Loo Chang Herng receives UMPSA Vice-Chancellor’s Award, pursues dream of becoming Software Engineer

GAMBANG, 26 October 2024 – Selected as the recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award at the 19th Convocation Ceremony of Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA) held today, Loo Chang Herng, 24, was thrilled and delighted to receive the award from the Pro-Chancellor, His Royal Highness Tengku Mahkota Pahang Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah ibni Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.

He said he was extremely excited and happy when he received the email informing him that he had been chosen as the recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award.

“I am deeply grateful to UMPSA for selecting me for this award.

“My success today is due to the encouragement and support of the people around me—my family, friends, lecturers, and many others who have helped me in various ways,” he said.

Loo Chang Herng also received a Bachelor of Computer Science (Software Engineering) with Honours after completing his four-year studies at UMPSA.

The youngest of two siblings, he expressed his aspiration to pursue his dream of becoming a software engineer.

“I aspire to work as a software engineer to apply what I have learned during my four years of study at UMPSA,” he stated.

Achieving the Dean’s List Award throughout his semesters with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.92, Loo was also actively involved in university programmes and held several positions.

He served as the Arts and Culture Exco for the 12th UMPSA Chinese Cultural Council (UMPSACCC) and as a Student Advisor for the 13th UMPSA Chinese Cultural Council (UMPSACCC).

He said, “The co-curricular activities provided by UMPSA help students develop in various aspects such as leadership, culture, and sports, in addition to academics.”

Affected by the pandemic, Loo also faced challenges with online learning during his first two years at UMPSA.

“All students had to learn from home, and self-discipline was required for revision since being at home, a comfortable environment, often made us feel lazy.

“I hold firmly to the principle of always being prepared and not overconfident, even with easy tasks,” he explained.

Loo also shared his experience of completing his final year project, which earned him a spot among the top 30 projects at FYProCom.

He further explained that the project was extensive and covered areas he had not explored before.

“I spent my semester break completing the final year project and managed to win several awards through it.

“My Final Year Project, titled ‘Final Year Project Assessment Management System,’ aims to assist final year project coordinators, lecturers, and students in managing their project assessments.

“It includes features such as assessment management, evaluation scheduling, industrial assessment management, rubric management, and more,” he stated.

He added that the main feature was an automated scheduling system for evaluation timetables.

“It generates the schedule automatically based on parameters such as lecturer availability, room availability, research groups of students and lecturers, and several other conditions.

“During the research phase, I also studied and compared three different scheduling algorithms, selecting the most effective one for use in the scheduling algorithm to generate timetables.

“I spent six months, including the semester break, completing the entire project with the guidance of my supervisor, Zulfahmi Toh, a lecturer from the Faculty of Computing, and the help of my friends,” he said.

He noted that the project was very large and complex as it comprised many modules.

“I truly appreciate their help, which enabled me to complete this project and win awards at exhibitions such as CITREX,” he added.

By: Naqiah Puaad, Centre for Corporate Communications
Translation by: Dr.  Rozaimi  Abu  Samah, Faculty   of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology