Olympiad Nanotechnology Malaysia (ONM 2017) was organized by MOSTI in conjunction with the National Nano Program 2017 (NanoKEB 2017) and National Innovation and Creative Economy Expo 2017 (NICE 2017). The ultimate goal of ONM 2017 is to select and prepare the potential university-level students for the International Nano Olympiad (INO) that will be held in Tehran, Iran 2018. ONM 2017 began with online quiz competition to first shortlist the top 30 scorers around Malaysia university and subsequently invited to join the ONM nano camp 2017 which held from 9th-13th October 2017 in TPM Resources centre, Bukit Jalil.

During the ONM nano camp 2017, students were exposed to talks, visits and workshops that strengthen student’s knowledge on nanotechnology evolution from nanomaterials processing, characterization, application, and business development. Students were then evaluated for individual performance on essay writing and group pitching on topics related to nanotechnology application to solve water and wastewater issues.

Ho Kah Chun, a PhD candidate from Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment (FKAB), UKM who is a Yayasan Sime Darby scholarship recipient participated in the competition and shortlisted for the ONM nano camp 2017. Ho Kah Chun is currently supervised by Dr Teow Yeit Haan and Prof. Dato Ir. Dr Abdul Wahab Mohammad, the Dean of FKAB, UKM. He has successfully won a gold medal during the competition and grabbed a ticket to the 1st INO international competition, Tehran, Iran together with other Malaysia representatives to pitch their creative ideas on nanotechnology for its innovative applications to solve real scientific and industrial problems.