New Straits Times
"The Crown" emerges as winner of ASM Artscience prize 2022 competition
By Bernama | 5 July 2023

The project, dubbed “The Crown”, was developed in stages over the past 10 years by a group of lecturers from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), led by senior lecturer from the Department of Neuroscience, School of Medical Sciences, Dr Mohd Zulkifli Mustafa (center). -BERNAMA PIC

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of academicians who constructed a bee house using Internet of Things (IoT) technology emerged as champions in the ASM ArtScience Prize 2022 competition organised by the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM).

The project, dubbed "The Crown", was developed in stages over the past 10 years by a group of lecturers from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), led by senior lecturer from the Department of Neuroscience, School of Medical Sciences, Dr Mohd Zulkifli Mustafa.

"The Crown", according to Mohd Zulkifli, was designed to resemble a house that was built using local timber and IoT components that allow farmers to monitor the temperature and humidity of the beehive via their mobile phones.

"We also developed a Quick Response (QR) code system that allows farmers to track the original location of beehives.

"It is a model that not only encourages the community to take care of the environment's sustainability, but also helps them generate income through the production of honey products," he told Bernama at the ASM ArtScience Prize 2022 winner announcement ceremony, here yesterday (July 4).

Mohd Zulkifli said that for the next phase of the project, his group plans to add sensors that will let farmers know when bees bring nectar and pollen to their nests.

Earlier, Mohd Zulkifli and his colleagues, USM Immunology Department senior lecturer, Dr Rohimah Mohamud, and USM Immunology Department Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr Lidawani Lambuk, received a cash prize of RM20,000 along with a certificate and plaque.

They have also been offered a three-month residency attachment with any organisation or institute to develop or implement their project.

The award was presented by the Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang in the presence of ASM president Datuk Dr Tengku Mohd Azzman Shariffadeen and Maybank Foundation chairman Tan Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa, the main sponsor of the programme.

The ASM ArtScience Prize is a biennial competition open to all Malaysians regardless of background to create works of art that combine the disciplines of science, technology and art and for this year's edition, 23 out of 58 works of art were selected as finalists.

Meanwhile, creative photomedia coordinator Dr Andrialis Abdul Rahman and two senior lecturers from UiTM Ellyana Mohd Muslim Tan and Siti Norfatulhana Ishak emerged as the winners of the Rising Star Award which offered a prize of RM10,000 along with a certificate, plaque and a residency attachment.

They earned the award for their piece titled 'Woman in Black and White' which consisted of 33 images created with various expired chemicals such as D76 before being placed in an insulated black box.

"We also use household waste such as lemon juice, vinegar and baking powder to create a variety of photos with unique shapes.

"We want to highlight issues such as climate change and women through it...these chemicals are usually thrown away immediately after they expire, but we use them to make photos, while also contributing to environmental sustainability," said Andrialis.

The 'Boxxie Head' artwork produced using cardboard to commemorate the extinction of the Sumatran rhinoceros won the People's Choice Award, thus enabling its designers - UiTM College of Creative Art Studies coordinator (Industrial Ceramics) Zuraidy Abd Rahim and senior lecturer Dr Verly Veto Vermol to take home RM5,000 and a certificate and plaque. – Bernama