By Isrrah Malabanan
One month in the making, the AIT Student Union Research Exhibition at the Career Fair on November 4 was nothing like the previous five activities our Student Union had organized this Fall Semester.
Given the pandemic situation we are experiencing, our team planned for an exhibit where students could showcase their research studies via an online platform. The event wasn’t the usual online lecture nor was it a hybrid workshop. And though the exhibit would be challenging, the Interim Student Representatives Academic Affairs team was up for the job!
The journey to the successful event began with some thorough planning on the guidelines for submission and judging criteria with the help of the previous heads of this activity, Mr. Natthanan Promsuk and Ms. Arlene Gonzales, who are both doctoral candidates at AIT. AIT faculty judges were invited to evaluate the research papers as they came in. Formats of the research papers and posters were also created. Then the most difficult part came – promotion!
It was a slow process getting people to register and submit their research work for public display. Doctoral students were busy as usual and Master’s students across campus were tied up with their proposal defenses, precisely at the same time that we were looking for submissions. Then, a blessing came. During one of our meetings with the representatives of the AIT Career Center and the Vice President for Knowledge Transfer, the idea of collaborating with the Entrepreneurship Center popped up. Alas, they agreed to sponsor us and the new “EC Choice Award” was included in the list of prizes for top exhibitors at the exhibition. This provided extra motivation for more students to join.
We had a total of 16 submissions. Eleven of these were on-campus presenters (one person had two papers) and the other four were located overseas. The submissions were composed of a research proposal, group research, on-going studies, and finished papers. A couple of days before “D-Day”, our team printed the research posters and put them up at the AIT Conference Center lobby venue. It was all coming together.
When the event opened, all presenters stood beside their posters, awaiting the judges who conducted a thorough review of their work, asking probing questions that the students had to field on the spot. Dr. Takuji Tsusaka, Dr. Avishek Datta, and Prof. Dieter Trau conversed with the presenters one by one. Online participants presented on Zoom via a screen set up at the venue. The judges also interviewed the virtual student presenters in depth.
At its peak, the AITCC lobby was abuzz with an energetic crowd of exhibit-goers wearing face masks, judges meticulously assessing the researches, student volunteers alertly waiting for their tasks, and presenters zealously sharing about their studies. It didn’t feel like a competition at all; it simply looked like a fun avenue for students to share their ideas and knowledge with the public. Viewing that scene, we realized that all of our hard preparations were worth it.
Of course, there were some mishaps here and there, but these were minor when compared to the success the event turned out to be. We accomplished our goal of providing our on-campus and overseas students the chance to showcase their research to in person and online communities. We got positive feedback from the presenters and most of the judges. Comments and recommendations from others were also taken into consideration and will hopefully be applied in future similar events.
As a student leader, I believe I speak for my team when I say that activities like this bring us a few restless nights and stressful moments. But, on the bright side, we also received lessons that we’ll surely apply not only as we continue to serve the AIT community but also in the outside world after we graduate.
The winners of the Research Exhibition were announced on 13 November 2020 at the Entrepreneurship Center. There were no specific categories for the competition, however it is noteworthy that the top 3 were from the three different AIT Schools. They are the following:
1st Place: Ashraful Alam Roman (AIT School of Environment, Resources and Development)
Research Title: Effects of Silicon on Yield and Fruit Quality of Cantaloupe under Drought Stress
2nd Place: Kanokporn Nitnitiphrut, Sarach Rujiranurak, Makara Greadmeta, Nuttaphong Sitthasiriwat, Pornchanok Phueadphokaew, and Phakpoom Ittirattanakomon (AIT School of Engineering and Technology)
Research Title: Practical and Non-Destructive Maturity Determination of Durians Based on Acoustic Striking Tone Recognition Using Deep Learning
3rd Place: Helio Brites Silva (AIT School of Management)
Research Title: The Influence of Interpersonal Factors on Job Satisfaction: Study Case of the Hotel Industry Employees in Timor-Leste and Gender Differences
EC CHOICE AWARD: Amit Prasad Nayak
Research Title: Real-Time Detection and Diagnosis of Skin Diseases using Deep Learning Techniques
The judges for the papers were:
- Prof. Nophea Sasaki
- Dr. Faiz Shah
- Dr. Thi Phuoc Lai Nguyen
The judges for the posters and presentation were:
- Dr. Takuji Tsusaka
- Dr. Avishek Datta
- Prof. Dieter Trau
Isrrah Malabanan is a Master’s student from the Philippines studying Transportation Engineering. She is now in her second year, working on her thesis of simulation model development of a signalized intersection with preferential treatment to emergency vehicles. This semester she is head of ISR Academic Affairs, student assistant at RERIC, and is the public information officer of the AFSA (AIT Filipino Students Association).
