KUCHING: Two teams from Swinburne University here participated in the Environment/Waste Treatment and Biotechnology categories of the Sixth International Biotechnology Competition and Exhibition 2020 (IBCEx 2020) recently.
The teams were led by biotechnology lecturers Dr Daniel Tan and Dr Xavier Chee in the event organised by Bioprocess Engineering Student Society of School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru.
Christopher Ha Heng Xuan
According to its press release, final-year undergraduate Christopher Ha Heng Xuan won second place with his project ‘Machine Learning-driven Drug Discovery of HIV Integrase Inhibitors’ in Biotechnology category.
“Ha started working on his project to discover new drugs that could prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) after signing up for the second FECS Future Researcher Internship Programme in January 2020,” said the press release.
Ha had little prior knowledge about machine learning but with constant guidance from mentor Dr Chee, a machine learning model to predict potential drugs to treat AIDS was created.
Thirty-eight teams from 15 universities across Asia presented their innovative ideas to experts and industrial partners during the two-day virtual event themed ‘Empowering Nations: Towards A More Sustainable Future’. Judging was based on originality, creativity and impact towards more sustainable future.
The four categories competed were Environment/Waste Treatment, Biofuel/Renewable Energy, Green Product/Green Building, and Biotechnology.
Since 2015, UTM has been organising the annual IBCEx to push innovation within the field of biotechnology by providing a conducive platform for undergraduates in Asia to exhibit innovative ideas and communicate with like-minded young scientists from different countries.
Swinburne’s School of Chemical Engineering and Science offers three-year Bachelor of Science (Biotechnology) and Bachelor of Science (Environmental Science) programmes.
Its biotechnology programme emphasises real-world practical applications in both technical and soft skills while its environmental science programme explores scientific principles to solve ecological issues.
For further enquiries on programmes and short courses, send email to [email protected]
For other information, visit www.swinburne.edu.my or its Facebook page (@swinburnesarawak), Instagram (@swinburnesarawak), Twitter (@Swinburne_Swk) or YouTube channel (Swinburne Sarawak).
