The UCSI University team present their project to Mr. Henrik Clausen, CEO of Digi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd, while Dato’ Rohani Abdullah, Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Higher Education looks on.

From left: Tan Ying Hua, Loo Hoe Fieh and Lim Bee Nee after their award-winning presentation.

The finalists for Digi Challenge for Change competition.

Kuala Lumpur, 04 March, 2011 - Students from the School of Engineering won yet another award for their innovative ideas. The UCSI University Greeneration team, led by Lim Bee Nee, together with her peers, Tan Ying Hua and Loo Hoe Fieh won the Honourable Mention Award in the Digi Social Venture Challenge for Change Competition 2010/2011 for their project titled “Green Energy for Telecommunication Towers and Community Broadband Centres (CBCs)”, with a cash prize of RM2000. The team created a hybrid energy system consisting of solar, wind and hydro energy that effectively reduced energy consumption in all CBCs while boosting the economic and social development of the surrounding communities. 

The team, who first heard about the competition last year in September, was advised by their lecturer, Engr. Rodney Tan Hean Gay. According to Lim, it was the competition’s emphasis on green technology that especially attracted them. “We strongly believe that with real application of green technology, we each could play a part in reducing global warming to improve the climate for a better tomorrow.” With this strong belief, the team tried incorporating green technology into all of their projects. 

The team conducted a study combining photovoltaic, hydro and wind energy on a sample area at Kampung Teriang Besar in Mersing, Johor. They discovered that the stand alone energy management system was able to save up to 75% of the total electricity bill compared to the current energy consumed by such telecommunication towers and the CBCs. 

“The background studies done at Kampung Teriang Besar were truly challenging, as we also had to ensure that the project could sustain itself by involving the surrounding community. This included cultivating and promoting the use of green energy in a rural area.” 

UCSI University’s Greeneration team was among the ten finalists chosen across Malaysia to submit their proposals on proof-of-concept Renewable Energy Solutions for Underserved Malaysian Communities. During the development phase, the finalist teams worked with their DiGi mentors and participated on a study trip to an underserved community as the background study for the team’s project. 

This competition succeeded in highlighting the skills, knowledge and initiative of UCSI University’s scholars. Lim Bee Nee and Tan Ying Hua, both scholarship students under the University, demonstrated that the University’s scholars are high achievers both in and out of their fields. 

“It was indeed a challenge for us to score a balance between academics and the curriculum, while simultaneously facilitating the University in many other aspects as a scholar. We were exposed to information and knowledge that weren’t found in the textbooks with time management, determination and commitment being crucial elements throughout the process. We were happy to have managed to strive through successfully.”