KUCHING – One thing students at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus can look forward to in their studies is hands-on, real work experience. Recently, a group of undergraduates majoring in bachelor of multimedia design completed an interactive three-dimensional directory for Kenbest Sdn Bhd’s upcoming CityONE shopping mall.
The directory, which will be located at the ground floor of the mall, allows patrons to find their way around the complex, locate stores or catch the latest promotion by certain stores and more, all by merely tapping the touch-screen of the display system.
Stephen Long, the managing director of Kenbest, and his colleagues were impressed with the quality of the work and offered the final year students positions with the company during the presentation, recently.
The construction work of CityONE, one of the biggest malls in the city, is on schedule and is expected to be launched in October this year.
The multimedia design students were given 12 weeks to complete and present the three-dimensional project to the company, a property developer with a reputation for building a string of shopping malls around Kuching.
“There were a number of challenges for the students when the project was proposed but with proper guidance the students, led by team leader Samuel Liau, managed to resolve them,” said John Hii, a design lecturer at Swinburne Sarawak who supervised the students.
“We learned what it’s like to work on a project with an actual company. There were 20 of us, so it wasn’t easy and we had to work as a team. We divided the tasks among ourselves and organised ourselves into ‘departments’ and worked from there. We also had to learn a new software but in the end we managed to deal with all the obstacles and fulfilled the requirements of the company,” said Liau.
“The exposure also helped to prepare us in dealing with people at all levels, such as senior management, and it is certainly helpful for my current work,” said Liau, who now freelances as a videographer.
The Kenbest directory project was part of the students’ final year assignment where they were required to engage with an actual company to gain industry experience.