QIU is wrapping up 2020 on a triumphant note, as yet another name has been added to our list of champions!
Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Biotechnology final year student Fathima Zahraa Ozeer came out tops in the International University of Malaya-Wales’ (IUMW) Biotech Talk Competition, triumphing over 28 competitors from 10 educational institutions.
The virtual speech competition challenged participants to submit a five-minute speech on a specific theme of “Biotechnology is the Future: Moving Forward from Today.”
Zahraa’s video touched on genetically-modified organisms and the role they will play in ensuring food security in a future scarred by climate change.
The talented scientist-in-the-making said the win was worth the long hours she put in to make the video.
“It has been a very long time since I’ve won a competition. And the effort behind this win wasn’t easy either. It took about 78 retries of recording the same video to get the speech right in one go as per the required rules. But this was definitely worth the effort! So thank you so much to the 5 judges who chose my speech among many other brilliant young scientists’ submissions!”
Zahraa said she chose genetically-modified organisms as her topic because it is the most beneficial yet the most misunderstood scientific approach there is.
“Scientists work on a single GMO project for up to 10 years for it to be developed, thoroughly screened and approved before being released publicly. However, it may take only a few months for the general public to completely disregard these efforts as an inappropriate act.
“Not only is this unfair to the tedious efforts of the scientific community, but this also greatly dampens our advancements towards sustainability and survivability. For this reason, I feel that educating the public with regards to this aspect is paramount for us to move forward, together.”
Zahraa thanked the University for supporting and guiding her, highlighting two of her lecturers.
“I would especially like to thank two of my lecturers, Dr Kamariah Hasan and Dr Magaret Sivapragasam, who not only brought forward this opportunity to me but who also guided me in my content and language and showed their confidence in my abilities,” she said.
“I would also like to thank my best friend and Biotech batch mate, Bhuvesh Khulputeea, who tirelessly worked with me to improve my speech and took recordings of the same repeated speech with full dedication, and without whom I wouldn’t have had the perseverance towards seeing this through!”
“It’s at times like these I realize how important it is to have others to support you. So thank you to all who stood by me! This win is ours and it’s all thanks to you!”
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