ChiToP-24 project wins UniKL MICET students a prestigious innovation award

A research project on antimicrobial food packaging film by a group of Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Institute of Chemical & Bioengineering Technology (UniKL MICET) students has won them a national prestigious innovation award, recently.

The project entitled “ChiToP-24 film as an antimicrobial food packaging film” beat teams from other universities and matriculation to be crowned as the champion in “Pertandingan Cabaran Sains Bahan” for the youth aged 18-30 years old, at Malaysia Techlympics 2022 Competition.

The group consists of Nur Husna Hafiza, a Master Degree’s student in Chemical Engineering, Fatih Izwan (Bachelor in Chemical Engineering), Khairuddin Mohd Zain (Bachelor in Chemical Engineering) and Nur Syahindah (Bachelor in Chemical Engineering).

Under the supervision of Dr. Leong Chean Ring, their research has been focused on developing a sustainable and environmentally friendly material incorporated with a novel antimicrobial peptide, in solving problems caused by microbial food spoilage.

It was pitched to the jurors in order to win the competition.

Dr. Leong said the project was the brainchild of Nur Husna under which it began approximately a year ago, and the award was the innovation’s first.

In addition to the medals, they brought home RM7,000 cash, which was conferred by Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) Secretary General, Datuk Dr. Aminuddin Hassim during the closing ceremony of Malaysia Techlympics 2022 in Axiata Arena Bukit Jalil, on 27 November.

Malaysia Techlympics 2022 is the country’s largest-ever initiative to nurture young talents in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), comprising a series of 25 competitions based on five key themes and 10 prioritised areas.