Kuala Lumpur, 15 Nov 2017 – From Titanic, to the importance of smiling and spelling variations of Islamic finance terminology, the audience were kept in attention throughout the one-hour presentations on these topics by 17 participants at INCEIF’s 2nd Inter-Uni Three Minute Competition today.

The 17 participants were PhD candidates from eight universities including INCEIF who had three minutes to articulate the salient points of their thesis for the audience to grasp. In the three minutes, participants had to introduce, explain and engage the audience on their respective PhD thesis topics. The 3MT, which is what the competition is universally known as, was first introduced in Australia to publicise research conducted by PhD students. It is a familiar concept practiced in universities as an exercise that cultivates students’ academic, presentation and research communication skills.

“As a university, we are developing quality graduates who are groomed to be future leaders. Having clarity is a great asset for anyone, especially if you aspire to be a leader. People sometimes underestimate the power of simplicity, which in this case involved simplifying a complex subject such as the gist of a thesis to an audience who may or may not be familiar with the topics,” said Dean of School of Graduate Studies Assoc Prof Dr Eskandar Shah Mohd Rasid.

“The 3MT is a test of your capability to get your points across. No matter how great your body of work is, it would be inconsequential if no one but you alone understand its importance,” said Director of INCEIF’s Research Management Centre, Assoc Prof Dr Baharom Abdul Hamid. The centre is the organiser of the competition. 

The judges for the competition were :

1. Assoc Prof Dr Ratneswary Rasiah, Taylor’s University
2. Mr Ally Iskandar, Executive Producer, Media Prima
3. Prof Dato’ Azmi Omar, President & CEO, INCEIF
4. Prof Dr Mansor Ibrahim, INCEIF

The winners were:

Overall winner – Mr Mohamed Milad Mohamed Aboras of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) on the topic ‘Nano Crown Glory: From Waste to Wealth’

For crowd’s favourite which were tabulated from online voting by the audience:

1. Male : Mohamed Milad Mohamed Aboras on the topic ‘Nano Crown Glory: From Waste to Wealth’
2. Female : Rana Altounjy of Universiti Kuala Lumpur on the topic `Antecedents and Consequences of Individuals’ Attitude and the Moderating Role of Service Quality in Adoption of Islamic Banking Services from Malaysian Perspective’

Other participants were:

1. Mohamed Hamour (INCEIF) – “The Impact of Spelling Variations of Islamic Finance Terminology on the Segmentations”
2. Hassan Jamil Syed (University Malaya)- “Automated Bottleneck and Failure Detection of Cloud: Using Performance Monitoring”
3. Saad Buba (Universiti Putra Malaysia) – “Income Inequality and Crime in Europe”
4. Shabeer Khan (INCEIF) – “Shadow Economy in OIC countries: Impact in Economic Development”
5. Ahmad Zainal Abidin (UKM) – “Internal Control for Shariah Compliance in Islamic Financial Institutions”
6. Kelly Tee Pei Leng (Taylors Uni) – “Narrative Analysis of the Homeless Life Stories in the Greater Kuala Lumpur/ Klang Valley”
7. Kyra Law Ley Sy (niversiti Malaysia Sarawak)- “Business Venturing in Mobile Phone Stores in Malaysia”
8. Kulsanofer Syed Thajudeen (INCEIF)- “Achieving Efficiency in the Face of Water Scarcity through Markets, Sustainability and Community”
9. Wan Farisan Wan Sulaiman(UKM)- “Role of Fiscal Policy in Economic Growth”
10. Tawfik Azrak (ISRA)- “The impact of Disclosure on Stock Prices of Conventional and Islamic Banks : Evidence from the GCC Countries”
11. Hussam Waheed (Taylors Uni)- “The Antecedents Of Retirement Preparedness: A Comparative Study Between Malaysia And Singapore Using Structural Equation Modelling”
12. Ishaq Muhammad Mustapha (INCEIF)- “Making Sense of the Shadow Economy: A Fintech Application towards Financial Inclusion in the Informal Sector”
13. Fadhlur Rahim Azmi (Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka)- “The Adoption of Halal Standards Towards the Performance of Malaysian Food Manufacturing SMEs”
14. Ngai Duo Seng (UTEM) – “Determinants of Primary Market Spread in Securitisation”
15. Azimah Khan (INCEIF)  – “Economic Empowerment of Muslim Women: Exploring Financial Inclusion and Economic Growth”