SMJK Chung Ling and Heng Ee winners of BIT Day!

While many institutions of higher learning are focused solely on helping their graduates in honing their technical knowledge, KDU College Penang took a step further to educate today’s high school students about the future careers prospects in the IT and Business industry by conducting workshops for secondary school students in conjunction with its BIT Day which prominently featured competitions for both the Information Technology and Business Schools. As such over 78 high school students packed the KDU Foyer on the 24th July 2010, eagerly awaiting the start of the competition.

There were two ongoing competitions on that day namely the Games Design Workshop & Competition by the School of Engineering, Science & Technology and the Biz Ideas Workshop & Competition organized by the School of Business. The Games Design participants first attended a short lecture which gave the students give a better exposure on what they can do with their IT knowledge. This followed then with some insights on what goes on behind the scene in the production of software for computer games. The workshop also aimed to educate the participants about the prospects and opportunities within the IT industry.

The event consisted of 3 primary sessions. The first session was an introduction to game design where the participants were taught basic game design concepts, software development project management techniques. The second session was a quick tutorial on graphics, animation and sound production, and a final session on how to use the GameMaker 8 which is a game creation tool which provided an effective base to apply the techniques learned in the previous sessions. The workshop culminated in a games design competition which gave the participants an opportunity to creatively apply their new knowledge on a working game and at the same time develop their communicative and team working skills.

An interesting point to note was that all sessions of the workshop and the supervision of the competition was led by KDU College Penang’s own IT students, particularly those from the school’s Computer Club with minimal supervision by their lecturers. This allowed the IT students test their mentoring skills as well as effectively apply the knowledge learned in their classes such as leadership, teamwork and organizational skills.

Meanwhile at the same time another group of students were participating in the Biz Ideas Workshop & Competition organized by the School of Business. The participants were not only given an overview on the contemporary trends in business, but were able to acquire a good understanding of the opportunities and career development in the business world. In the workshop, students worked on computers to compose good business ideas for targeted potential investors. This allowed the students to use their new knowledge and create a business plan that may possibly generate effective business activities and profits.

According to Ms. Amy Leow, Senior Academic Department Head of School of Engineering, Science and Technology (Information Technology Division), “There are plenty of opportunities for students to do well and apply their knowledge when preparing for the competition. The important thing is to do it with creativity as the market will always look for new ways of innovation”.

The students who attended the Games Design Workshop and Competition had nothing but praise for the sessions. Tan Ming Wei and Kim Wei Zhong from SMJK Heng Ee took the Champions trophy along with RM300.00 prize money, followed by 1st Runner-Up Brendon Lim and Chew Kwok Neng from SMK St Xavier won RM200.00 and a trophy while Tan Chee Peng and Toong Wei Liang from SMK Westland took the 2nd Runner-Up placing as well as RM 200 in prize money along the way.

Meantime, the Biz Idea Competition Champion trophy was awarded to Lim Wei Kang and Lim Jie En of SMJK Chung Ling together with a trophy and cash prize of RM300.00, followed by 1st Runner-Up Eng Ying Hang and Kang Chun Hee from SMJK Chung Ling with atrophy and cash prize of RM200.00 while 2nd Runner-Up Lim Zhi Cheng and Chuah Yimin of SMJK Perempuan Cina went home with a trophy and cash prize of RM100.00
It was a wonderful day indeed as everyone went home a winner.