KUALA LUMPUR, 3 Sept. – UTM Kuala Lumpur campus received a visit from the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tract Affairs, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh led by Professor Dr. Farid Uddin Ahamed and  accompanied by seven other officers.

The visit was to know and learn about the history of UTM since the establishment until it has become a world-renowned engineering university.

It was also to obtain information in terms of policies and procedures, accreditation, academic programs available at UTM, and future possible collaborative activities that can be carried out between the two universities.

In the discussion, Prof. Dr. Farid informed that the local government had just set up a new university called Bandarban University. Currently, they have created a total of three faculties namely Faculty of Science and Technology, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Business Administration.

He also proposed to sign a Letter of Cooperation (LoC) with UTM as a starting point to collaborate on reviewing academic curriculum development program, staff attachment, student exchange and invitation as speaker.

The process to approve the proposal of LoC signing  will be managed by the UTM International KL office (UTM International), while Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT), Azman Hashim International Business School (AHIBS) and Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics (Razak FTIR) will take up the initial collaborations.

The visit was also attended by Associate Director of UTM International, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Rahim, Assistant Deans of Razak FTIR, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nor Zairah binti Ab Rahim and Dr. Sa’ardin bin Abdul Aziz; representatives from MJIIT, Dr Ruwaida binti Jamian, and from AHIBS, Dr. Suzilawati binti Kamarudin.

KUALA LUMPUR, 21 Sept. 2018 – Kudos to students from the School of Electrical Engineering (SKE), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) for winning a MERIT in MSC Malaysia Asia Pacific ICT Awards (MSC Malaysia APICTA) 2018!

The students’ team comprised Salehuddin Loke Asri Loke, Badrulhisham Zamri and Nur Fariz Syairazi Mohd Nor, all from the fourth year of studies in SKE who have won the Tertiary Student category.

Their supervisor, Dr. Yeong Che Fai said the project title was ‘Virtual Reality Games on Rehabilitations’ where innovative Virtual Reality (VR) games were developed on robotic device to motivate stroke patients to engage with rehabilitation more frequently thus enhancing their recovery.

They were also co-supervised by Dr Eileen Su Lee Ming.

The award was presented during PIKOM Annual Dinner and ICT Awards Night 2018 at The Majestic Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

The objective of this APICTA is to provide recognition to outstanding achievement of individuals, students, entrepreneurs, SMEs and organizations with operations in Malaysia who have contributed to the developments of the MSC Malaysia initiatives.

This project is a collaboration between UTM and the National Stroke Association of Malaysia (NASAM) and Techcare Innovation Sdn Bhd, a spin-off company from UTM.

The team will represent Malaysia at the International APICTA Awards 2018 from 10 to 14 October 2018 in Guangzhou, China.

Johor Bahru, 23 September 2018 – Three postgraduate and five undergraduates students from the School of Mechanical Engineering (SKM), Faculty of Engineering, UTM Johor Bahru campus joined the Global Outreach Programme (GOP) to the Institute of Universitaire De Technologie (IUT) Saint Malo, France from 15 to 21 September,

The programme was supervised by Prof Dr Normah Mohd Ghazali from SKM and was supported by IUT Saint Malo, the Malaysian French Embassy and SKM.

Among the week-filled activities were attending four English sessions with the IUT Saint Malo students (Classes of Ms Valerie Coste); visiting the coastline facing the channel between France and the UK (including a reversible dam near Mont-Saint-Michel – an effort to sustain the environment); having an EXPLORACE (each team comprised of two students) within the city of Intra-Muros to test the students thinking and communication skills in solving a series of activities; visiting the iron bunkers from the World War 2 era, where the Germans used to defend their territory; a visit to Tecknisolar company, a local industry which is associated with solar powered sensor technology; and attended a seminar held at IUT Rennes with researchers from the IUT and UTM sharing their current research.

The cooperation between UTM and IUT Saint Malo first started in 2002 when Prof Normah met Prof Thierry at a conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.  Students doing internship in UTM then began in 2010 with GOP to IUT Saint Malo which started in 2012. This was followed by a research collaboration in terms of the publication of a technical paper which was the most cited paper in an ISI indexed journal, Applied Thermal Engineering for the year 2014 to 2016.

Interestingly, the programme was also featured in the local newspaper, Le Telegramme <https://www.letelegramme.fr/ille-et-vilaine/saint-malo/iut-cooperation-avec-la-malaisie-17-09-2018-12080792.php>

 

 

 

 

 

September 2018 marked a history for Yayasan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) when its financially supported student has graduated with a Double Degree from UTM-Kent program.

The Double Degree program is hosted by UTM and the University of Kent where it allows students to obtain UTM’s B.Sc in Industrial Mathematics and University of Kent’s B.Sc Actuarial Science.

Foo Weoi Ming from the Faculty of Science became the first UTM-Kent Double Degree program graduate after undergoing partial studies in UTM and Kent University.

Yayasan UTM provides financial support to students based on three main criteria to be an actuary which are to have strong knowledge in specialized mathematics, self-motivation and passion.

Based on these skills and characteristics,  Foo has been selected by Yayasan UTM.

With the financial aid provided by Yayasan UTM, students are able to expose themselves to cross-cultural experiences between two countries, enhancing the students’ employment prospects and fostering closer links between their academic communities for mutual benefits.

Foo said that, “Actuary main role is to evaluate and optimise the risk in order to create a safer working environment. Therefore, by being an Actuary, I believe that I could contribute more to the society by making the world more quantifiable, measurable and explainable. I would like to gratefully acknowledge Yayasan UTM for allowing me to achieve this dream.”

Johor Bahru, 17 September – Prof. Shelda Debowski, an international higher education consultant specialising in higher education development, is currently in UTM from 17 to 21 September 2018 for a series of meetings and capacity building initiatives among academic staff from UTM and UTM School of Professional and Continuing Education (UTMSPACE).

Prof. Shelda’s visit to Malaysia is one of the activities as a visiting professor to UTM for a duration of one year.

During her visit, Prof Shelda will meet up with academic staff and management of UTM and UTMSPACE to discuss on the topic of academic leadership, concentrating on two focus groups: early career academic staff who have just embarked on their career in the academia, as well as leaders and administrators tasked to oversee development of their academic staff.

The main agenda includes sharing of experience on how UTM can strengthen its Synergy 4.0 initiative, a major undertaking by UTM to consolidate faculties and schools into more efficient, cohesive, and performance -driven academic entities.

Prof Shelda delivered her first public lecture in UTM, entitled “The Secret of Successful Academics”, where she shared 10 tips on developing one’s career as an academic staff.

September 14, 2018 – Johor Bahru: The IJN-UTM Cardiovascular Engineering Centre (IJN-UTM Cardio Centre  welcomed a visit by members of the National Heart Institute (IJN) Board of Directors.

Among members present were Tengku Dato’ Seri Hasmuddin Tengku Othman, Raja Azlan Shah Raja Azwa, Mr. Akmal Arief Mohammed Fauzi, Mr. Abdul Rahman Haji Siraj and Mr. Mohd Mazuar Mohd Nooh. The welcome reception was led by Dr. Ahmad Zahran Md. Khudzari, Director of IJN-UTM Cardio Centre.

The visit started with product & poster showcase then followed with engagement session and slide presentation on the  achievement of the centre so far.

There were 10 products & posters showcased which are:

1. MyThrob – Smart Arrhythmia Screener lead by Dr. Hau Yuan Wen
2. Microneedle Insulin Delivery System lead by Prof. Dr. Ida Idayu Muhamad
3. Spiral Flow Induced Canula lead by Dr. Ahmad Zahran Md. Khudzari
4. Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) lead by Dr. Ahmad Zahran Md. Khudzari
5. Stent Technology lead by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kahar Osman
6. Cardiac Patch lead by Dr. Saravana Kumar Jaganathan
7. Stent Coating lead by Dr. Syafiqah Saidin
8. Ultrasound Phantom lead by Dr. Dyah Ekashanti Octorina Dewi
9. SMAMS – Smart Medical Assets Management System lead by Prof. Ir. Dr.-Ing. Eko Supriyanto
10. Transesophageal Echcardiography (TEE) Remote System lead by Prof. Ir. Dr.-Ing. Eko Supriyanto

Most of these products are already in the final technical optimization phase before going for the industrial, animal and clinical testing. Stent Technology which is led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kahar Osman for example is already doing  animal testing with collaboration from Japan, UKM and UiTM.

SMAMS which is led by Prof. Ir. Dr.-Ing. Eko Supriyanto is another example of a product that has received approval from the Ministry of Health (MOH) to conduct Small Scale Industrial Testing at a hospital. This project is now in collaboration with E Life Solutions Plt.

Meanwhile, the IJN-UTM Cardio Centre also welcome the Investment and Research Grants support for these products. Further arrangements can be made with the respective project leader.

Report by: Akmal Ayob

Photo by: Akmal Ayob & Burhan

Colombo, 9 September 2018 – UTM, in collaboration with National Institute of Business Management (NIBM) will offer its first engineering and Master programs abroad in Sri Lanka starting this year under Transnational Education initiatives.

UTM Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic and International), Prof. Ir.Dr. Zainuddin, stated in his speech that “UTM is proud to be associated with NIBM and would like to share our knowledge and expertise to spur the development of human capital in Sri Lanka.”

“Those programs are Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical – Mechatronic), Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical – Electronics), Master in Business Administration (MBA) and MSC (Information Security),” he said during the NBIM celebration of its Golden Jubilee on 7-9 September 2018 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

For the programs, the students will complete the first two years in Sri Lanka and another two years at UTM in Malaysia. Therefore, the students will have the opportunity to experience the learning environment at UTM and mixed around with other international students from more than 60 countries. UTM will provide all the necessary assistance to ensure the quality delivery of the programs.

There were a lot of activities being held such as IT Competition, Music and Dance, Fashion Show, Walk and International Education Exhibition. Hon. Patali Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, graced the ceremony by congratulating NIBM for its active roles in providing education and skills training in Sri Lanka.

Chairman of NIBM, Mr. Rohan Prithiviraj Perera, mentioned that there will be more innovative programs being introduced which also includes environmental sustainability.

Meanwhile, the Director General of NIBM, Dr. D.M.A Kulasooriya, welcomed all guests to the event. He thanked all staff and those who had contributed to NIBM success till today.

Other delegates from UTM and UTMSPACE who attended the ceremony were Prof.Ir.Dr.Mohd Azraai Kassim, Managing Director & CEO UTMSPACE, Angela Pok Wei Fun, Director of Strategy and TNE UTMSPACE, Assoc.Prof.Dr.Zaharuddin Mohamed, School of Engineering and Zulkifli Osman.

UTM also participated in the international education exhibition. During the ceremony, a memorandum between NIBM and UTM was signed to facilitate the partnership activities.

PM Dr Ahmad ‘Athif Mohd Faudzi from Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIRO) becomes finalist of CEO@Faculty Programme and will be attached at ERICSSON (MALAYSIA) SDN BHD starting September 2018.

CEO@Faculty Programme is an initiative under Malaysia Education Blueprint for Higher Education: Shift 2 “Talent Excellence”, which brings top CEOs with national and international credentials and industry players to partner up with Malaysia universities for knowledge and experience sharing.

For Cycle 2 CEO@Faculty Programme, five lecturers from UTM out of 53 finalists of lecturers from all Malaysian universities were selected as candidates to be mentored by the CEOs. Assoc Prof Ir Dr Ahmad ‘Athif Mohd Faudzi from CAIRO is among the finalist who will start his 6 months industrial attachment mentored by the CEO from September 2018 – February 2019.

Confratulations PM Dr Ahmad ‘Athif and we hope that this programme will give advantage to the students and the university community. By enhancing the knowledge transfer initiatives, the Ministry of Education hopes to bring the gap between private-public organizations closer and strengthen the industry-academia links.

JOHOR BAHRU – Mr. Lam Ming Quan, a PhD student under sponsorship of Yayasan Khazanah (YK), from Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia did his research internship twice at the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP), Department of Biology, University of York, United Kingdom (Nov – Dec 2017 & Jun – Jul 2018). His research is one of the main projects under an international collaboration: Newton Fund (UK-SEA-NUOF). As the main aim of the Newton Fund is to build the capacity and capabilities of Malaysians in terms of scientific research, Lam is supervised by experienced researchers from both universities: Dr. Chong Chun Shiong (main supervisor) & Assoc. Prof. Dr. Goh Kian Mau (co-supervisor) from UTM, and Prof. Neil C Bruce (external supervisor) from University of York, UK.

Photo 1: Mr. Lam Ming Quan did his research internship at University of York from Nov – Dec 2017 & Jun – Jul 2018.

The major objective of the research internship is to allow the student to have a different research experience at University of York, United Kingdom. Experiences such as culture and knowledge exchange, teamworking, problem solving skills and new facilities exploration were acquired by student.

The specific area of biological research that is explored by Mr. Lam in these research internships are: Multi-omics technology and bioinformatics. The use of latest technology in molecular biology: next generation sequencing (NGS) approach to sort out the microbial taxonomy and mining of new microbial products (enzymes & proteins) had been the centre of attention in the whole internship journey. Mr. Lam had chances to access world class facilities in laboratory which were introduced by host university to allow him to learn the operation of those facilities. Besides that, Mr. Lam also communicated with researchers from York to gain new insights and tips on high impact publication and lab management.

 

Photo 2: (up) Mr. Lam was doing lab work together with his supervisor Dr. Chong Chun Shiong; (down) Mr. Lam was learning bioinformatic data analyses under guidance of research associate, Dr. Nicola Oates. 

 

Throughout the research internship, Mr. Lam was able to bring back some new skills which will potentially benefit the University. Furthermore, the relationships built will allow more chances in terms of international collaboration in the near future.

Mr. Lam would like to express his gratitude to UTM, Yayasan Khazanah, Newton Fund, BBSRC Partnering Award and all the parties involved in these two research internships.

September 14, 2018 – Johor Bahru: The IJN-UTM Cardiovascular Engineering Centre (IJN-UTM Cardio Centre  welcomed a visit by members of the National Heart Institute (IJN) Board of Directors.

Among members present were Tengku Dato’ Seri Hasmuddin Tengku Othman, Raja Azlan Shah Raja Azwa, Mr. Akmal Arief Mohammed Fauzi, Mr. Abdul Rahman Haji Siraj and Mr. Mohd Mazuar Mohd Nooh. The welcome reception was led by Dr. Ahmad Zahran Md. Khudzari, Director of IJN-UTM Cardio Centre.

The visit started with product & poster showcase then followed with engagement session and slide presentation on the  achievement of the centre so far.

There were 10 products & posters showcased which are:

1. MyThrob – Smart Arrhythmia Screener lead by Dr. Hau Yuan Wen
2. Microneedle Insulin Delivery System lead by Prof. Dr. Ida Idayu Muhamad
3. Spiral Flow Induced Canula lead by Dr. Ahmad Zahran Md. Khudzari
4. Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) lead by Dr. Ahmad Zahran Md. Khudzari
5. Stent Technology lead by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kahar Osman
6. Cardiac Patch lead by Dr. Saravana Kumar Jaganathan
7. Stent Coating lead by Dr. Syafiqah Saidin
8. Ultrasound Phantom lead by Dr. Dyah Ekashanti Octorina Dewi
9. SMAMS – Smart Medical Assets Management System lead by Prof. Ir. Dr.-Ing. Eko Supriyanto
10. Transesophageal Echcardiography (TEE) Remote System lead by Prof. Ir. Dr.-Ing. Eko Supriyanto

Most of these products are already in the final technical optimization phase before going for the industrial, animal and clinical testing. Stent Technology which is led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kahar Osman for example is already doing  animal testing with collaboration from Japan, UKM and UiTM.

SMAMS which is led by Prof. Ir. Dr.-Ing. Eko Supriyanto is another example of a product that has received approval from the Ministry of Health (MOH) to conduct Small Scale Industrial Testing at a hospital. This project is now in collaboration with E Life Solutions Plt.

Meanwhile, the IJN-UTM Cardio Centre also welcome the Investment and Research Grants support for these products. Further arrangements can be made with the respective project leader.

Report by: Akmal Ayob

Photo by: Akmal Ayob & Burhan

UTM-Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (UTM-CIAM) has successfully concluded its third International Seminar on Mathematics in Industry (ISMI), in collaboration with another conference series by Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Indonesia i.e. the International Conference on Theoretical and Applied Statistics (ICTAS) at UTM Kuala Lumpur campus today. The event was closed by MYHIMS Solutions PLT Director, Professor Dr. Zainal Abdul Aziz and ITS Sekretaris, Dr. Agnes Tuti Rumiati.

This conference, ISMI-ICTAS 2018 has attracted more than 120 paper presentations, reporting the latest developments in a wide range of mathematical sciences applications in industries and other real applications. Participants include mathematical scientists, physicists, engineers and industrial practitioners from local and overseas. The three-day conference, held from 4^th to 6^thSeptember 2018, was officiated by UTM Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development), Professor Dr. Azlan Abdul Rahman. Also, present at the officiating ceremony was the Pro-Vice Chancellor of UTM Kuala Lumpur Campus, Professor Dr. Shamsul Sahibudin; UTM Faculty of Science Deputy Dean (Academic & Student Affairs), Dr. Fadhilah Yusof; Director of MYHIMS Solutions PLT, Professor Dr. Zainal Abdul Aziz; Director of UTM Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (UTM-CIAM) and Chair of ISMI-ICTAS 2018, Dr. Arifah Bahar and the co-chair of the conference, Dr. Santi Puteri Rahayu from ITS.

The International Seminar on Mathematics in Industry (ISMI) has established itself as an excellent platform for mathematical scientists and industry practitioners to share their experiences in handling real industrial problem through mathematical methods. The first ISMI was held in 2013, and another in 2017. Since then, closer ties between mathematical scientists and industry partners in Malaysia have been forged through various successful project collaborations. These external collaborations are significant not only for the sake of continuous excellence for higher education, but most importantly to produce graduates who are industry-ready to face challenges of the future. This year, UTM-CIAM, the main host of ISMI strengthens the tradition of conference excellence by joining forces with another conference series by Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Indonesia i.e. the International Conference on Theoretical and Applied Statistics (ICTAS), which gears towards areas of statistics and quantitative methods. This collaboration is a testament of strong cooperation between Malaysia and Indonesia institutions. The celebration of ITS 58th anniversary indicates a wealth of experience and establishment invaluable to both research institutions.

The theme of ISMI-ICTAS 2018 is STEM Harnesses 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) Challenges & Opportunities. This conference includes lectures, research paper presentations and a pre-conference workshop on Finite Difference Method. A special feature of this conference is the Malaysian Mathematics in Industry Workshop (MMIW2018).  This is a special engagement session where participants are given the opportunity to work on real industrial problems shared by industries using diverse mathematical approaches.

Among the delegates at ISMI-ICTAS 2018 are some of the world’s leading experts in the field: Professor Peter Grindrod, Director of the Oxford-Emirates Data Science Lab from the University of Oxford; Professor Dr. Nur Iriawan, from Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Indonesia; Professor Dr. Mohd Salmi Md. Noorani from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia; Dr. Dzaharudin Mansor from Microsoft Malaysia and Dr. Chan Tuck Leong from Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS).

ISMI-ICTAS18 is a collaborative effort between the main organiser, UTM Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (UTM-CIAM) with UTM Department of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty of Science; ITS Department of Statistics; ITS Department of Mathematics, Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (OCIAM) and Asia Pacific Consortium of Mathematics for Industry (APCMfI). The main sponsors for ISMI-ICTAS 2018 are Syarikat Perunding IRZI Sdn Bhd and IFactors Sdn Bhd, among others. This conference is managed by MYHIMS Solutions PLT.

 

 

 

UTM Kuala Lumpur specifically the Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics (RFTI) received a courtesy visit from Okayama University and Shinshu University, Japan. The delegates consisted of 4 academic and administrative staffs and 40 students from the two universities. This was the second official visit from the universities. Their first visit was 2 years ago in March 2016.

While the students were taken for a tour around the KL campus, a sharing session was held between the visiting academic delegates and the RFTI academic staff. The session started with sharing by Prof. Yoshihiko Inada and Prof. Masakazu Kita on a new master course of GraduateSschool of Education in Problem Based Learning (PBL) in Okayama University. Then, Prof. Yasushi Sakakibara and Ms. Masuo Haruko shared information on Shinshu University. Later, the session continued with the introduction to the newly synergized RFTI by Assoc.Prof. Dr. Nor Zairah Ab. Rahim; Assistant Dean of External Relations and Global, followed by a briefing on STEM initiatives in RFTI by Dr. Sathiabama T.Thirugnana, a Senior Lecturer from Engineering Department of RFTI. The discussion ended with the ideas on possible collaborations between the universities especially in STEM areas.

The session was also attended by Assoc. Prof Ir. Dr. Syuhaida Ismail and Dr. Nurul Huda Ahmad, active members of the RFTI STEM team.

28 August, Johor Bahru – In the midst of the upcoming Merdeka celebration, UTM Centre for Student Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship (UTM XCITE) had welcomely received a visit by a delegation from College of Islamic Studies (CSI), Prince of Songkla University (PSU), Pattani Campus, Thailand. Even though a journey from Pattani to Johor Bahru took around 16 hours, the 14-strong delegation which were led by Assit. Prof. Suthisak Duereh, Deputy Dean for Strategies and Organization Development, looked ecstatic when they arrived at UTM XCITE. The delegates were welcomed by Assoc. Prof. Dr Mohd Zaidi Abd Rozan, Director of UTM XCITE.

A.P. Dr Mohd Zaidi Abd Rozan had given a brief introduction about UTM XCITE to all the delegates. He also briefed them about activities organized by UTM XCITE for the past years and for the next few months. During the visit, a fruitful discussion between the delegation and UTM XCITE had also taken place. A range of issues including participation of students in entrepreneurial-related activities, entrepreneurial awareness among staff and students, and also entrepreneurial culture in UTM were also part of the meeting’s agenda. In his brief speech before the end of the visit, Assit. Prof. Suthisak Duereh thanked UTM XCITE for the willingness to receive the visit. He also stressed that this visit could open up the opportunity for UTM XCITE and CSI to engage in a profound relationship.

UTM XCITE looks forward to deepening further strategic collaboration with CSI PSU. UTM XCITE would like to take this opportunity to thank Prof Mohamad Hassan Osman from Azman Hashim International Business School (AHIBS), UTM Kuala Lumpur for arranging this visit.