In the 2014-15 academic year, students at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) won several competitions showing their achievements in fields beyond academia.
Nottingham University Business School (NUBS) undergraduates Ng Yong Jia, Liew Wai Yip, Edward Lee Yee Hoong, Chew Jac Yee and Ang Kai Jie, won the “Innovative Youth, Future Business Leader 2.0” competition organised by the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KLSCCCI) in May 2015 for formulating a winning marketing plan proposal devised for leather wear, footwear and apparel brand Bonia. The team won a RM6,000 cash prize.
This year’s student successes in business case competitions reached a climax when undergraduates from Business School, Charles Tan Wen Fei, Tan Lee Xiang, Fabiolla Netto and Ben Tan Kok Pin emerged as champions of the HSBC Malaysia Business Case Challenge 2015 in May, winning a cash prize of RM15,000. The team then represented Malaysia at the regional HSBC/HKU Asia Pacific Business Case Competition 2015, organised by the Asia Case Research Centre of The University of Hong Kong in a 3-day competition with 24 universities from 18 countries, which saw the team advancing into the semi-finals, making it to the Top 8 after beating teams from Sri Lanka and Japan.
In April 2015, a team of Business students Gan Chii Yunn, How Zhi Yeong, Er Weng Ee, Nicholas Eng and engineering student Tan Kean Eng, competing as Team SOS, emerged as champion at the AIESEC Social Startup Challenge 2015, with their winning project calling for reducing single occupancy vehicles in urbanised areas, believed to be the root cause of many social problems, such as stress, drop in productivity and adverse environmental impacts. As victors, the team received an exclusive invitation to the MaGIC Social Entrepreneurship Bootcamp mentorship programme from the Founder Institute, and funding of potentially up to RM100,000 from Infinite Ventures to materialise the winning proposal.
The Business School's winning streak during the 2014-15 academic year started with undergraduate students Jerry Ng Ming Zheng, Siew Qing Ern, Tan Qiao Ru and Siaw Carshawn emerging as National Champions of the CIMB ASEAN Stock Challenge 2014, an annual cross-border stimulated stock trading competition held in December 2014, receiving a cash prize of USD800. Also in December, Team ProSper, consisting of Business students William Buck, Tan Lee Xiang, Fabiolla Netto and Chen May Yie, emerged Champions at BDO Malaysia's inaugural BD'One Challenge, taking home a RM3,000 cash prize and full-time job offers with BDO Malaysia upon graduation. William Buck also won 'Best Presenter' at the competition, which required student teams to present strategies and recommendations to assist BDO Malaysia in enhancing their brand recognition in the region.
In January 2015, a team of Business School undergraduates Ben Tan Kok Pin, Charles Tan Wen Fei, Tee Wee Heng and Jacky Mok became the champion of the Intervarsity Talent Achievers Challenge (ITAC) 2015, a three-day innovation-based challenge which sponsors included the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), BDO, KPMG, PwC, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), CPA Australia and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). The team bagged a cash prize of RM3,500 and trophies.
In early March 2015, Ahdil Marikar, Fabiolla Netto and William Buck emerged as National Champions of the Accenture Risk Management Challenge 2015. The competition was aimed at promoting an appreciation of risk and providing students with insights into the risk management industry through interaction with industry veterans and professionals. The team advanced to the ASEAN Grand Finals at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in March 2015, where they emerged First Runner-Ups and were awarded a cash prize of SGD1,000.
In May 2015, Team Triple Threat, consisting of Lim Yi Phing, Mye Ji Shyan and Soo Zieng Lee won the 'Best Digital Communication Campaign' title at the L'Oréal Brandstorm 2015 business competition.
While most business case challenges are participated by undergraduate students, the School's Foundation in Business and Management students also showed their mettle when Serena Eng Ming Ai, Gan Shin Wei, Yap Ye Wen and Mak Karl-Mun of Team Eugeniaes advanced to the final level of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Social Entrepreneurship Challenge in January 2015.
“NUBS Malaysia continually emphasises the importance of bridging academic learning with corporate practice, and we are very proud of our students who have come so far in their achievements," said Dr Chuen-Khee Pek, Founding Principal Mentor of the Business School’s Student Competition Mentoring Group (Mentors+) and Senior University Teaching Fellow of Green Economics at NUBS Malaysia.
“We are also grateful to all our academic colleagues in the Business School who pitched in to mentor and support our participating students in their endeavours,” Dr Pek said.
According to Principal Mentor of Mentors+, Dr Dilip Mutum, a Senior University Teaching Fellow with the Business School, "We are extremely proud of the commitment and determination displayed by all the students who were involved in competitions this year, and we hope that this year's successes will motivate students to take the game to an even higher level in the next academic year."
Image Caption: The team from NUBS Malaysia during the certificate presentation ceremony at the HSBC Building, Central, Hong Kong, with the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong and the Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive of HSBC Ltd.
UNMC's 15th Anniversary
One of the world's truly global universities, with campuses in Malaysia, the UK and China, 2015 marks the 15th year since setting up as UK's first full-fledged international campus in Malaysia and all three campuses continue to enrich the lives of students across the world through global education, ground-breaking research and community engagement.
More information is available from Chan Wen Li, Director of Information and Communications, Nottingham University Business School Malaysia at wenli.chan@nottingham.edu.my; or Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager at UNMC, on+60 (3) 8924 8746, josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my.
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with campuses in China and Malaysia modelled on a headquarters that is among the most attractive in Britain’ (Times Good University Guide 2014). It is also one of the most popular universities in the UK among graduate employers and the winner of ‘Research Project of the Year’ at the THE Awards 2014. It is ranked in the world’s top one per cent of universities by the QS World University Rankings, and 8th in the UK by research power according to REF 2014.
The University of Nottingham in Malaysia (UNMC)is holding events throughout 2015 to celebrate 15 years as a pioneer of transnational education. Based in Semenyih, UNMC was established as the UK's first overseas campus in Malaysia and one of the first world-wide.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest-ever fundraising campaign, is delivering the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.
Posted on 13th July 2015