Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Exploration Centre in collaboration with Yayasan Pendidikan Kampar (YPK) organised the STEM Waves Perak carnival at Movie Animation Park Studios, Ipoh.

The event was officiated by Perak Menteri Besar, YAB Dato' Seri Ahmad Faizal bin Dato' Azumu,

With the theme, "Catalyst for Sustainable Future", STEM Waves Perak aims to educate and instil interest in STEM among school students as well as to provide exposure to local communities on the importance of STEM. 

The carnival featured forums on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and STEM as well as various fun and interactive games, competitions and hands-on activities with the involvement from academia, non-government agencies (NGOs), government agencies and the industry.

UTP Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Mohamed Ibrahim Abdul Mutalib said UTP is extremely appreciative of the support from YPK, the NGOs, government agencies and academia in organising STEM Waves Perak.

"We hope it can make STEM appear more interesting to the general public, especially school children.  The activities organised will engage students in a learning experience that enable them to use their creativity, problem solving and critical thinking to become effective learners. This will then encourage more students to select STEM subjects," he said.

"STEM education plays a vital role as the catalyst to meet the challenges and demands of the present and future economy.  We must therefore prepare students with the skills to meet the science and technology challenges and ensure that Malaysia has sufficient number of qualified graduates," he added.

UTP has been actively promoting STEM to school students in Perak through various outreach activities such as STEM talks, camps and competitions.   

"At UTP we organise SEDEX or Science and Engineering Design Exhibition annually. We brought school children from the community to UTP and conduct programmes to give them an exposure to science, technology, engineering and maths or STEM subjects. We took them around the campus and introduced them to the facilities here to motivate them to love science," he said.

Datin Normah Hanum Dato' Ibrahim, Chairman of Yayasan Pendidikan Perak expresses gratitude to UTP as co-organiser and all supporting agencies in making STEM Waves a success. "YPK's focus has always been to elevate education for the Rakyat especially in the rural areas. Therefore, the partnership with UTP allows YPK to spread our wings in strengthening areas of academia especially in STEM where largely their potential is not being understood. This is crucial in embracing the impacts brought upon by IR 4.0. We hope that this smart collaboration will grow from strength to strength and this carnival will be done annually, thus ensuring STEM becomes an integral part of our learning culture".

"We are also delighted to announce the launching of Yayasan Pendidikan Perak today by YAB Menteri Besar. With the incorporation of Yayasan Pendidikan Perak (YPP), we hope to continue as UTP's Community partner especially in championing STEM and rolling out programs under the aforesaid initiatives. We hope to play our part as NGO in full to fulfil the Prime Minister's vision and bringforth the economies of today's technologies to our great state of Perak".