Samini Balakrishnan
Bachelor of Science (HONS) Chemistry
Alumni August 2008
Master Student in Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Success comes in different forms and definitions as each individual may have their own interpretation of success. An athlete may view his success differently as compared to a home-stayed mother. Likewise, a singer may vision his success as becoming the hottest star, while a teacher may picture her success in her students' academic success. After all, there's really no one size fits all definition for success. It depends on the perspective of life that you are looking at.

Since I won the championship of Shell inter-varsity Student Paper Presentation Contest (S-SPEC 2009) held recently at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM on 16th and 17th March 2009, I started to view my own success differently and I am glad that my success has impressed many around me as well. Having Shell Malaysia as their major sponsor, this event is ranked as one of the most prestigious events held in UTM. This was reflected through the enthusiastic participation of 283 contestants from both private and government universities all over Malaysia and a few other universities from Singapore, Brunei and Australia. There were two main categories for this contest; the postgraduates category and the undergraduates category. We need to go through two main screenings before the final contest. The first screening was by the professors from UTM who would screen through all the abstracts and then shortlist qualified participants. The second screening was by the professionals from SHELL who would then shortlisted 8 finalists for each category. Even being able to be shortlisted as the 8 finalists was already a great honour for me. Although I did aim to win this contest, I did not keep high hopes on it merely because I did not want to put pressure on myself. Therefore, throughout the competition, I was relaxed and always mingled around to make new friends rather than concentrate on the result itself.

I was the first presenter of the day and it was scheduled to start at 9a.m. Just before the presentation started, I was informed that there was a slight technical problem as my presentation slides could not be read properly. This news was like a bombshell to me but I kept myself in control, not letting the fear sweep over me. Fortunately, the problem was fixed in the nick of time, just before the judges walked in to start the competition. Initially, I was really nervous but the presence on my supervisor; Dr. Teh Geok Bee did calm me down a little as I had practised my speech before hand with her. The presentation was over in a twinkling of an eye and then came the biggest task that I was most worried of - the Q&A session.In front of me were the professional judges from SHELL,

Mr Arnold Teo, Senior Manager of Technology, Shell Refining Company's Port Dickson Refinery and Mr. Jeremy Wong, a Reservoir Engineer as well as many other lecturers and students who were from the same or related field, standing guard off with all sorts of questions. My research topic was about the nanophotonics for the application in solar cell concentrators. It was such a relief when I managed to answer the judges' questions with confidence. I stayed on to watch other competitors' presentations. Five of the finalists were presenting their 3 years' research in pHD as I watched with shaken confidence because my research was only four months old then. However, I was positive it as I knew I had done my best. At the end of the day, surprisingly I was announced the champion of this Shell Intervarsity Paper Presentation Competition. I walked away with a certificate, a trophy, cash prize worth RM2000 and also a field trip fully sponsored by Shell Malaysia.

The whole experience of S-SPEC 2009 has made me a more confident and independent person. I rewarded myself with short trip out to Dangga bay that night with a few friends to celebrate my victory. Here are a few tips to my dear friends who are participating or are going to participate in competitions. First and foremost, you must be confident at all times. Sometimes, coming admitting no knowledge to a question is better than not giving an answer at all. Second, you have to stay calm at all times. I know personally that this is a difficult task and I myself have taken years to learn it. This is really important as only those who are calm enough can take charge of themselves and others around no matter what the situation is. Third, do not be too result-oriented. What I mean is, it is always better to make friends with more competitors rather than just sitting aside thinking of the competition itself. This is an essential move as in the field of research, having a wider network of friends will always help. Last but not least, reward yourself with something big if you win or even something small if you don't for the hard work that you have dispensed for the competition. I have followed each of these tips and I found them really useful.

Last of all, I would like to dedicate my victory to my supervisor Dr. Teh Geok Bee, my co-supervisor Dr. Saravanan Nagalingam and my immediate family members who have supported me throughout the competition. To quote David Brinkley, "A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." I have started collecting the bricks thrown at me since long ago and now I am building a firm foundation for my future. This victory is a gift for the efforts I made in laying this foundation. Now is only the beginning, I won't just stop here.