EASYUNI Ultimate University Guide 2013 Issue 2

S TA R ACH I E V E R S To the best of your knowledge, what were the reasons your team emerged as the Asia Pacific Champion and Technopreneur Award Winner at the YEC 2012 Asia Pacific Regional Finals in Hong Kong? Q A I would have to say that my team’s competitive edge was the product itself. All aspects of the EcoCell Brick were well supported with facts ordinary consumers would be concerned about. The EcoCell Brick is environmentally friendly, safe and, most importantly, cost-effective. It is a breakthrough that people would want to see in the developing future of the construction sector. An equally crucial contributing factor to my team’s victory must deﬁnitely be our presentation of the business plan. The inability to communicate the advantages of a great product to an audience is certainly fatal. So I paid a lot of attention to the structure of the presentation, the pacing of our delivery, body language, vocal variety, the use of the stage and many others. I can still clearly remember what I did on stage that day, which had a strong impact on the crowd – I am glad I broke a brick on the stage that day. Q A As students, competitions of such nature are a great way to discover our inner strengths and weaknesses from our successes and failures along the way – I have certainly learnt mine. There’s nothing to lose, but more to gain in terms of exposure and experience, which may help in charting a clearer path in life. I would strongly encourage students to take advantage of such opportunities to create a track record for themselves and make it easier to venture into their chosen professions – you may have the talent to be an inventor, a speaker or an entrepreneur, so why not give it a try? There is no better time to participate in such challenges than when you are a student. In what ways did Taylor’s University support your team in the challenge? Q A Q A What is your advice for budding students who want to join similar challenges? Were you in any way surprised to have emerged as champions? Q A model, I learnt about the practicality of entrepreneurship and business insights to a certain extent. I also pay close attention to ﬁgures and facts in my advisory job. To what level did the experience of participating and winning the challenge has assisted in your current endeavours? Despite the mounting anxiety with each team’s presentation, I was conﬁdent that EcoCell would be one of the top three winners in the competition. Everyone was very keen with the idea of the EcoCell Brick as well as our presentation. I felt elated when they announced my team as the champion and also the winner of the Asia Technopreneur Award, which I did not expect – I guess that was the award I was surprised to get. I have my mentors and lecturers to thank for their priceless technical guidance and moral support. It is so touching to see them taking time off to help my team improve on our shortcomings. My team would not have won without their help and guidance. The soft skills I acquired during my studies at Taylor’s University have certainly taken me far in my current position as a tax consultant assistant in KPMG Malaysia. I am conﬁdent when speaking to a crowd and I am always comfortable when giving presentations. As EcoCell’s business plan required precise attention to supporting facts and a feasible business easyuni Guide 2013 Issue 2 39

EASYUNI Ultimate University Guide 2013 Issue 2 | Page 41