Graziella Fenech, a final year student studying with the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Malta, has been awarded first place in the local heats of the Present Around the World (PATW) competition. The local PATW competition is held annually by the Malta Group of Professional Engineering Institutions (MGPEI), and forms part of the international PATW competition organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) of the UK. Its aim is to provide a forum for Engineering students and young professionals to compete by presenting a personal technological project. Participants are evaluated on the effectiveness of their presentation skills as well as the subject matter.
The theme of Graziella’s presentation concerned the use of graphene, a nano-material with unique properties that has been evoking a lot of interest in the scientific community since its first appearance in 2004. Graziella presented her current work to the audience, which concerns the introduction of slight modifications to the mechanical exfoliation technique of producing graphene, together with a study on the effect of the substrate on the deposited flakes. The judging panel awarded her presentation first place among seven contestants. Graziella will now be proceeding to represent Malta at the regional level, where she will be competing with other contestants from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
The PATW competition at the local level follows the format of the IET, selecting the best candidate to represent Malta at the regional level and with an opportunity to compete at the global heats that are held in London, UK, during November. At every stage, the winner and runner up are awarded a cash prize that increases to £1,000 at the global level. This event has been attracting interest from engineering students and young professionals alike, with an increasing level of effective presentation skills and interesting subject matters.
Interested individuals who would like further information on the PATW competition are encouraged to contact the MGPEI on stefania.cristina@um.edu.mt.
More information about the MGPEI can be found on their website.