Over the course of partial lockdown, UTB lecturers have been working from home and are actively involved in numerous webinars and online discussion events. These virtual events have given a safe way in bringing together speakers from around the world including UTB academics to enhance knowledge sharing and research findings.
Professor Nore Beston, Director of Centre for Research on Agri-Food Science & Technology (CrAFT) and a lecturer from School of Applied Sciences & Mathematics, shared his expertise on food science at the 'e-Brunei International Conference of Education, Social Studies and Sciences 2021' on 9 September 2021. The event was organised by Univesiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA) in collaboration with Universitas Mulawarman and Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Delivering a topic on Application of Non-invasive IR-refractometer for Post-harvest Freshness and Sweetness Status of Local Fruits in Brunei Darussalam, the attendees at the conference were enlightened about its research that uses non-destructive IR-refractometer device to measure Brix of local fruits during ripening stage and comparing it with the conventional invasive refractometer method. He shared that the findings provided accurate sweetness data useful for post-harvesting management by minimising postharvest losses of fruits.
Meanwhile, at the 'ATU-Net Hackathon 2021 Webinar' organised by Universiti Teknologi Mara, UTB was represented by Professor Kamariah Ismail, Director of Enterprise Office and a lecturer from UTB School of Business to give a talk about Winning Pitching Proposal. The event took place on 7 October 2021.
In guiding the participants towards becoming champion in the hackathon, the participants were briefed on the importance of innovation in a start-up or research project and were introduced to the proper pitching exercise using NABC (Need, Approach, Benefit and Competitor) from Stanford Research Institute.
An Assistant Professor at the Centre for Communication, Teaching and Learning, Dr. Malai Zeiti Sheikh Abdul Hamid presented a keynote session entitled Teaching Creatively and Using Innovative Digital Device as the New Norm at the 'International General Studies Conference 2021'. The event was organised by Universiti Teknologi Mara and Politeknik Kota Kinabalu held on 7 September 2021.
At the conference, she explained about the main platforms used in Brunei for online audio-visual teaching and sharing of content materials and resources. She added that the students gained independent learning experiences, and were able to work at their own pace. Files and documents can be easily obtained on their digital devices without the need for physical travel or face-to-face interaction. The Assistant Professor was also invited to participate in an international online education forum in the same month hosted by Australia's University of Tasmania called 'Australia-ASEAN Academic Forum: Online Education COVID-19 during COVID-19 and Beyond'.
