The One Academy student wins prestigious award
KUCHING: The One Academy Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Interactive Media Design student Michelle Oui recently won MSC Malaysia’s Asia Pacific Information Communication Technology (Apicta) Award for the Best of Tertiary Student Project – Creative Multimedia.
A press release said her winning project was called ‘Anew Time Capsule’.
The MSC Malaysia Apicta Award is a prestigious showcase of ICT excellence and innovation, aimed at recognising local creativity as well as ground-breaking achievements and contributions in the industry since 1999.
Oui decided to participate despite not making it to the finals the year before as it offered her an opportunity to force herself out of her comfort zone.
She has always been intrigued by how people kept old obsolete objects because of their nostalgic value and wanted to find a way for these items to be repurposed without losing their sentimental value.
When she began her project, Oui found difficulty in project fabrication because it was not her forte, having come from a nonproduct design background.
She also found it challenging to think in 3D space, get accurate measurements and, at the end of the day, wasted a lot of materials during the creation process.
The night before her project was due for the exhibition, she accidentally burnt the Arduino board, but managed to salvage the situation.
“I couldn’t have done it without the helpful advice and relentless support from our lecturers, Lin Yew and Sweii,” Oui said.
“To the juniors, if you have an interesting idea that is out of your comfort zone, Just do it! You will be surprised how amazing things could possibly be! And most importantly you will learn a lot throughout the process.”
Oui envisions herself aiding the development of the interactive installation scene in Malaysia, making it more accessible to the masses.
She is now planning to work on an interactive installation with a classmate for a public event.
Upon graduation, she wants to work as a full-time digital designer, while doing installations on the side.
The One Academy continues to nurture students passionately through its ‘Masters Train Masters’ coaching philosophy, which has been practised for the past 25 years.
It provides diploma and degree courses in Advertising and Graphic Design, Interior Architecture and Design, Digital Animation with Game Development, Multimedia Design with Digital Media and Interactive Design, Illustration, Movie and Game Art, Film Visual Effects, Fine Arts and Esmod Fashion Design and Pattern Making.
Contact The One Academy at 03-56375510, email enquiry@toa. edu.my or visit www.toa.edu.my for more information.