FAScinate: December 2024

The second FAScinate series of 2024 was streamed live on 19 December 2024. The programme featured ASM experts who discussed FAScinating topics such as their journey to becoming an engineer in Malaysia, the intriguing world of zombie fungi, and physics education reform.

First up was ASM Fellow and Chief Executive Officer of Minconsult Sdn Bhd, Dato’ Ir Dr Dennis Ganendra. He helms Minconsult, a Malaysia engineering company with projects in 28 countries, including Malaysia. On home ground, Minconsult’s innovations include the world’s first Green Hydrogen transit system in Kuching, the award-winning Petronas Leadership Campus, and the Valdor Waste Treatment Plant, which generates green power.

Dato’ Ir Dr Dennis took us on a trip back in time, from his school days in Malaysia and then in the UK; continuing his academic pursuit at the prestigious University of Cambridge and Imperial College London; and coming back to Malaysia with a global ambition. Dato’ Ir Dr Dennis was also a proud recipient of the British Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship, an honour given to exceptional engineers and innovators for significant contributions to engineering excellence, innovation, and societal impact, representing the highest professional recognition in the field.

During his presentation, he detailed his experience working on international projects, and expounded on the core values and policies that brought success to his engineering endeavours.

Next, we explored the fascinating world of zombie fungi with Associate Professor Dr Jaya Seelan Sathiya Seelan, ASM Associate and Deputy Director (Research and Innovation) at the Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

These parasitic fungi, primarily from the Ophiocordyceps genus, manipulate insect behaviour to complete their life cycles, creating remarkable ecological interactions.

Dr Jaya Seelan’s talk explored the zombie fungi’s fascinating life cycles and host relationships and highlighted their potential in medicinal research, with some species producing compounds for pharmaceutical use. As stated by Dr Jaya Seelan, some fungi have exhibited an extensive list of beneficial properties, such as being anti-cancer, antiviral, and anti-fatigue.

He also uncovered these extraordinary fungi’s ecological, evolutionary, and medicinal significance and emphasised the importance of conserving Borneo’s rich biodiversity.

The third presenter was Dr Muhammad Abdul Hadi Bunyamin from the School of Education, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. He is also a member of the Young Scientist Network – Academy of Sciences Malaysia.

Dr Muhammad Abdul Hadi took viewers on a journey of reforming physics teaching through project-based learning, sharing his experiences as a physics teacher. Initially following traditional methods, Dr Muhammad Abdul Hadi embraced a new approach after being inspired by a STEM competition he participated. Project-based learning consists of an objective, guiding questions, scientific practice, use of technology, collaboration, and producing artifact. Teachers would need to make sure all these elements are present if they are to practice project-based learning.

By implementing project-based learning in the classroom, Dr Abdul Hadi detailed how he took this technique and coupled it with his own project assessment method, to allow his students to familiarise themselves with physics concepts via unique real-life projects. One such example is teaching heat and heat transfer; one group created a solar oven, while another group made baked goods. These two projects seem unrelated, but they were in fact two more enjoyable methods of learning the subject of heat transfer.