Curtin Sarawak jointly organises symposium in conjunction with SUKMA

Miri – 12 August 2016 – In conjunction with Sukan Malaysia (SUKMA) in the Sarawak recently, Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) jointly organised a sports science research symposium with Majlis Sukan Negeri Sarawak, Institut Sukan Negara, Sarawak Convention Bureau, IEEE Sarawak Subsection, UNIMAS and IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society Malaysia Chapter.

The IEEE (Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) Sport Science Research Symposium, with the aim to enhance sports science knowledge among coaches, athletes, academic researchers and the general public, was held at the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) campus in Kuching. 

By highlighting related research activities carried out at the state and international levels, the symposium encouraged more people to take part in activities and pursue studies related to sports science in Sarawak, as well as encouraging coaches to adopt new technologies in improving athlete performance.

The symposium started off with welcoming remarks by Dr Jacey-Lynn Minoi, Secretary of the IEEE Sarawak Subsection. This was followed by a talk on the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EBMS) in Malaysia by Dr Alpha Agape Gopalai of Monash University Malaysia Campus, where he spoke about the world’s largest international society of biomedical engineers and its research thrusts. 

Next was a talk entitled ‘Use of Wearable Sensors in Sports Science – A Glimpse into In-field Loads’ by Associate Professor Kevin Netto, Director of Research of the School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. 

Associate Professor Kevin emphasised that the use of wearable sensors was not limited to controlled lab environments and could be widely used in on-field performance harvesting. He also touched on the revolutionary changes sports science research and athlete monitoring have gone through in recent times. 

The final talk was delivered by Dr Garenth Lim King Hann, senior lecturer from Curtin Sarawak’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr Lim spoke on the current development of sports science in Sarawak and opportunities for postgraduate studies in the field in the State.

He also briefed the participants on projects being carried out at Curtin Sarawak, which include a visual-based computer-aided system for athlete rehabilitation, fluid dynamic analysis systems for sepak takraw and diving, as well as an on-field athlete monitoring system.

At the end of the symposium, some of the participants visited the Aquatic Centre, venue of the SUKMA swimming and diving events, to observe the setup for data acquisition to quantify divers’ splash using the computational fluid approach. Data from the diving activities was obtained for further research evaluation.

For more information on Curtin Sarawak, visit its website (www.curtin.edu.my), its Facebook page (Curtin University Sarawak Malaysia), Twitter profile (curtinsarawak), YouTube channel (CurtinUniSarawak) or Instagram (curtinsarawak).