#TECH: Two UTM students become winners of Asean data science competition

OSCAR Fang Jack Ling and Quah Chun Meng from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia emerged as the grand winners of the recent virtual Asean Data Science Explorers (ASEAN DSE) national final.

Calling themselves Team Psyduck, the duo’s project focused on digital integration in the competition hosted by the Asean Foundation and SAP.

Meanwhile, the runners up were Mohd Fahad Saleem and Viknesa Vetrivelan from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Imperium International College, respectively, while second runners-up were Nikola Adiprasetya and How Jo Yi from Sunway University and Monash University Malaysia.

The three winning teams were judged based on their ability to design best all-rounded concepts that tackle Asean socio-economic issues based on data insights.

The Asean DSE is a regional programme organised by the ASEAN Foundation and SAP that aims to catalyse activism and critical thinking among university students.

Fang and Quah will be representing Malaysia at the forthcoming regional final of the Asean DSE when they will be competing with other national winners.

A total of 852 youths across the region competed to represent their country in the National Finals.

“Youth enhancement in advanced data transformation is the key for nation-building with emphasis on youth-centered, data-driven,” said Youth and Sports Ministry’s chief executive officer of the Institute for Youth Research, Dr Vellapandian Ponnusamy.

“Asean will get stronger through advanced data science technology,” said Higher Education Ministry’s director of Institutions of Higher Education Excellence Research Division, Prof Datuk Dr Muhammad Fauzi Mohd Zain.

Meanwhile, SAP’s managing director for Malaysia, KC Hong, said SAP strongly encourages the youths to use their newly learned skills from SAP Analytics Cloud to create sustainable innovations for current social and economic issues.

“Also, youths should utilise these skills for their self-development. Digital skills are more relevant now in the middle of our current pandemic situation and as we look towards recovery, and we are pleased to see that youths in Asean can make a difference in that goal and improve people’s lives,” he said.

Source: NST