MALAYSIANSKINI | Twenty-year-old Nurul Husna Mohd Yusoff came under the spotlight recently after the Twitter account of the 1Malaysia portal highlighted her achievements at the World Scientist Awards 2017 in Seoul, South Korea.

Husna is currently in her second year of a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree in chemical engineering with a specialisation in oil and gas technology at Heriot-Watt University in Putrajaya.

Her love of chemistry started when she was in high school.

“I received 98 percent for my first chemistry examination and I received high marks ever since, so I knew I could go further with chemistry.

“I chose to do chemical engineering because I’ve been involved in projects involving innovation since high school,” said Husna in an interview with Malaysiakini.

The Penang lass is certainly not a newcomer when it comes to competing in the international arena.

As a 17-year-old, Husna won a silver award in the Genius Olympiad competition in New York, US in 2014. The Genius Olympiad is an international high school project competition which addresses environmental issues.

Most of her projects, which Husna plans to patent, deal with the oil absorption and separation process.

“I use raw materials that people usually throw away, such as banana stalk, crab shells and palm oil waste.

“I’m working with a company to look into patenting one of my projects. My prototype is basically to trap rubbish.”

Apart from her love of chemistry, Husna also has a passion for teaching.

She spends most of her nights teaching chemistry, additional mathematics and English to 45 students at a tuition centre in Puchong.

A normal day would see Husna going to class from 9am to 4.30pm, teaching tuition classes at night and sleeping for a few hours before she wakes up to study until dawn.

Sleeping for two to three hours for most nights has been the norm since high school, she said.

And so unlike most people her age, Husna does not have time to watch movies nor Korean dramas.

Despite her hectic schedule, she still tries to find time for sports.

“I still play hockey and I also represent the university for basketball and captain’s ball.

“I will make sure I have time to do sports every day or at least go running because I join marathons sometimes.”

Brother as her inspiration

The youngest of five siblings, Husna turns to her second brother who currently lectures in civil engineering for inspiration.

“He has been encouraging me since high school. He’s truly my inspiration; he aimed to finish his PhD before he was 30, now he has challenged me to graduate earlier than him.”

Husna plans to pursue her PhD in the UK and complete her doctorate by the age of 26 or 27.

While Husna definitely looks good on paper, what with obtaining straight As in her SPM and completing her A-levels with flying colours, the journey has not been a bed of roses for her.

The young woman was frank as she spoke about her battle with depression.

“I got into depression as I was doing my A-levels. I fell sick, lost more than 10kg, my sleeping pattern was messed up and I didn’t eat healthy food, sometimes skipping meals.

“That was the lowest point in my life,” she recalled.

Thankfully for her, she received support from her parents who made it a point to visit her every week, making the three to four hour-long journey from Penang to her former college in Lembah Beringin, Hulu Selangor.

Her close friends also visited her daily and while she wanted to stay alone at the time, they insisted on accompanying her, lending their moral support.

Husna managed to recover from her episode of depression two weeks before her final A-level examinations.

“I knew I had to get good results for my A-levels to enter the university I wanted, so I pulled myself up.”

To ensure that she does not go into depression again, Husna tries to surround herself with positive vibes.

“I want to inspire people so that they won’t feel depressed like how I felt before this.”

This was among the reasons why she decided to join the Kalsom Movement, which specialises in tackling education inequality in Malaysia. Husna is currently one of the movement’s ambassadors.

This is her story, in her own words:

I STARTED GETTING INVOLVED IN THE INNOVATION FIELD WHEN I WAS IN FORM THREE. Innovation, as well as research and development, is a niche area of my school, a boarding school in Penang. My teachers selected the top 10 students in my year to be involved in this field, so I just went for it. I didn’t know I could do it.

We collaborated with Universiti Malaysia Perlis and Universiti Sains Malaysia when we started the project. My first project was on oil absorption and it was the first time I entered the Malaysia International Young Inventors Olympiad (Miyio). We won the gold and special awards.

I entered the Genius Olympiad in 2014 and slowed down when it came to joining competitions after my SPM as I had to focus on my A-levels. When I entered Heriot-Watt University in September, I told my supervisor about one of my projects and asked whether she could help me. I improvised a few things and submitted it for the World Scientist Awards.

THE MOST MEMORABLE MEMORY IN RELATION TO MY PROJECTS DURING HIGH SCHOOL WAS THE VERY FIRST PROJECT ITSELF. We spent four months completing it but when we tested it, it failed so we had to start all over again. We cried and even the teacher cried. We had only one month to start the project all over again.

I DIDN’T TELL MY PARENTS THAT I WAS PARTICIPATING IN THE WORLD SCIENTIST AWARDS. I submitted the application form without my parents’ permission. I didn’t tell my parents, I just wanted to try it.

They were not really mad after they found out because I used to do this before. They only asked about the process of joining the competition.

The award-giving ceremony was on Dec 10, but I was having my finals so I went there to claim the awards later.

SOME PEOPLE HAVE ASKED ME WHAT I ACTUALLY DID TO WIN THE AWARD. This is because I didn’t expose what kind of project I did. So the challenge for me right now is to patent my project, which is not easy. It requires money, so I have to find a grant and I have to improve my project.

I have the prototype but I have to improve it further. To obtain a patent, a project has to have commercial value, if not it would be a waste of time.

WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE SCIENCES, MOST PEOPLE THINK IT’S DIFFICULT BUT THEY HAVEN’T TRIED IT FIRST. They haven’t gone all out for it. But if you really do it, you will get it. It would be difficult if you only listened to what others say. I found it difficult at first but when you do it regularly, you will get the concept.

AFTER I COMPLETE MY PHD, I PLAN TO WORK OFFSHORE TO GAIN SOME EXPERIENCE FIRST. I’ll work offshore for maybe three to five years. I am really looking forward to working with a Dubai company. Then I will go for a lecturing job and focus more on research.

I don’t really have a specific list but I probably want to lecture at a prestigious university in the UK. After that, when I achieve my ambition which is to get a doctorate and a professional engineer title, I will come back to Malaysia to contribute to society.

I WANT TO PROVE THAT GIRLS CAN DO IT, TOO. When we talk about oil and gas, people think of offshore work. For women, it’s like there are limitations for us when we have a family. But I have the capabilities so I want to prove that not only boys and men can do it; girls, too, can do it.

I want to inspire others. My goal is to be an educated person, so that I can stand on my own feet and not depend on others. That motivates me to be a better person. So what I try to do is to give positive vibes, to provide inspiration to others to become a better person.

MANY PEOPLE TAKE DEPRESSION LIGHTLY BUT IT IS SERIOUS. It can cause death because it's out of our control.

If you face someone who is depressed, just be there for them. They just want someone to be close to them, for them to tell everything to, about what they feel.

Depressed people must use difficulties to become stronger. Allah never tests a person on things that are beyond his or her limits.

THOSE WHO ARE EDUCATED NEED TO START TEACHING THOSE AROUND THEM ABOUT HAVING A POSITIVE MENTALITY. They need to start first, so that they can teach their siblings and kids to have a good mentality.

When we talk about the mentality of Malaysians, even if a person does right or wrong, he or she will have haters. We can’t really change that because that’s now the culture of the young. We do have to change it but it’s quite difficult.

I CAN SEE THE DIFFERENCES IN CULTURE WHEN I GO TO OTHER COUNTRIES. There is a big gap between Malaysia and Korea when it comes to cleanliness. When we eat fast food, we just leave our rubbish at the table but in Korea, parents teach their children to dispose of their rubbish properly after they eat.

MY ADVICE TO YOUTHS IS, YOU HAVE TO TAKE RISKS. Failure is the key to success. You have to go out of the box. We won’t know our capabilities if we only do the same thing.

I, myself, had a difficult time but how we stand up and use those difficulties to be better, that’s the most important thing.

As a student myself, my concern is mostly on my studies, but at the same time we have to explore by ourselves; it is only then you will know whether you can achieve more.

MALAYSIANS KINI is a series on Malaysians you should know.

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