The technical focus of the competition brings together innovation, cost efficiency, feasibility & functionality, and environment-friendly solutions, says Adlan Tajudin, CEO of edotco Group.
“As a regional towerco, we acknowledge the importance of nurturing innovation and cultivating the importance of sustainability amongst the youth. Through this competition, we aim to spearhead innovation while upskilling youths across Asia. It is a part of edotco’s ongoing efforts on fostering a future-ready workforce that is capable of building next-generation technologies for the telecommunications industry.”
The region’s leading telecommunications infrastructure services company is organising the first Infrastructure Design Competition in Asia, in collaboration with the University Community Transformation Centre under Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (‘UCTC-UKM’).
The competition is open to Year 3, Year 4, and postgraduate Engineering students who are currently studying in universities based in Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Japan, Korea, and China.
Themed “Infrastructure for Tomorrow: Designing the Future”, this competition is edotco’s annual commitment to provide today’s aspiring youths with a platform to engage with experienced leaders, gain industry knowledge and attain technology exposure while applying their skills to create innovative solutions. The competition was piloted in Bangladesh last year to nurture talents within the student community in the country and successfully garnered a total of 28 contestants from 7 teams.
UKM is edotco’s academia partner in organising and leading the university-student engagement initiatives. Both parties will join hands in the industry-academia mentorship sessions to coach and mentor participants throughout the competition process to ensure the outcomes align with the judging expectations.
“Education institutions play an important role in shaping future telecommunication talents, and we are delighted to work with UKM on creating this platform for skills development. We look forward to involving these university students in our efforts of developing a sustainable and efficient future, and we are excited to see the creative ideas that are about to come,” he added.
More than 100 submissions will be accepted at the competition. To participate, students must form teams of 2 to 4 participants consisting of at least 1 student from the Civil Engineering major. Upon successful registration, teams will be required to design a tower and foundation that fits the next generation of telecommunication infrastructure criteria based on the given Technical Framework. Over a period of 65 days, edotco and the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment of UKM will conduct mentorship sessions to coach participants on their projects and proposals.
The Top 5 entries will be selected for a presentation to the panel of judges, consisting of experts from edotco, the industry, and academicians from UKM, at the virtual Grand Finale that will take place in March 2022. A total of 3 winners with innovative ideas will win cash prizes totalling up to USD 5,000.
Registration for the competition opens from 14 October to 24 October 2021. For more information about the Infrastructure Design Competition or to register, visit: https://uctc.ukm.my/news/edotco-infrastructure-design-competition/.
