Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA) continues to earn recognition on the global stage by empowering research in sustainable development and green technology.
It is also focusing on Advanced Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) or Advanced TVET.
UMPSA vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Ts Dr Yuserrie Zainuddin said this is in line with the aim to provide education, research and high-level (advanced) technology services which are driven together with the community through a social entrepreneurship ecosystem.
He said UMPSA, which turns 22 this year, has always effectively nurtured talents, as well as educated and created opportunities for its students and staff to further develop their potential.
"The university has spearheaded efforts to lead the latest initiatives in the industry research field and embarked on providing services to the industry and community based on niche areas of expertise.
"The aim of innovation with industry collaboration is to allow the technical expertise of UMPSA and industry to execute knowledge, and technical transfer through both ways.
"It will help build a knowledge-based economy whereby mastery will help create products and services. In the long run, it will produce a knowledge society, which has the ability to generate and share skills in further improving human life.
"In line with UMPSA Strategic Plan 2021-2025, providing technical training, executing collaborations, as well as upgrading technical abilities and product development that utilises both the university's and industry's technical expertise will help boost the reciprocity between UMPSA and the industry players," he said.
Yuserrie said collaboration with the industry will be enhanced to improve the industry's technical capabilities by using the expertise and technology possessed by academic staff at UMPSA.
Specifically, UMPSA focuses its research via seven Centres of Excellence (CoEs) that cover automotive, chemical engineering, advanced materials, artificial intelligence, critical minerals, advanced processing technologies and agri-technologies.
"The increase in technical capability can be witnessed when the industry chooses to move from the existing technology to the ones transferred from UMPSA's expertise and benefits from it. This is achieved by mobilising two key performance indicators which are community technology oriented upgrading projects by UMPSA and industry matching grants secured by academicians."
Yuserrie hopes that, at some point in the future, there will be UMPSA staff or alumni recognised at the global stage through prestigious awards such as the Nobel Prize, saying this is within reach.
HIGH-IMPACT Publications
UMPSA will strive to maintain its momentum in the fields of quality teaching and learning along with research and high-impact publications in SCOPUS/WoS/ERA/MyCite indexed journals produced by its academicians.
Yuserrie said to meet the aspiration, the university will increase strategic collaborations with various industry players and other universities, both locally and abroad.
"UMPSA always aims to produce globally competitive and competent graduates with sustainability characters to become responsible citizens upon graduation. The graduates will be highly skilled, possess quality, be trustworthy and with integrity," he said, inviting prospective students and researchers to join the university to share the vision for a sustainable future.
Startup companies
"The entrepreneurial mindset and the production of research intellectual property will be a catalyst for the development of start-up companies and downstream companies that will not only contribute to the development of the country's engineering and technical industry, but create more job opportunities for UMPSA graduates and other institutions," he said.
He said introducing the start-ups is part of the UMPSA Strategic Plan 2021-2025 and to date, the campus has established four start-up companies for product commercialisation and academician expertise. These include:
The Microbiome Lab (TML)
A startup founded by UMPSA lecturer Ts. Dr. Hajar Fauzan Ahmad, The Microbiome Lab (TML) paves the way for microbial genome detection and functional analysis adopting next generation sequencing (NGS) technology.
TML combines high-precision short-read sequencing (Illumina) with long-read sequencing (Nanopore) for structural analysis of complex genomes.
On the global stages, TML collaborates with the KWEF Foundation, and Shiga University, and companies such as futureNRG, Quality Nature, and RadiCare in clinical waste management, along with Wipro Winnox, FGV, and B-crobes in probiotic discovery.
In Malaysia, TML has ties with the Department of Environment and the Health Ministry in the study of rare microbial infections and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), apart from indoor air microbiome research with National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.
Edgify Solutions Sdn. Bhd.
Founded by UMPSA lecturer Ts. Dr. Syafiq Fauzi Kamarulzaman, the startup is involved in the development of smart systems based on edge computing technology which integrates intelligence in smart city systems, smart agriculture and smart manufacturing.
Their services include consulting, system development and analysis involving artificial intelligence and the internet of things. The startup collaborates with several companies including the Agriculture and Food Security ministry to curb the wild elephant encroachment in Johor.
Laras Mekanika Sdn. Bhd.
UMPSA lecturer Ir. Dr. Fadhlur Rahman founded the startup in the field of engineering equipment design, modeling, and analysis, with focus on advanced ultrasonic equipment, digital plan and mechanical controls.
The company specialises in system integration solutions, automation, providing comprehensive solutions to improve technology performance and reliability. Adopting Finite Element Analysis (FEA) as its core strength, the startup evaluates and optimises structural, and system integrity in meeting industry standard specifications.
Pretech Global Sdn Bhd
An innovative start-up company founded by Dr. Noormazlinah Ahmad focusing on sustainable agriculture, bio-products and green technologies for sustainable waste management.
The company's product, Prepecto, is a prebiotic organic liquid fertiliser designed to improve soil health and plant growth by stimulating beneficial microorganisms through natural enzymatic processes. The company has teamed up with several companies and institutions abroad, including Agrico in Qatar, Indonesia, Kuwait and Oman.
Anugerah Cendekia Bitara (ACB)
UMPSA recognised 81 Anugerah Cendekia Bitara and seven University Academic Award (AAU) recipients for the Teaching award(Engineering Category), University E-Learning Award and UMPSA Micro Credentials Award during the ACB 2023 with the theme 'Inspiring Skyward Achievements'.
The ceremony was opened by UMPSA Pro Chancellor Tan Sri Abi Musa Asaari Mohamed Nor yesterday at the Grand Darul Makmur Hotel.
A total of 141 awards were presented to UMPSA researchers who demonstrated excellence in the fields of publishing, research, innovation, commercial, teaching and learning.