echo According to Orleans Marketing Group, there are currently more than 3.8 billion people in the world that use the internet, which is 40% of the world’s population. Every minute there are about 570 new websites created. Fun fact, there are 5 billion people in the world that own a mobile phone? Nonetheless, there are only 4.2 billion people in the world who own a toothbrush.
In 1984, only 8% of US households owned a personal computer. Over the past decades, technology has advanced quicker than before. Regardless of what career path, technology is inevitable.
Possessing basic knowledge of technology is essential. It is an asset that will benefit students when building their resume and exploring the world of technology. To acquire these skills, students don’t have to look far. Sunway Tech Club (STC) is the perfect place that meets those criteria.
Since 2017, STC has introduced technology that is currently used in the working industry through events and workshops. Their goal is to bridge the gap between tech education, the tech industry, and technopreneurship. Together with Sunway University’s Developer Student Club (DSC), they aim to grow a learning student tech community.
DSC is a university-based community group for students interested in Google developer technologies. By joining DSC, students can expand their knowledge in a peer-to-peer learning environment and build solutions for local businesses and their community.
With 140 members and 20 to 30 committee members, the club has organized up to 10 events this year physically and virtually. The recent event was the Hacktoberfest. It is a month-long celebration of open source software sponsored by DigitalOcean, Intel, and Dev for students or developers to get started in open source projects. The Excel Workshop was another hit event, which was accessible to students who are interested in learning Excel tips and tricks.
STC’s most recent event was the Python Workshop. Python is one of the top programming languages, which is user-friendly. Starting from Google to YouTube, this language is being used by professionals to program websites. STC organized their workshop via Facebook Live. They gave viewers a detailed hands-on experience of how to use Python. As well as providing viewers with resources to help grasp the knowledge better.
Furthermore, STC has been organizing Tech Night biweekly since 25th July 2020. They provide a free platform for anyone to be a speaker and share their tech knowledge. One of their largest sharing sessions was on Deepfake (a synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else’s likeness). Members swapped the heads of celebrities in a video using Deepfake.
STC members have their fair share of connections in the tech industry. Thus, providing them the golden opportunity to hold epic events with Amazon Web Service (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) on cloud computing. On the 6th and 7th of July 2019, STC was one of the community partners for the first Angular Conference in Southeast Asia (NG-MY). Hence, meeting their goal of bridging the gap between tech education, the tech industry, and technopreneurship.
From all of the events held, STC has expanded through the years, becoming more and more acknowledged. For instance, STC organized a workshop requested by lecturers from Human-Computer Interactions to help students out in their coursework regarding Figma (a vector graphics editor and primarily web-based prototyping tool, with additional offline features).
Besides the technical programming, STC also teaches people how to use cool gadgets such as 3D printers and laser cutting technology, which are available in Sunway Makerspace – iLabs, website development, and networking.
Hearing from the current president, Nick, STC is a nonhierarchical club. Although there are roles between the committee members, there is no rigid structure as everyone is on equal grounds. Everyone is given the same opportunity to voice out their ideas and the ideas are respected and carried out. Hence, in STC, committee members can have hands-on experience in managing as well as hosting events as STC is always open to hearing ideas from their members. The reason for such implementation is innovation. Great ideas come from discussions, not through listening from the higher-ups.
According to Sumaiya, a committee member, STC helps students to make more tech friends, build a tech career, share knowledge on technology, and even teach amongst themselves. Besides, STC has provided her with multiple exposures to different fields, which helped her to understand herself better. In Sumaiya’s eye, STC has this “go for it, and you will be great in it” positive motto, which drives her passion and love for the club.
Currently, STC is working on improving their club, which includes starting their website for their members. The making of the website is in progress as the members prepare a member’s portal and events page for viewing.
Lastly, STC has been keeping things fresh and unique by trying out new things. For starters, they have posted a superhero-themed photo of their EXCO committee members. It’s safe to say that these creative EXCOs are constantly thinking out of the box, so don’t miss out on any of their future events!
Here’s their Facebook page and Instagram page for more information and updates!
Written by: Wu Wen Qi & Shanay Low Shi Lynn
Edited by: Pei Zoe
