Dare to Dream Big: A Creator that Never Stops

Technology has been helping us solve some of the biggest challenges we face, and Taylor’s University Bachelor of Computer Science graduate, Roshen Maghhan, 24, intends to harness its power for human good. 

Dubbed as one of the brightest young minds in Malaysia by Dcoder and HackerRank (ranked number 1 in Malaysia and top 1% in the world respectively) in the area of coding, the self-taught programmer constantly broke down problems by applying his knowledge to come up with digital solutions to everyday problems.

Residing in Malaysia – a multi-ethnic and multilingual country – Roshen realised that many faced challenges in understanding one another, especially in a conversational or work setting among friends and colleagues. 

Based on Roshen’s personal experience after having to remind his colleagues to speak in English during meetings for him to follow, Roshen took it upon himself to build his own Google Pixel Buds without burning a hole in his pocket. 

“I studied the Google Pixel hardware information to understand how the device worked, and built the software with the use of artificial intelligence technology to support my real-time earbuds translator device, which was compatible across all operating systems,” said Roshen, who was also a full scholarship recipient at Taylor’s.

“Not only was the device able to address conversation barriers but could also help the deaf community to read and follow any conversation. This is because the translation process of the device will also display text when the AI feature captures the sentence communicated,” added Roshen.

To date, the innovator has developed more than 30 websites, 9 phone applications, 12 web games and more than 18 in-house computer softwares.

His Tesla-Myvi project was another remarkable innovation within an RM200 spend. Roshen controlled his car with the use of a smartphone and named the function the Summon Feature. His innovation included locking and unlocking the car remotely, switching the car on and off, the ability to open and close windows, playing music without being inside, and driving the vehicle forward or backward with a single touch on the screen of his smartphone. Roshen continued to create his version of Google Home where he automated his home fans, TVs, air conditioners, home gate, and more.

“Most times, the inspirations of these projects are usually either to solve an issue I am facing or to learn and test my knowledge in a certain domain. In these personal projects, as I invent and develop them alone, I am my own researcher, solution architect, and developer,” he said.

Roshen also shared how his journey at Taylor’s since his foundation studies has moulded him to build such innovations in recent years. He noted that Mr Tee Wee Jing, Programme Director of Bachelor of Computer Science, was his on-site campus fatherly figure and mentor throughout his College and University days at Taylor’s.

“Mr Tee was an academic that was very encouraging and made sure I made the most of my university experience, despite the pandemic mid-way through my degree studies. He motivated me to actively participate in multiple competitions and hackathons, and guided my team and I with feedback as well as on how to improve our pitches to impress the judges. He was an inspiring educator to many of us,” shared Roshen.

Roshen had participated in many competitions namely the ImagineHack Hackathon in 2016 where he and his team built a programme within 24-hours and was awarded second place, and the NASA Space Apps Challenge in 2017 where he and his team built a Social Networking Service (SNS) application in 48-hours and won the category. In 2019, Roshen also secured a top 5 spot in the AI and Big Data Challenge for Data Engineers (ABCDE) Hackathon.

“As a result of my involvement in big competitions, experience was not the only thing I had gained but also exposure to people of the tech industry in Malaysia and to the technological gaps we are trying to solve,” said Roshen, adding that networks were an important element of the Taylor’sphere ecosystem within the university that added value to him.

“It really gave me a solid understanding of certain areas in the tech industry, which I was not exposed to previously. One of the key qualities I have gained in my university experience was to be a better team player, as I had the chance to work with many different people across faculties, during assignments, projects, hackathons, and many more,” added Roshen.

With Taylor's Curriculum Framework, Roshen had the opportunity to take up the Brand Management studies elective which was offered under the Faculty of Social Sciences and Leisure Management.

“The opportunity to mix and match modules allowed me to step out of my comfort zone of technology and learn something new. My Brand Management lecturer and classmates were welcoming and helpful.”

“Additionally, during my Final-Year-Project, I was given an opportunity to work with Taylor’s to automate their customer service on their website via a chat box feature. I gained real-world industry experience about stakeholder management, expectations, and timeline then,” he said.

Today, Roshen is an accomplished software engineer for Bank Negara Malaysia and one of the key members who contribute to the development of COVIDNOW, the open data initiative that provides data and insights on COVID-19 in Malaysia. ​Roshen’s responsibility is to handle the backend aspect of the project, working alongside other developers to allow Malaysians to be able to interpret data published by the Ministry of Health. 

Multidisciplinary projects, life skills and mentorship are part of the Taylor’sphere ecosystem curated by Taylor’s University to nurture the three intelligences of Intellect, Practical Wisdom and Craft among its students. This is to ensure students will not only have acquired academic knowledge and job skills but also essential life skills and social networks, to apply what they have learnt and find solutions to real-world problems, while making an impact on their communities.

Also within Taylor’sphere that aims to ensure that graduates are future-proof, student entrepreneurship and impact-driven projects are encouraged through embedded Social Innovation modules, multidisciplinary projects, access to labs and facilities to facilitate a campus-wide Makerspace, and Technopreneurship track options in selected degree programmes.

To find out more about Taylor’sphere, visit https://bit.ly/3P9rd0n.