The invitation to attend postgraduate research (PGR) week
in The University of Nottingham Malaysian Campus (UNMC) has been irrefutably an
amazing opportunity to build new relationships, to have new experiences and to
be immersed in a very multicultural student atmosphere.
One distinctive feature about Malaysian people is their
warmth. All the staff and students were very friendly and they were very
concerned to ensure that I had a profitable and enjoyable stay.
The University of Nottingham Malaysian campus organised a
very interesting PGR week, with a variety of events and visits. I had the great
opportunity to do an oral presentation about my research and meet postgraduate
and undergraduate students from across all disciplines. I had the pleasure of
meeting Dr Andrew Chan from Department of Civil Engineering with who I discussed
my research and future plans to promote further collaboration.
Poster competition
The
PGR week started with a very exciting research showcase including a poster
competition of the UNMC postgraduate research students and MPhil students.
I was invited for an oral presentation where I had the
opportunity to talk about my research to other students and staff.
This invitation was as the result of wining the poster
competition in The University of Nottingham UK. I was awarded with the prize
for Research Quality for my poster “Inside the Debris Flow” and the runner up
for the “PhD Madness” of one minute presentation in May 2012 organized by the
Faculty Engineering.
Campus and lab tour
The Malaysian campus gives you the feeling of living in a
very cosy, colourful and friendly village, surrounded by the fantastic view of
green hills. It has been built as a small scale of University Park in
Nottingham. It is very easy to find all the facilities and the most spectacular
is the diversity of food: Very tasty and great value! All halal.
Visit to Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB)
With postgraduate students, and I went on a guided tour
to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board. The MPOB is the official institute for the
research and development of the oil palm industry.
Cultural experience
Lee Jiin Woei, a PhD student from the Mechanical, Materials
and Manufacturing Department gave me a very warm welcome. She was first person
from the campus who introduced me a lot of other students from across all
disciplines who made a very nice stay. She gave me a tour through the campus
showing me all the Departments, laboratories, library, graduated school centre,
restaurants and cafe shops.
From lef to right: Lee Jiin with Shamini Nadarajan (Lead
of counselling) and Paloma Paleo.
Staff and student from UNMC were very friendly caring
people. They made me to feel straight away one of them. They showed me the
Malaysian culture, their customs, their food, their religions. I had a great
culture exchange experience and made a lot of friends.
