Story by Danny Ooi
Pix & video by Alissala Thian
WHEN the Pakatan state government first took office in 2008, it received a lot of feedback from industry captains that the main constraint for Penang’s industrial growth lies in the lack of human resources.
Indeed, there was great concern that the interest of school students to take up studies in the STEM-related subjects was declining.
“This was especially so for Penang whose economic success depends primarily on the size and quality of the state’s talent pool.
“As a result, the Penang state government initiated the formation of Penang Science Cluster (PSC) in 2010 with the mission to inspire the spirit of innovation in Science and Engineering into the community, especially among the young,” Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said when he launched the American Tech Corner at Wisma Yeah Chor Ee on Nov 13.
Also present were ambassador of the United States to Malaysia Kamala Lakhdir, chief executive officer of PSC Ooi Peng Ee and its director Datuk Yoon Chon Leong.
Chow added that over the years, the achievement of PSC is beyond expectations, like in 2017 alone PSC made an impact on 20,000 students through hands-on science and technology workshops.
“For this success, I must thank and acknowledge the collaboration and support from industry in particular the PSC director companies such as B. Braun, Intel, Keysight Technologies and others,” he said.
Chow commented that last week, 60,000 visitors attended the successful Penang International Science Fair organised by PSC, where there were 25,000 hands-on STEM activities over two days which was probably the largest in the world.
The chief minister expressed his gratitude to witness another collaboration by PSC with the US Embassy – the launch of the American Tech Corner today.
Meanwhile, Ooi said the opening of ATC marked the expansion of cooperation between the US Embassy in Malaysia and PSC.
“The ATC Penang is furnished with four Reality Stations equipped with Education VR Apps and ‘US Experience’ apps.
“The space also includes a Digital Classroom Demo that allows visitors to have ‘hands on’ experience with the education-based gadgets.”