated,” said Roshen, who was also a full scholarship recipient at Taylor’s.
Inspired by Tesla, Roshen found a way to remotely control various functions of his Myvi with a single touch on the screen of his smartphone.
Currently, he has developed more than 30 websites, nine phone applications, 12 web games and more than 18 in-house computer software.
What’s more remarkable is his innovation in his Tesla-Myvi project with an initial investment of only RM200.
He was able to control his car using a smartphone and named the function the Summon Feature. Roshen’s innovation included locking and unlocking the car remotely, switching the car on and off, the ability to open and close windows, playing music without being inside, as well as driving the vehicle forward or backward with a single touch on the screen of his smartphone.
He then continued to create his own version of Google Home, where he automated his home fans, televisions, air conditioners and home gate, among others.
“Most times, the inspirations of these projects are usually either to solve an issue I am facing or to learn and test my knowledge in a certain domain. In these personal projects, as I invent and develop them alone, I am my own researcher, solution architect and developer,” he said.
He added that his journey at Taylor’s – since his foundation – has moulded him to build such innovations in recent years.
He opined that the Bachelor of Computer Science programme director Tee Wee Jing was his on-site fatherly figure and mentor throughout his college and university days at Taylor’s.
Taylor’sphere ecosystem nurtures its students based on three intelligences of intellect, practical wisdom and craft.
“Tee was an academic that was very encouraging and made sure I made the most of my university experience, despite the pandemic mid-way through my degree studies.
“He motivated me to actively participate in multiple competitions and hackathons and guided my team and I with feedback, as well as on how to improve our pitches to impress the judges. He was an inspiring educator to many of us,” he said.
Roshen had participated in many competitions, namely the ImagineHack Hackathon in 2016, where he and his team built a programme within 24 hours and was awarded second place and the Nasional Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Apps Challenge in 2017, where he and his team built a social networking service application in 48 hours and won the category.
In 2019, Roshen also secured a top five spot in the AI and Big Data Challenge for Data Engineers Hackathon.
“As a result of my involvement in big competitions, experience was not the only thing I had gained, but also exposure to people of the tech industry in Malaysia and to the technological gaps we are trying to solve,” said Roshen, adding that networks were an important element of the Taylor’sphere ecosystem within the university that added value for him.
“It really gave me a solid understanding of certain areas in the tech industry, which I was not exposed to previously.
“One of the key qualities I have gained in my university experience was to be a better team player, as I had the chance to work with many different people across faculties, during assignments, projects, hackathons and many more,” he said.
Roshen (right) with Tee, who was his on-site campus fatherly figure and mentor throughout his college and university days at Taylor’s.
With Taylor’s curriculum framework, Roshen had the opportunity to take up the brand management studies elective, which was offered under the Faculty of Social Sciences and Leisure Management.
“The opportunity to mix and match modules allowed me to step out of my comfort zone of technology and learn something new. My brand management lecturer and classmates were welcoming and helpful.
“Additionally, during my final year project, I was given an opportunity to work with Taylor’s to automate their customer service on their website via a chat box feature.
“I gained real-world industry experience about stakeholder management, expectations and timeline then,” he said.
Roshen is now an accomplished software engineer at Bank Negara Malaysia and one of the key members who contribute to the development of CovidNow – the open data initiative that provides data and insights on Covid-19 in Malaysia.
He is responsible for handling the backend aspect of the project, working alongside other developers to allow Malaysians to be able to interpret data published by the Health Ministry.
Within the Taylor’sphere ecosystem, curated by Taylor’s University, students are nurtured based on three intelligences of intellect, practical wisdom and craft.
Besides that, students are also given the chance to experience multidisciplinary projects, life skills and mentorship.
Therefore, students are touted to be well-rounded with not only having acquired academic knowledge and job skills, but also essential life skills and social networks, to apply what they have learnt and find solutions to real-world problems, while making an impact on their communities.
Furthermore, Taylor’sphere aims to ensure that graduates are future-proof, as it encourages student entrepreneurship and impact-driven projects through embedded social innovation modules, multidisciplinary projects, access to labs and facilities to facilitate a campus-wide Makerspace and Technopreneurship track options in selected degree programmes.
To find out more about Taylor’sphere, visit https://bit.ly/3ws8d5m.
