Irfan Ismail

“I’m not going to lie. I’ve faced many challenges as a student here at Curtin Malaysia. The fact that the campus is located in the outskirts of Miri was a bit difficult to cope with at first as a lot of things seemed so inaccessible. I would complain a lot, find fault in things around me, and wished things would get better in time. Well, tough luck, son, the world doesnʼt owe you anything!

“That’s when I realised I should do something about the things that were lacking. I was determined to initiate change. I gathered my closest friends and together, we brainstormed some really great ideas.

“At that time, students were having problems with the inconsistency of the campus shuttle service and it was affecting their daily routines. We happily decided that we would try to tackle the problem. While others lobbied the university management to improve the service, we decided to take a rather different approach, by creating a bus tracking app called MyCurtin.

“MyCurtin opens up new choices for the bus riders. By being able to track the buses and determine if there are any delays in the service, they can for example, opt for Grab or hitch a ride with friends.

“It has admittedly been a long and meandering journey developing the app, but the experience opened up new opportunities for the team to meet new people and understand their needs. I learned a lot about myself and my potential; same goes for the rest of the team. It was an experience we will all cherish forever. Thanks to all who supported the MyCurtin project!” –Irfan Ismail, Mechanical Engineering student