IEEE Volunteers are dedicated to a variety of engineering outreach initiatives. Specifically, many participate in outreach programs aimed at supporting STEM in pre-university students. Suriati Paiman was a 2022 STEM Champion from the Malaysia section (R10) dedicated to such programs. Paiman was selected as a presenter during the 2022 STEM Summit roundtable where she and other selected STEM Champions spoke about their experiences and motivation for STEM outreach at the pre-university level. The roundtable discussion and all STEM summit presentations are all available on demand right here.

Paiman is currently Associate Professor at Universiti Putra Malaysia. During the summit roundtable, Paiman explained that her journey in STEM outreach began when she was challenged to be able to explain her education to lamen. This challenge helped her develop the ability to speak of topics in higher education to communities with younger and underserved individuals who did not have regular exposure to education in STEM areas. 

“As researchers, I think it’s our job, we must do something to improve the situation,” Paiman explained during the roundtable. She continued to explain that she believes it can be done “by using everyday language that can be understood by local and rural people.”

She specializes in using easy coding for IoT and AI, where her work in this area caught the attention of the Malaysian STEM Teachers Association. Paiman and other faculty members of UPM worked with the association to serve as local leaders and champions for pre-university students in these fields. 

When Paiman was asked during the roundtable what advice she would have for an IEEE volunteer and her opinion on best practices, she replied that keeping it simple is the best way to start. Additionally, focusing on teaching volunteers how to network and recruit enthusiastic participants for their programs is key. 

“They will create a strong team and be able to continue sustainability,” Paiman stated, which she explained will help to produce success in their STEM programs. 

When asked about what challenges she has had to overcome and how she addresses them, Paiman highlighted the transfer of knowledge to pre-university students as an issue.

“[Pre-university students] are very passive because they don’t understand the activities that are carried out,” she stated. She continued by saying that she attempts to solve this by keeping her sessions more fun and relaxed, and also referred back to the importance of using the local language and examples so that everyone who participates can more easily understand and relate to the material being taught. 

Dr. S. Paiman received her Bachelor of Industrial Physics and Master of Science (Physics) from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Malaysia, in 1999 and 2002, respectively. She did her Ph.D. at the Electronic Materials Engineering, Research School of Physical Research and Sciences, Australian National University (ANU) Canberra, Australia, in 2012 in Semiconductor Compounds Nanowires. In 2003, she joined the Department of Physics, Universiti Putra Malaysia, as a Lecturer, and in 2018 became an Associate Professor. Her research interests include epitaxial growth of semiconductor nanostructures and devices; device fabrication, testing/characterization of optoelectronic/piezoelectric applications and STEM education towards the development of IOT-based innovation. She has authored or co-authored more than 100 papers and conference presentations in these fields. She is a Senior Member of the IEEE and the Executive Committee of Women in Engineering (WIE) Affinity Chapter, Malaysia. She is presently heading the Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia. In 2020, she was awarded the Professional Technologists by the Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT). You can learn more about her in her LinkedIn profile.