THE STAR, THURSDAY 17 JUNE 2021 EDUCATION GUIDE Mathematical tools to the fore THE education sector, which includes universities, institutes and colleges, has undoubtedly been impacted by the Covid-19 pandem- ic. After the first movement control order was implemented in March last year, the industry turned to remote learning. Research sectors in universities were massively affected as well. Experimental data collection and computer simulations for research projects had to be put on hold as laboratories were closed, causing a delay in findings. But the contribution of research and technology to stop the spread of Covid-19 is praiseworthy. Dr Faranak Rabiei from Monash University Malaysia’s School of Engineering and postgraduate student Zeeshan Ali took the opportunity to collaborate with scientists from international The number of real confirmed cases per day vs simulated confirmed cases per day from a published research article. institutes in applied and computa- tional mathematics to produce a with classical order differentiation. were discussed in detail,” Dr transmission dynamics. new mathematical model of Covid- The non-local operators in FC are Faranak shared. “In a nutshell, mathematics is 19’s transmission dynamics. ideal because they can capture Towards the last segments of the an essential tool that has a high “The existing biological models non-localities and some memory research, numerical techniques impact on research development of Covid-19 is based on classical effects. Moreover, the latest devel- were developed to analyse the in many areas of science and systems of ordinary differential oped fractal-fractional order tool transmission dynamics of proposed technology,” Dr Faranak said. equations with integer order. They provides the relationship between models of Covid-19 in three regions: The outcome of this research have been widely studied and fractal calculus and FC,” she added. Malaysia, Wuhan and Pakistan. highlights the importance of the developed. The proposed operators in frac- The team was able to obtain implementation of suitable strate- “Recently, mathematical models tal-fractional order mathematical simulated results for used compart- gies and restrictions to control the of the coronavirus with fractional models are more suitable when ments in the proposed models. spread of disease in countries. order have been considered by there is a complex behaviour. The The comparison of research The presented model’s simulated many researchers. It is proven that new calculus, called fractal-fraction- simulations with actual disease results demonstrate that move- mathematical models designed al calculus, is perhaps more effi- outbreak data proved the accuracy ment control order significantly with the help of fractional calculus cient than fractal calculus and FC. and efficiency of the study. impacts the transmission dynamics (FC) tools are more accurate and With the help of fractal-fraction- “We concluded that disease of disease outbreak in the three stable in comparison to integer- al calculus as a powerful mathe- transmission in society was regions studied. order calculus due to its degree matical tool, a novel fractal-frac- reduced by adopting preventive The fractal-fractional calculus of freedom,” Dr Faranak stated. tional model of the coronavirus measures (restrictions on tools may be used to understand FC tools are dependent on histor- involving different compartments individual movement). and predict Covid-19’s global ical and current states. Therefore, (suspension, infection, recovery, “Although the pandemic has dynamics in other countries. they have memory properties. death, etc) was proposed. had a significant impact on our Dr Faranak said that mathematics “We know there are complexities “The theoretical parts of the research, applying the new mathe- ■ For more information on is an essential tool that has a high and false information, which research, such as proof of exist- matical model of Covid-19 makes it Monash University Malaysia, impact on research development makes it hard to provide a suitable ence, uniqueness and stability of possible to accurately predict and look out for the advertisement in many areas of science and mathematical model for Covid-19 the solution of proposed models, simulate disease compartments’ in this StarSpecial. technology. Guiding young animation talents WHAT is the first thing that comes to draw and produce illustrations, activists and gain experience. to your mind when people talk which is one of the elements that Diploma in Animation alumni about animation? Some would an animator must have. Amin Mohamad Azman said: relate it to the ability to draw, “Maybe you’ve always loved “I will never forget the time we while others would perhaps relate watching animated films and had to conduct an animation exhi- it to cartoon characters. cartoons, but you want to know bition during our final semester. But would a career in animation more about how they are created. Ask any Animation student, this be something most people want to “That’s where a diploma in ani- exhibition was the one everyone turn to? mation comes in. You will gain a would look forward to. Two Malaysian movies released range of technical and creative “It was so much fun dressing up in 2019 – Ejen Ali: The Movie and skills relevant to a career in film according to the given themes. Our Upin Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal – or other digital careers. batch chose ‘Animator Kampong’ might change minds. “If you want to become an ani- and there we were, all dressed up Aside from their box office mator, games designer, graphic in kampung style, staging tradition- success, these two movies share designer, VFX artist or illustrator, al performances at the corner of another trait. Most of their crew and animation diploma would be the UniKL City Campus lobby as ‘If you want to know how animated ‘I’ll never forget the time we had to members, including the creative highly suitable,” Dr Azir said. visitors and other students enjoyed films and cartoon are made, that’s conduct an animation exhibition directors, are animation alumni The animation course in UniKL our artworks. It is one of my where a diploma in animation during our final semester,’ says from the Universiti Kuala Lumpur, MIIT is well-tailored with core fondest memories,” he said. comes in,’ said Dr Azir. Amin. Malaysian Institute of Information components for students. Amin is currently pursuing a Technology (UniKL MIIT). The programme has close ties Bachelor in Computer Animation Layout Drawing in 2D Animation Korean University and Korean Diploma in Animation prog- with local and international indus- at UniKL MIIT. and Creating Character Concept Language Intensive Programme ramme coordinator Dr Azir Rezha try creatives, which has helped stu- UniKL MIIT recently organised with ZBrush. for the July 2021 intake. Norizan says UniKL MIIT aims to dents to get directly involved in its Animation Week online. See Besides the Diploma in Anima- Parents and students are encour- polish new animation talents in the events such as KLToon Fest and what the Animation students had tion, UniKL MIIT offers the aged to apply for UniLL MIIT’s July country through the intensive Pekan Komik organised by the to offer at www.facebook.com/ Diploma in Multimedia, Diploma in 2021 intake, which is currently courses offered in its diploma and Animation Society of Malaysia AnimationGuildUniKL Information Technology, Diploma open. degree programmes. (Animas) and Persatuan Penggiat The exhibition from June 8-11 of Engineering Technology (Comp- He added that many of today’s Komik (Pekomik), among others. included activities such as webi- uter and Networking, Foundation ■ For more details, call 012-266 youths are creative and imagina- These activities enable students nars, digital photography exhibi- in Computer Technology, Founda- 0774 (Radziana Abdul Rahman) or tive. There are also those who love to interact with creative industry tion and demonstrations such as tion in Science and Technology for apply online at www.unikl.edu.my 2 Education Guide THE STAR, THURSDAY 17 JUNE 2021 Gearing up for the digital economy IN February 2021, the government dict outcomes of business decisions to study the movie series Stargate launched the Malaysia Digital and to recommend actions that and Star Trek for her PhD thesis. Economy Blueprint aimed at trans- maximise ideal outcomes. This complements the skills in bib- forming Malaysia into a regional Graduates are nurtured to liometric and citation analysis of leader in digital economy with a assume management and market- data she acquired as a postgradu- RM70bil investment in digitalisa- ing positions such as business ana- ate student at Universiti Malaya. tion by 2025 with the digital econo- lyst, operations research analyst, To further enhance students’ my expected to eventually contrib- market research analyst, opera- skills, a Data and Business ute 22.6% of the nation’s GDP. It tions analyst, quantitative analyst, Analytics Certificate Course is aims to achieve 100% household project manager and digital mar- offered free to all students. They access to the Internet to enable stu- keting manager. also receive mentorship in data dents to access online learning and They will acquire a good knowl- analytics and e-entrepreneurship create 500,000 new jobs by 2025. edge of the discipline of business through HELP’s collaboration with Initiatives will be implemented and a data-driven capability to ena- the Alibaba Business School. to increase the number of start-ups Students practise live stock-trading using Bloomberg business ble them to generate statistical out- HELP’s efforts in advancing data to 5,000 while pushing for the resources and facilities in HELP’s RM25mil Business Analytics and puts using analytical tools and tech- analytics and training have adoption of eCommerce by at least Technology Innovation Centre (BATIC). niques, interpret them and make received recognition and endorse- 875,000 micro, small and medium effective managerial decisions. ment from industry and governing enterprises (MSMEs) by 2025. data engineers and data scientists. the National University of Topics include programming, bodies.