(From left): Assoc Prof Wong Hwa Kiong, Vice President of TAR UC; Assoc Prof Chook Ka Joo, Vice President of TAR UC; Dr Sumitra Devi A/P Govinda Nair, Chief Digital Skills and Jobs Officer from MDEC; Prof Ir Dr Lee Sze Wei, President of TAR UC; Michelle Low, Head of Operations, Agri Mind Sdn Bhd; Assoc Prof Say Sok Kwan, Vice President of TAR UC

In its very own Communication & Information Technology Centre (CITC), this morning, Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC) officially launched its Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (BDA and AI) and the Hero Esports Arena. A collaboration between the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and the university college, the CoE is a state-of-the-art facility that is part of a network that interconnects all research facilities in all TAR UC campuses nationwide.

Outfitted with 25 high-end workstations capable of heavy-duty computing tasks like data processing, data analytics and running AI algorithms, the CoE has been making significant contributions to the BDA and AI industry since its inception. From crop disease detection to building inspection and commercial decision making, the CoE ensures that students enrolled in the university college will have ample resources and tools to utilize in their AI and data science curriculums. To date, the CoE has trained over 500 students from TAR UC and other Premier Digital Tech Institutions while providing close to 80 internship placements in BDA/AI fields.

A student presenting their work in the CoE

In addition to the CoE, TAR UC officially launched the Hero Esports Arena (HEA). Managed by Agri Mind, it is the first of its kind computer gaming facility within the campus itself. In addition to being an awesome venue for students (and the public) to relax during their free time, the HEA will also be a training centre for students representing TAR UC at esports events. Capable of accommodating 42 people in the Gaming Zone and 6 more in the VIP Zone, there is ample space for gamers to host their own events or tournaments within the confines of the campus. It also features a broadcasting room where aspiring shoutcasters can use to cast games or live stream games.

During the launch event, we were given a tour of both facilities and it was an impressive sight. There were dancing robots, demonstrations of student projects in the CoE, while we caught a glimpse of an ongoing League of Legends tournament in the HEA. Seeing how far campuses have come since I was a student in college days, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of envy. If only we had the same luxuries back then!

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