MATERIALS LECTURE COMPETITION (UTM-MLC) | School of Graduate Studies (SPS)

Materials Lecture Competition is a National event mainly organized by Institute of Materials, Malaysia, IMM and Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining, IOM3-UK. This national-wide competition is an initiative intended to enhance awareness among young material scientists and engineers in Malaysia on the importance of materials engineering and sustainability in the advancement of technology and humankind.

The competition was introduced in 2012 by IMM and IMM Council officially named it as MLC. In 2013 and 2014, it was jointly organized by IMM and Institute of IOM3 Malaysian Chapter. IMM members lead by Prof. Dr. Esah Hamzah, the IMM-MLC Chairperson, have organized the competition at the National Level where IMM was the host of the event. However, since 2014, the several universities in Malaysia has jointly organized the event as the host of the event starting with UiTM (2014), UKM (2015), UM (2016), APU (2017), UTM (2018), UTeM (2019), UPM (2020), USM(2021), and Xiamen University Malaysia(2022) . The IOM3-UK jointly co-organized the competition together with IMM since 2015. The competition has now become nationwide whereby more than ten public and private universities in Malaysia participated in the competition at the national level since the year 2012.

The first winners at the National-level competition represented Malaysia in the Young Persons’ World Lecture Competition (YPWLC) which was held in Hong Kong (2013), USA (2014), Ireland (2015), Brazil (2016), Australia (2017), South Africa (2018), and London (2019). Due to the global pandemic situation, the competition of YPWLC 2020 to 2022 were conducted virtually where in 2022, the Malaysia representative was Rathosivan Gopal from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia respectively. In 2018 and 2019, the UTM finalists have won 1st runner up (or 2nd place) at National level and consolation prize in 2020. For 2022, the UTM finalist has won the competition at the National level and represented Malaysia at YPWLC 2022. In 2022, Malaysia has made history to win the International levels for the first time ever.

All public and private universities in Malaysia are invited to join the competition. They are asked to organize the competition at the university level to select the best candidate to represent their university in the Material Lecture Competition (Semi-Final). Five finalists will be selected and compete in the Material Lecture Competition (finals). The UTM-MLC cash prizes are RM 1,000, RM 800 and RM 500 for the first, second and third winners respectively while the prizes for national level are RM3000, RM 2000, and RM 1000 respectively with the two consolation prizes worth RM500 each. The first winner will represent Malaysia and compete at the Young Persons’ World Lecture Competition (YPWLC) organised by IOM3-UK. The winner of Malaysia will be FULLY SPONSORED by IOM3-UK to attend a series of events in YPWLC.

National MLC 2023

UTM-MATERIALS LECTURE COMPETITION

The Materials Lecture Competition 2023 (MLC 2023) is open to any profession/students in Malaysia (except academic staff) aged 28 or under on 1st June 2023. Participants must deliver a 15-minutes presentation on a topic related to materials or minerals science and engineering, followed by the 5 minutes Q&A session with the panel of Judges. The topic may cover the participant’s current research work or project from the following areas of interest (but not limited to) materials development, characterization, processing and applications, minerals and geologically related disciplines. Selected participants eligible to IMM’s Membership free registration.

To take part in the MLC 2023 competition, please complete the online registration through the following link: https://forms.gle/jb169HzucKnMTxWk8

Presentation will be judged against the following criteria:

Structure of the presentation and clarity of explanation and argument
Standard of presentation
Personal enthusiasm for the subject
Ability to deliver presentation spontaneously
Technical content of the presentation
Clarity and relevance of any visual aids used
Ability to deliver a concise and meaningful summary at the end of presentation
Ability to present within the specified time allocated
Ability to handle judges’ questions

The same judging criteria apply to the Young Person’s Lecture Competition and the World Lecture Competition Finals. Each entrant will be marked from a total of 100 points. Scores are as follows:

a.	Clarity and relevance of the entrant’s abstract	(10 marks)
b.	Structure of the lecture, clarity of explanation and argument, neither assuming too much or too little knowledge on the part of the audience.	(25 marks)
c.	Standard of presentation, clarity of diction, personal enthusiasm for the subject, ability to deliver lecture spontaneously (points deducted if constant reference to notes or memory aids interferes with presentation of the lecture)	(25 marks)
d.	Clarity and relevance of any visual aids used.	(10 marks)
e.	Technical content of the presentation	(15 marks)
f.	Calmness and competence in handling judges’ questions.	(15 marks)

Marks will be deducted for over-running of lecture time as follows:
Over 15 minutes -5 marks
Under 12 minutes -5 marks

3 judges + 1 moderator/judge
- Selected among academic staff from various faculties with diversified backgrounds.
- Each judge is allowed to ask ONE question to each participant. A moderator will chair the Q&A session.
- Each participant will answer 3 questions from 3 different judges.
- The judges’ decision is final.

IMPORTANT DATES

DETAILS	DATE
Abstract Submission Deadline	15th July 2023 (Extended from 10th July 2023)
Announcement of Shortlisted Participants	18th July 2023
Briefing Session to the Shortlisted Participants	20th July 2023
UTM-MLC 2023 Competition Day	23rd July 2023