FDSA 2026: Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation’s Prof. Dr. Ho Chin Kuan Reveals His Promising Outlook on Future Design Star

by Monisha Sivanesan

Prof. Dr. Ho Chin Kuan formally ushers Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation into the Future Design Star Award initiative, carrying with it a resolute commitment to elevate his students and bring distinction to the university as a whole

We sat down with Prof. Dr. Ho Chin Kuan, Vice Chancellor of Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU), during their MOU signing with the 2026 Future Design Star Award (FDSA) for a short interview on his prevailing expectations around the initiative and for his participating students.

With a progressive history that can be traced back to over 30 years ago, the Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) is where a unique fusion of technology, innovation and creativity works effectively towards preparing graduates for future-proof careers in business and society. Ego, it is almost a given for the institution to join FDSA, an initiative developed to submerge students in an experience mimicking the competitive nature of the Malaysian design scene.

Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation signs MOU with Future Design Star Award

Exclusive interview with Prof. Dr. Ho Chin Kuan

Why did Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation join FDSA? What do you hope to result from joining as an institution?

The philosophy of APU, if you look at our name, is that the word ‘innovation’ is there. In terms of student experience, we believe that learning can take place and should take place inside and outside the classroom, which is why we encourage a lot of our students to join competitions. In fact, throughout the year of 2025, we won about 268 competition awards.

We push our students because competitions force them to innovate. They have the opportunity to look at what other people are doing and broaden their horizon. Therefore, we’re always looking out for such an experience, like FDS, for our students. We have joined competitions for other areas but this will be the first competition for architecture students. It’s something very special and meaningful for the start of our students’ journey.

How do you think FDS will benefit students at your institution?

Lecturers can only give so much of a perspective, so we want our students to prove themselves, to apply their skills. What FDS will do to students, number one, is raise their confidence. When we ask students to join competitions, they return much more confident. Therefore, it’s also about acquiring good communication, leadership and collaboration skills.

Working together is important because our architecture students come from many countries. In fact, I think it’s one of the most diverse. So, having them working together is key and working towards a specific goal, like winning a competition, is key to them succeeding—that’s especially why we are doing FDS. The proof is in the pudding, right?

Where do you see FDS going in the future?

With AI’s presence in every facet of design, I dream to see FDS taking on more of a technology-centric approach. Maybe there could be a segment on application of technology to design? As a technical person, I think that would be quite interesting to see.

About the 2026 Future Design Star Award

The Future Design Star Award is an initiative that seeks to discover and platform young talents within verified design institutions across the nation whose work reveals an immense level of potential for the industry. With a unique system in place, ACGMEDIA works directly with a handful of distinguished schools and academies across Malaysia to bottleneck only the very best projects—eliminating the ambiguity of participants and solidifying the relationship between the institution and its award candidate students.

The Future Design Star Award evaluation process requires each member institution to submit a fixed number of their very best student projects. The top three students of each school will then present to a panel of esteemed judges to compete for the ultimate prize: winning at the DOTY level. Following this, the three student projects that led the live presentation stage will receive their win at the DOTY 2026 ceremony, where they gain access to a crowd of Malaysia’s most elite design studios and industry partners.

For more information, please visit
Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) | www.apu.edu.my

Keep up to date with the 2026 Future Design Star Award through the official Designer of the Year (DOTY) Awards Facebook page!