To encourage and share best practices in higher education redesign in Malaysia, the Ministry of Higher Education introduced the YB Minister’s Special Award: Innovative Curriculum Design and Delivery (AKRI). This award, established in 2017, has become an annual event eagerly awaited by higher education institutions nationwide.

This year, AKRI received 108 entries from public and private higher education institutions, as well as polytechnics across Malaysia, competing in four categories. One representative from Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA) has successfully advanced to the final round in the Immersive Learning (Virtual) category. Despite there being 13 entries in this category, only four made it to the final round.

The project titled "Engage and Learn: The Book-end Division Approach via Active Lightboard Virtual Education (ALIVE)" produced by a team from the Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Technology (FTKEE), UMPSA, managed to capture the attention of the judges. The team consists of Nurul Wahidah Arshad, Ts. Dr. Rohana Abdul Karim, Dr. Suliana Ab Ghani, Norazian Subari, and Zul Idham Yahya (PSPe Designer).

The pitching session for the AKRI finalists was held on August 17, 2024, at The Everly, Putrajaya. Present to support the UMPSA finalists were the Deputy Director of PSPe, Dr. Sureena Abdullah, PSPe Chief Technical Officer, Ts. Dr. Anis Farihan Mat Raffei, and PSPe Executive Officer, En. Shahri Mohd Akhir.

The AKRI 2024 winners will be announced in early October. The entire UMPSA community is rooting for the success and victory of the university’s sole representative in this competition. May the team's efforts and innovations inspire others and bring home a glorious victory.

The Best Practices in General Studies and STEM (BiGS) is a platform for sharing best practices among TVET educators in polytechnics, community colleges, and lecturers in the Malaysian Technical University Network (MTUN). Held annually since 2021 and organized by the Ministry of Higher Education, this year's BiGS event, scheduled for August 22, 2024, will feature 17 selected executive summaries.

Congratulations to the representatives from Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA) who have been chosen as best practices in BiGS 2024. The representatives from the Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Technology (FTKEE), UMPSA, are:

1. Nurul Wahidah Arshad, Nurulfadzilah Hasan, and Ts. Dr. Yasmin with their presentation titled "Pendekatan Pembahagian Hujung-buku dengan Menggunakan ClassPoint untuk Menggalakkan Penglibatan Pelajar di dalam Kelas."

2. Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Nurul Hazlina Nordin with the presentation titled "Pengajaran Kemahiran Pembuatan Digital melalui UMP STEM Cube."

This achievement reflects the dedication and commitment of UMPSA educators in enhancing teaching and learning, particularly in STEM and general studies. May this success inspire all UMPSA members to continue innovating and sharing best practices in the field of education.

Congratulations to Dr. Norazila binti Jaalam and the team for winning the Bronze medal in the Volleyball event at SUKUM 2024.