Selamat Sejahtera

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), representing Malaysia, has won the 1^st runner-up in the ABU Asia-Pacific Robot Contest (ROBOCON) 2017 which was held at Tokyo, Japan from 26-27 August 2017.

A multi-disciplinary UTM team consists of thirty-five undergraduate students from four different faculties, i.e. Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FKE-24), Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FKM-6), Faculty of Computing (FC-4) and Faculty of Education (FP-1). The team manager is Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd Ridzuan bin Ahmad from FKE.

Founded in 2002, ABU ROBOCON, an annual robotic competition, aims to be a platform for developing autonomous robots to help humans (residential and industrial) in their daily life.

The theme of the ABU ROBOCON competition is changing and set by the host country. A total of 19 teams from 18 countries were competing in the competition.

The theme for this year’s event is ‘The Landing Disk’ introduced by host country Japan. Each team has to build one robot.

The theme revolves around the word “asobi” (play), which is also a fundamental philosophy behind ROBOCON. In “asobi,” playful, unique, original show of skills is often more important than winning or losing, as everyone – friend and foe alike – can applaud and enjoy them. So, in the “asobi” spirit: playful, unique, original robot designs and strategies are given the main priority.

Each game will be conducted between two teams, each with one (1) robot. The game field is a rectangle divided into two sides for each team. Each side consists of a Start Zone, Throwing Area, and Loading Zone. On the field are seven (7) spots consisting of a circular table attached to a column with varying heights and areas.

Of the seven (7) spots, five (5) are placed along the center line dividing the sides, while the remaining two (2) are placed near to each side. At the start of the game, a beach ball rests on the center of all the spots. The number of discs a team can use during the game shall be fifty (50) placed at the Loading Area.

After the start of the game, the team may load discs onto its robot when the robot reaches the Loading Area. The robots of both teams may throw discs at any ball on any spot to knock the balls off the spots. Scores will be counted when a team’s disc lands on a spot where its ball has been knocked off.

When all the balls have been knocked off of their spot and a team successfully lands its discs on all the spots, that team reaches “APPARE!”, and is declared the winner of the game.

If neither team reaches “APPARE!”, and either both use up the fifty (50) discs or the game time of three (3) minutes passes, the game shall end. The winner will be decided by who has the higher score at the said end of the game.

Malaysia team beat several strong teams during the tournament. In the group stage, Malaysia team beat Korean and Iranian teams. In the quarterfinal, Malaysia team beat Japan team represented by University of Tokyo. While in the semifinal, Malaysia team beat Thailand team. 

In the final match, there were between Malaysia or Vietnam to fight for the victory. Malaysia team ended with the 1^st runner-up.

In all of the winning matches, Malaysia team successfully completed the task, also known as “APPARE”. Malaysia team shows that the quality of UTM’s students is recognized at the international level.

PUTRAJAYA, 5 January 2017 – Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Aliran Ihsan Resources Berhad (AIR Berhad), a subsidiary of MMC Corporation Berhad (MMC) will explore possible business relationship and opportunities concerning the advanced membrane technology solutions for water and wastewater treatment.

The partnership was finalized with signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between both parties in which UTM will be represented by the Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC) in this collaboration.

AIR Berhad was represented by its Director, Dato’ Sri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh, Director of AIR Berhad and the Chief Executive Officer, Adam Saffian Ghazali while Professor Datuk Ir. Dr. Wahid bin Omar, Vice Chancellor of UTM and Professor Dr. Ahmad Fauzi Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) of UTM signed on behalf of AMTEC.

The signing was held at the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water’s (KeTTHA) office in Putrajaya and witnessed by Dato’ Seri Ir Dr Zaini Ujang, Secretary General of KeTTHA.

AIR Berhad recently introduced its first ‘Industrial Wastewater Recovery Plant’ using Reverse Osmosis (RO) Membrane Technology for its client in Senawang, Negeri Sembilan.

The plant was successfully commissioned and completed on 31 October 2016 and has started operation since 1 November 2016.

The project offers client a cost saving by replacing fresh water purchasing with sustainable water supply which simultaneously resolves water service interruption from the water authority, allowing customers to have better business focus.

The recovery plant can also serve various industries depending on the quality of the wastewater effluent.

This partnership is expected to bring more opportunities to resolve the problem of water supply faced by most regions of the country.

At the same time the industry can utilized the expertise of local researchers to develop local technology. This is in line with government objectives to develop more homegrown technology as preparation for our country towards a developed country.

JOHOR BAHRU, 14 January 2017 – Every January students and faculty from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) join in a two-week Practicum in Malaysia.

Executive Director of Institute Sultan Iskandar (ISI), UTM Professor Dr. Mohd. Hamdan Ahmad, said for this year, the practicum begins on the 11th January with arrival of 17 delegates from MIT and will end on 23rd January 2017.

“MIT-UTM students-faculty team assisted by the eight current Malaysia Sustainable Cities Program (MSCP) Scholars have an intensive schedules visiting site and meeting various stakeholders; public agencies, NGOs, private organizations and community leaders and action groups to identify questions and form research agendas that might be the subject of scholarly inquiries by next batch of MSCP Scholars,” he said.

The cities involved this year are Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kuching and new interest on Cameron Highlands.

Another highlight of the Practicum is the presentation by current MSCP Scholars on their updated research finding held on 13th January in UTMKL.

Related news; http://news.utm.my/2014/01/mit-utm-sustainable-cities-program/

https://malaysiacities.mit.edu/

JOHOR BAHRU, 18 January 2017 – Senior lecturer from the Faculty of Geoinformation and Real Estate Dr. Muhammad Najib Razali has been appointed as board member of the Pacific Rim Real Estate Society (PRRES) which is based in Sydney, Australia.

He received his letter of appointment at the 23rd Annual PRRES Conference in Sydney on 15 January 2017.

PRRES was established in 1993 to provide a formal focus for property researchers, educators and practitioners in the Pacific-Rim Region. PRRES now has members from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Korea as well as members from around the globe.

Dr. Najib has a PhD in property economics and finance from Western Sydney University, Australia.

He has also been a member of the European Real Estate Society, Asian Real Estate Society and Royal Institution Chartered Surveyors.

PONTIAN, January 14, 2017 – A group of researchers from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) led by Prof. Dr. Abdul Rahim Mohd Yusoff has successfully developed the Molluscure™ system to help fishermen get rid of heavy metals in various types of shells.

Molluscure ™ is a system that is designed to remove toxic metals from various species of shell such as clams, mussels, and oysters to meet the standards of metal contents that are allowed by the European Union (EU) Commission Regulation 2006 and the Food Act 1985.

Prof. Dr. Abdul Rahim said the system was introduced to eliminate up to 98 percent of heavy metals such as lead, copper, nickel, and arsenic cadmium using Nano bubbles.

“The prototype system can be used to clean up 700 kilograms of clams in just two and a half hours,” he said when met at the launch by the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Datuk Ahmad Maslan at Air Baloi Fishermen’s Market this morning.

Also attending the event were the Chairman of the Committee on Tourism, Trade and Consumer Affairs of Johor, Datuk Tee Siew Kong and Director of UTM Innovation and Commercialization Center (ICC), Prof. Dr Amran Md Rasli.

Prof. Dr. Abdul Rahim said the Molluscure ™ system has been patented and licensed for commercialization by Focus Industrial System Sdn. Bhd.

The members of the research team were Prof. Dr. Wan Azelee Wan Abu Bakar, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Razali Ismail, Dr. Faizuan Abdullah and Ihsan Wan Azelee.

The system began with a study of the Research University Grant (Tier 1), led by Prof. Dr. Abdull Rahim entitled “Sustainability Factors for Spawning and Growth of the Green Mussel at Danga-Pendas Straits” in 2011.

Then, this study continued under Research University Grant (Tier 2), entitled “Enhancement of Lysosomal Integrity for Heavy Metals Removal in Green Mussel Using nano bubble Treatment”.

This research won a gold medal and the title of “Interactive Invention Award” at the Industrial Art and Technology Expo (INATEX) 2012 organized by the Research Management Centre (RMC), UTM and Malaysia Technology Expo (MTE) in 2013 organized by the Malaysian Association of Research Scientist (MARS ).

In 2014, Dr. Faizuan who was then a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Abdull Rahim was selected to participate in the “pitching” competition organized by the ICCUTM. In the programme, ICCUTM agreed to sponsor a total of RM50, 000.00 to develop a prototype for the Molluscure ™ system.

The prototype built was fully utilized to conduct a joint study with the Fisheries Research Centre (FRI), an agency under the Department of Fisheries Malaysia.

In early 2016, the Molluscure ™ system was awarded a grant called the High Impact Program 2 (HIP2) Concept to Commercialization Gap Fund (CCGF) under the sponsorship of Platcom Ventures Sdn. Bhd. the company under the Malaysian Innovation Agency (AIM).

This grants was given with the intention of developing the Molluscure ™ system on an industrial scale with the collaboration with Focus Industrial System Sdn. Bhd.

Molluscure ™ has also been selected to be one of the projects under the Strategic Studies Institute of Johor (IISJ) to be introduced to shellfish breeders in Mukim Ayer Baloi, Pontian, Johor.

The goal is to reveal this technology to target groups of fishermen farming species of molluscs, especially mussels, which have a very broad market potential.

Kuala Lumpur, 17^th January – The 1^st Asia Technological Universities Network (ATU-Net) Board Meeting was held at LPU Meeting Room, Menara Razak, UTM Kuala Lumpur.

The meeting was attended by representatives from 11 universities from eight countries and chaired by Datuk Prof Dr Wahid Omar, Vice Chancellor UTM.

Among the attendees were university presidents, vice chancellors and deans of International Offices from 11 founding members including UTM as the chairman, HITEC University, Pakistan; King Mongkut’s Univesity of Technology of Thonburi, Thailand; Universiti Teknologi Brunei; Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology, Philippines; Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia; Seoul National University of Science and Technology (SeoulTech), South Korea; Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand; Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan; Universiti Malaysia Perlis and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia.

The one-day meeting started with a pre-meeting workshop to discuss issues of governance and membership, followed by the board meeting discussing proposed activities and other matters. Prior to the meeting, a welcoming dinner was organized on 16on 16^th January 2017 to welcome all participating members.

ATU-Net was launched on 9^th August 2016 during the 8^th University Presidents Forum at UTM Johor Bahru with the objectives to provide opportunities for capacity-building, student and staff mobility, joint teaching, and research collaboration among technological universities in Asia.

The network will also provide member universities with opportunities to share best practices in producing innovative and entrepreneurial graduates in sustainable environmentsustainable environment

Kuala Lumpur, 19th January 2017 :- Malaysia and Switzerland are teaming up via an inaugural business innovation program catered to upgrade and boost innovation, commercialisation and internationalisation of Malaysian business ideas to greater heights.

The Swiss Innovation Challenge 2017, a prestigious collaboration between Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) International Business School and University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), and strongly supported by the Federal Commission of Technology and Innovation of the Switzerland government as well as the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia, is a project encompassing coaching and mentoring of 100 potential businesses aiming to go global with their business ideas and innovations.

An eight-month long stint, this project will work on the basis of comprehensive knowledge, innovation and experience transfer from Switzerland to Malaysia, involving multiple collaborations between various parties, particularly from the Swiss-Malaysian industries, mentoring by prominent business leaders, networking sessions with selected industries, engagement in business forums, as well as private, tailored coaching to participants.

The MoA signing on this project witnessed the Switzerland Ambassador as well as the MOSTI Minister gracing the ceremony on the 1^st November 2016.

The Grand Kick-Off, launching of the Challenge, which took place earlier today, in UTM Kuala Lumpur, where again, both the Minister and the Ambassador represented Malaysia and Switzerland. An overwhelming response was received for participations, from all over the country, as well as from other nations, and the 100 most innovative and potential business ideas were selected.

The Grand Kick-Off will witness participants from all over the nation, various parties from the Swiss Malaysian Business Association, and the industry, researchers and students, to gather in UTM Kuala Lumpur to join the Kick-Off.

For the next months that follow, the Challenge will monitor the performances of each business (team) and by end of July, 25 teams will be selected for the final business pitch and internationalisation of their projects.

A CSR project by both nations, the Challenge seeks to obtain financial and moral support from various organisations and industries throughout Malaysia.

The SIC Asia (Malaysia) Team plans to turn the Challenge into a ‘reality show’ in 2018, and is seeking for potential collaborators to make this happen

28 Jan 2016, Johor Bahru  – UTM Language Academy organised a free market event today at Pusat Komuniti Kg. Pasir. People do not need to pay anything and they can take any of the new and preloved items that they need from the event. This might be a new concept to some but the team hope that this event will encourage the habit of giving.

The objective of this community event is to highlight the importance of kindness. Kindness from both the giver and the receiver. For the giver, instead of throwing things away and hurting the environment, it would be kinder to give them away to those who are less fortunate to reuse the items. They also have to make sure that they only donate items that are in good condition. For the receiver, kindness needs to be exercised in the sense of politeness and consideration for others. Although they can take whatever they want, they also need to refrain from taking things just for the sake of taking.