UUM ONLINE: The 3rd Young Researchers' Quantitative Symposium 2021 (YRQS2021) was a yearly symposium organized by the School of Quantitative Sciences (SQS). It was held on the 12th of January 2021 with the purpose of sharing, exchanging and increasing knowledge on the latest theories and issues related to quantitative research among young researchers, especially undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Themed as ''Enriching Knowledge and Innovation through Quantitative Sciences'', this virtual symposium was chaired by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hashibah Hamid. In her welcoming speech, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hashibah acknowledged a good number of participations, in spite of the unfortunate pandemic that has impacted the world which led to virtual rather than physical event as planned initially. This symposium allows students to actively participate and acquire new knowledge albeit virtually the papers demonstrate the students’ academic knowledge and novelty in their work especially in the aspect of quantitative sciences, she said.

YRQS2021 has received a very encouraging participation with a total of 162 participants consisting of 61 video presenters, 14 poster presenters and 44 articles. To ensure access and ease of sharing of these academic knowledge, YRQS 2021 plan to compile the selected articles into e-proceeding later.

The symposium was also attended by the Dean of the SQS, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Kamal Mohd Nawawi and the lecturers as well. The symposium experience was further enhanced by the presence of two keynote speakers from the industrial and academic fields, Dr. Azman Ali from TM One Company and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Suzilah Ismail from the SQS, respectively.

Focusing on quantitative science in the IR 4.0 era, Dr. Azman Ali stated that quantitative science is a branch of knowledge that plays an important role in solving global issues and further discussed how it can be applied in industries such as TM.

Meanwhile, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Suzilah Ismail who was the second keynote speaker discussed the importance of innovation and how to channel information related to quantitative sciences toward end users in such a way that it would be fast, easy and understandable.

Presentations from the participants of this symposium were conducted in five parallel sessions and went very smoothly. In the closing ceremony, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hashibah announced the winners for the best presenter and best poster which were obtained by Tengku Nurul Aimi Balqis Tengku Malim Busu and Lam Hui Min, respectively.

Finally, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hashibah ended the symposium with “I sincerely hoped that this event will develop students’ interest in research and further improve their communication skills in the form of scientific writing and oral presentation. Also, it is with great hope that the symposium will continue to be held annually and thus, provide a platform for nurturing great minds!”

Written by: Nur Hazera Md Radzi