Aidilfitri Wishes 2014 from HAT

Once again it is the time of year,

To wish those who are far and near,  

A blessed time with friends and family,

As they celebrate a Happy Hari Raya Aidilfitri! 

From us all at Human Architecture Technologies (HAT), we would like to sincerely wish the BIDP students (wherever you may be now), our partners in work, friends and colleagues a very happy and enjoyable Hari Raya Aidilfitri this year! 

May this festive season be well spent with family happiness and joy! Let the cheer of the season shine through to the rest of the year ahead! Have a wonderful celebration to all those who are celebrating and to those who are not, may you have a pleasant holiday time.. :) 

Thank you for all the support that we have received and we hope there will be many more opportunities to come to work together! *Cheers*

Teambuilding Fun!

The day was beautiful: The sun was out to play, the soft breeze was blowing, the skies were as blue as they could be with puffs of white clouds just enough to give us the occasional shade.. 

What more could we ask for? It was perfect for our day out for team building!

Team building take one: Air Itam dam team building facility, Penang

First, there was breakfast to give everyone the strength they need. And maybe to wake some people up.. followed by some simple workout steps through aerobics, led by the person in charge from the facility.

Then the real fun began.. from rope climbing and tyre swings which test arm strength, to tight rope challenges and high wall obstacle where ultimate team efforts are needed, the unity and connection the group had with each other was truly shown. Whenever there was a member who had difficulty or seem to be struggling with a task, someone was always around to help him/her get up and get through it, even if it ends up in ridiculous giggles and eruptious laughter :) 

After it all, lunch was provided and the tired young people made their way home.. 

Team building activities: aerobics, rope climb, tyre swings, wall obstacle, and tight rope challenge! 

The next team building session leading had to be left to a friend of mine who was kind enough to help out after I could not make there. The day went on as planned, with two field games being taught and played to its maximum fun on the field of Youth Park, Penang. The games were Captain's Ball and Ultimate Frisbee.

Simple rules and regulations were explained before the games started with Ultimate Frisbee. It was great fun with the day so clear and friends who were sporting to be with.

Ultimate Frisbee!

Next! It was Captain's Ball time.. well, after some rest time and drinks that is. Also, some more rules and regulations once again, since they are two different games.

After that it was rest and then to lunch together! 

A very big Thank You goes to the Game Master of this day, Mr Donavan Ong for an awesome game time! 

And of course, to all the participants who made it that day, Thank You for coming along to make it a success. Just for being good sports, I applaud you! 

Till we meet again for something like this again, take care and all the best! 

                                                                                                                                    Written by: Mel A.

Meet Ups for Makan-times!

Even though we don't see each other as frequently as we'd like, all the times that we've met up for a lunch / dinner, were memories to add to our BIDP family album!

Since pictures are worth a thousand words, I will let the pictures speak for themselves below:

Food outings with our trainers!

Birthday celebrations in and out of class!

And there were everyday lunches, Graduation lunches, BBQs and Hari Raya makan times too!

And dinner times together also, when we get to organize it :) 

May we continue to share fellowship this sweet with each other, even though we might be from different batches of BIDP.. I'm glad we can all be friends. 

                                                                                                                         Written by: Mel A

The BIDP Lab

For the past two years, BIDP practical courses have been conducted in the Agilent BIDP Laboratory, situated in Ipharm, Penang. 

The lab is divided into two distinct lab sections; Bio-Analysis Lab and Wet Chemistry Lab. 

The two parts of the BIDP Lab 

Each Lab is then segregated into different specific rooms for different purposes. For example, the Bio-Analysis Lab is divided into four different rooms , with each room having their own functions for qPCR experiments: 

a) General Bio-lab Room - Sample prep area
b) Pre-PCR Room & DNA-free Room - Mastermix and template addition
c) qPCR Room - qPCR run

The four different rooms and their contents

Meanwhile, the Wet Chemistry lab contains the Balance Room and Instrument Area where the micro balances, FTIR, GC-FID and UHPLC are located respectively.

There is also the Dissolution tester and UV-Vis Spectrophotometer in the Wet Chemistry lab area. 

Clockwise from top left: FTIR, GC-FID, UHPLC, & Dissolution Tester

Other places in the lab is occupied by the other supporting instruments and equipment which are needed.

Clockwise from top left: Chemical cabinet for corrosives, Vaccum pump and drying oven, chemical cabinet for flammables, fridge, magnetic stirrer, pH meters and sonicator

All in all the BIDP lab has been a place where many experiments, demonstrations and lab practicals have been conducted, either for the BIDP program or not.

Looking forward, the lab's usage can only grow with each user who come along; and we especially share the joy of each success that have been achieved through the BIDP students in the lab! 

                                                                                                                             Written by: Melanie P.

Lab sessions in Progress

So in March, we had our Phase II students from BIDP II batch 2 in ABI (MARDI, Serdang) and Phase III students from BIDP II batch 1 in Ipharm (Penang) keeping us busy in the lab with practical sessions as the main course, and the sides were of course assignments and lab reports.

All the way from Wellington, New Zealand came our trainer for these two sessions: Mr Chor Ee Tan; whom we welcome fondly as one of the most loved trainer of the BIDP modules. Him, and the chocolates he brings along of course!

Chor Ee in class teaching and watching presentations in progress

Lab practical sessions are always fun to tutor, especially if your trainees are an interesting bunch of people! Many antics and sharing were exchanged during the times in the lab, but all the while having a tutor watching them closely as to not go beyond their allocated time slots. 

This qPCR practical sessions saw two groups of students; in Penang and Serdang, having their Advance DNA Detection Technology knowledge tested as they planed carried out experiments with minimal supervision.

Lab practical sessions in ABI for Advanced qPCR

Lab sessions in IPharm Bio-Analysis Lab

What more effective way for students to get the learning experience that they all need and want than hands- on practical sessions where they can experience the labs in a special way, whether or not they will use all the instruments they learn of or not. Questions can always be directed to the trainer or tutors during the practical sessions which enhance the learning of students and trainers/tutors alike.

In these qPCR lab practical sessions, we thank our ever enthusiastic trainer, Chor Ee for a brief, yet great time together with us, here in Malaysia.

May there be many more happy and satisfied trainees as they experience the labs we have the practical sessions at!

                                                                                                                           Written by: Melanie Ann