industrial visit

Malaysia practices the constitutional monarchy system, as well as the Westminster parliamentary system. Our monarch, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, plays an important role as the head of state, the Commander-in-Chief and many others. Recently, students under the International Relations programme paid a visit to the Royal Museum to learn about Malaysia’s royal institutions.



Apart from learning about the Islamic religion and culture through the artifacts and the architecture of the museum, our students also learned about the importance of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong in Malaysia’s national and foreign policies. As most of the students were international students, it was an eye-opening experience for them as well, as they had the opportunity to learn more about Malaysian culture.

The students enjoyed learning about the Malaysian constitutional monarchy through the out-of-classroom experience – it was definitely an interactive learning experience and it definitely complemented the textbooks well. 

Recently, in line with the Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0, the Banking and Financial Services industries are undergoing revolutionary changes as well. Maybank, as the largest bank in Malaysia, adapts to the culture of change, allowing them to transform from a traditional bureaucratic banking environment to an innovative hub for the development of Financial Technology (FinTech).

To learn from the industry experts, students of the Banking & Finance and Islamic Banking & Finance programmes visited Maybank’s Innovation Centre recently, under the guidance of Ms. Ng Hui Chen & Ms. Ummi Kalthum from the School of Accounting & Finance.

​During their visit, the students went on a tour around the impressive workspaces of the Innovation Centre; and they were impressed by the environment that differed greatly from a traditional bank office. Ms. Sabrina Ema and Mr. Wong Kin Seng from Maybank delivered an inspiring talk during the visit; the visiting group was pleased to hear from them about how Maybank penetrated the culture of change and innovation in a traditional bureaucratic banking environment, as well as how Maybank built the FinTech ecosystem by providing assistance for the FinTech startups in Malaysia. The duo also shared insights on Maybank’s future directions, in which FinTech will be one of their main focus areas for 2020.

Another major focus of the industrial visit was also to share the values of entrepreneurship. Both Ms. Sabrina and Mr. Wong gave useful tips to our students on funding procedures and options as well as the necessary regulatory support required, for them to become successful entrepreneurs. As Maybank has funded many startups in FinTech, the advice was extremely useful and we were pleased to listen to those stories of experience.

We have been maintaining a good industry-academia relationship with Maybank, while many of our alumni have embarked on interesting careers with Maybank. Through this visit to Maybank’s Innovation Centre, we look forward to seeing our students contributing to their growth as FinTech professionals of the future.  

Data Science and Analytics has become the most vibrant field significantly influencing many domains mainly business, healthcare, manufacturing, and automobile and more. To expose our students to the potentials of Data Science and its capabilities, an industrial visit was organized for the students of MSc Data Science & Business Analytics and BSc Computer Science specialized in Data Analytics, School of Computing to FUSIONEX SDN BHD – A well renowned and established multi-award winning data technology provider that specializes in Analytics, Big Data, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

A total of 30 students along with their lecturers from School of Computing, Dr. Kadhar Batcha Nowshath and Mr. Raheem Mafas visited the company to witness the dynamic experience that the students gained from the professionals who worked on their clients’ projects. During the visit, the students were also given a company tour where they were mesmerized by the futuristic office. A sharing session on “How to become a Data Hero” took place, where FusionEx personnel shared details of career and internship opportunities at the company. The entire visit provided a good insight onto the Data Science career prospects and the skills needed to become a Data Analyst / Data Scientist in the future. 

Overall, students had positive feedback about the visit, expanding their horizons on Data Science and Analytics in their preferred domain. They enjoyed the visit, while a few of them have expressed great interest in applying to work with the company in the future.

Today, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies are applied to advanced fields of medicine, engineering, education, design, training, and entertainment. To expose our students to the potential that VR & AR have in store for us, an industrial visit was organized for the Multimedia Technology (MMT) & Computer Games Development (CGD) Students from the School of Media Arts and Design (SoMAD) to MinistryXR - A company specialising in effective communications through XR – who is the pioneer in creating breakthroughs that redesign the way we Live, Work, Play and Learn by using XR Technology.

 

“Exploration is the engine that drives innovation. Innovation drives economic growth.” - Edith Widder

In order to expose students towards the array of innovative ideas, the Technology Management (TM) cluster of APU School of Technology organized an industrial visit to International Business Machines (IBM) Client Innovation Center in Cyberjaya, Selangor to equip students with the latest knowledge and innovative technology. 23 students from various technology specialisms were accompanied by Mr. Mohammad Namazee and Mr. Jerry Chong.

The visit to IBM CIC began with a welcoming speech by Mr. Yogeswaran, Team Leader for Global Shared Services Department who introduced the organization business units and their operations throughout the globe, providing students with the desired qualities of graduates that a fortune 500 company demands.

Students were then taken through a technical hands-on session by Mr. Mohammad Rizk and Mr. Musharraf, Senior Business Intelligence Architects in charge of IBM’s Artificial Intelligence system, Watson. The session educated students regarding this high impact revolutionary A.I technology in the ever-changing industry.

Overall, students had a positive feedback about the visit, widening their awareness on Artificial Intelligence and IBM itself. This aligned with the objective of the visit to expose students to a real-life working environment as an IT professional, as well as to equip them with the knowledge and understanding about the current and latest technology.

The Tourism Management students from School of Marketing and Management (UC2F1801TRM) successfully conducted another “Adventure and Extreme Sports Tour” to Ulu Slim for White Water Rafting, in which the planning, execution and management of the tour were done by the students as part of their out-of-classroom training for the Retail Travel Operations module.

Through the exhilarating trip, students acquired the retailing skills in travel operations; upon the completion of the tour, they now have knowledge in arranging attractive tour packages and grasping the real notion of adventure and extreme sports tourism, while understanding the overall landscape of the retail tourism industry. A total of 32 students were their “customers” this round, where the organizing committee learnt how to deal with customer expectations, purchasing and selling of tickets, reservation of seats – all these provided them with a practical learning experience that is required for successful tour operators in their careers.

The White Water Rafting site is located only 1 hour 30 minutes from Kuala Lumpur near Ulu Slim village. Along the journey, the participants enjoyed and relaxed their mind with the beautiful hills and the serene environment of the aborigine’s village. This tour boasted many exciting features and activities and perfect for those who want to escape from the hustle and bustle of city life. Moreover, it provided a truly remarkable experience and the best extreme exposure for the participants.

Overall, this trip allowed participants to gain great experience and invaluable practical knowledge. The participants for the tour were APU students from various countries such as Seychelles, China, Brunei, Japan, Nigeria and Yemen, who came together and made this tour lively and successful.

In order for one to be successful in the tourism industry, an in-depth understanding of tour locations and its history and geography are required. In view of this, the Tourism Management students from the School of Marketing and Management (SOMM) recently conducted an “Adventure and Recreational Tour” to the Tempurung Cave and Kellie’s Castle, two of Perak’s most popular tourism destination located near Ipoh – the capital city of the state.

Tempurung Cave, known as the oldest cave in Malaysia and this natural wonder is situated in Gopeng, Perak. This cave is lauded as the largest limestone cave in Peninsular Malaysia. Meanwhile, Kellie’s Castle is an unfinished and ruined mansion. It was built by a Scottish planter named William Kellie-Smith. This old building is now a popular local tourist attraction with its own majestic look. Boasting many exciting features and activities, both places are perfect for those who want to escape from the hustle and bustle of city life. Trip to Gua Tempurung and Kellie’s Castle had provide a truly remarkable experience and the best exposure for the participants.

The main objective of this trip was for Tourism Management students to learn the retailing skills in travel operations. After the completion of the tour, the students have acquired the skill to arrange attractive tour packages and grasped the real concept of adventure and heritage tourism. This tour has also benefited the tourism students in terms of understanding the business strategies behind tour operations.

Overall, this trip has allowed participants to gain great experience and invaluable practical knowledge. The participants for the tour were APU students from various countries such as China, Uzbekhistan and Kazakhstan who together made this tour energetic and successful.

As part of their effort in equipping APU students into the workforce community, APIIT’s School of Media, Arts & Design (SoMAD) recently organized an industrial visit to the Streamline Studios, one of the well-established game development companies in Malaysia and worldwide for the Computer Games Development (CGD) and Visual Effects (VFX) students. This visit was coordinated and managed by our lecturers from SoMAD, with aims to introduce students to the working culture and environment in the studio.
 
During their visit, our students had a chance to talk to some of the masterminds behind internationally-renowned video game titles such as Street Fighter V, Final Fantasy XV and BioShock Infinite. Some of the highlights in this visit were the introduction to international game projects the studio was working on, as well as a sharing session that provided students with an insight of skills required to develop a career in the creative games and visual effects industry. Speakers at Streamline Studios also shared some tips and tricks of becoming a good games designer, alongside their valuable experience developing games for multinational companies over the years.
 
An extra bonus was gained as the visiting group met some of the APU alumnus, who are now working at the studio as game developers. It was a fruitful trip as it broadened the horizon of students from both CGD and VFX in this gaming industry, apart from having an enjoyable afternoon with these game experts.