| Universiti Putra Malaysia

Jia Yong wins the 2nd place of Young Persons’ World Lecture Competition

By Khairul Anuar Muhamad Noh

 

LONDON, Oct 10th, 2019 – Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) PhD student, Lam Jia Yong has won the second place in the 15th Young Persons’ World Lecture Competition (YPWLC) for his lecture on “DNA biosensor based on optical fibre for the detection of pathogen: A novel approach”.

His presentation summarized his PhD research on the development of a new diagnostic method for leptospirosis (rat urine disease) using optical fibre, a material commonly used in the communication fields.

As the runner-up, he was awarded prize money of GBP1,500, a MacBook Air and a certificate. His thesis advisory committee members include Associate Prof. Dr. Chee Hui Yee as main supervisor, Dr. Mohd Hanif Yaacob and Associate Prof. Dr. Ho Kok Lian as co-supervisors.

Prior to YPWLC, he won the national-level event, Materials Lecture Competition which was held in Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) on 30th April 2019 and represent Malaysia in the YPWLC.

He was mentored by Associate Prof. Dr. Norkhairunnisa Mazlan, Dr. Ahmad Salahuddin Mohd Harithuddin, Dr. Yasmin Mustapha Kamil, Dr. Ainun Zuriyati and Dr. Mohd Salahuddin Mohd Basri.

YPWLC has been organised and held annually by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) with the objective to encourage young materials scientists and engineers to develop their communication skills.

Each year, winners of the national finals from around the world will be selected to represent their country in the world final which is held in a different location around the globe annually.

The competition this year in London is the fifteenth instalment of the event, and was sponsored by Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM), and supported by Rolls-Royce.

This year, the nine finalists from all around the world (UK, Malaysia, Brazil, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong and Russia), were treated o an all-expenses paid trip to London for a week.

Aside from the competition, the finalists also took part in a series of activities organised by IOM3, such as Matopoly: London, tours to Roll-Royce Heritage Site, Cambridge University Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, sightseeing tour around London, bowling, as well as a visit to a primary school, where each of them gave a shorter version of their presentation to a crowd of Year 6 pupils.

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