Prof Lee during the interview
Since UTAR’s establishment in 2002, every step taken has been a process of
learning and growing that has brought forth improvement in various area.
UTAR received its first ranking of #111-120 by the Times Higher Education (THE) Asia
University Rankings 2017. UTAR was ranked #101-150 in the THE Young
University Rankings 2017 and ranked=14 in the THE Young
University Rankings 2017: Millennial universities. The THE ranking
is merely a reflection on the year of 2016, but to a greater extent it
serves as a benchmark for UTAR to strive for excellence in the area of
publication and citations.
The multiple attention-grabbing headlines on our staff and students’
achievements, especially in the realm of R&D and Commercialisation,
reinforce the University’s commitment towards excellence in teaching and
research. Apart from that, there are many other things to be considered as a
measure of the effectiveness of a university such as the relevance of a
university to an industry. Thus, producing a research that contributes to a
greater impact for the society is far more crucial than obtaining a ranking.
It is agreeable that the attributes of a well-rounded research should focus
on the outcome which benefits the society or that brings socio-economic
impact in which to address the social issues. It has to incorporate a
technology for improvement and a system for the implication that can be used
by the society. In other words, a good research emphasise on the impact and
benefits it would reap for the society. At the same time, the research that
is carried out should also be related to the Malaysian context so that
citizens would benefit from the research outcome.
Considering this, UTAR has achieved rapid growth over the years and has
engaged in many projects and researches that are beneficial for the
Malaysian society. For example, the research on the smart grid and solar
energy, improve the usage of solar panels to generate electricity and to fit
that into the national grid system. It also stores the energy during the day
for night usage.
Another example is the project that made use of the waste of oil palm mills.
The fibres ‘empty fruit bunch’ “EFB” waste from the mill can be reprocessed,
therefore research was done to look into the application of the waste and
the problems the industry will face when they convert the fruit bunch into
fibre for the mattress. There is high demand for fibres in Malaysia, but due
to the decreasing amount of coconut husk to supply these fibres, people have
resolved to use palm tree as an alternative. However the processing practice
has a lot of issues that need to be dealt with, such as its pungent smell
and colour. Therefore, researchers from UTAR were invited to work together
with several companies to solve these problems. UTAR strongly believes that
further steps should be taken to explore on how the findings and output of
this project can be applied in real life. Hence, UTAR continues to work
closely with the industry to serve the society, also to expand the industry
in Malaysia through constant dialogues, discussions and match-making with
external parties. UTAR also aims to help the industry to penetrate into the
international market, meanwhile improve the economy of the country.
R&D projects, research funding, collaborations in R&D, University research
centres, consultancies and awards represent the research portfolio of a
university and it can alleviate the university’s ranking. Therefore, it is
advisable that all universities and organisations stress on the importance
of Research and Development (R&D). This is because R&D enables a university
to strive on to become an expert in related fields and explore different
areas to gain knowledge and then transfer this knowledge to the students. In
order to achieve such reputation, UTAR has been working closely with the
industry to conduct research and innovation as well as publication.
UTAR has taken several initiatives to encourage more research and
publication among the academics. One of the areas that was delve into
would be the linkage between a university and an industry and it has
become a challenge that all researcher’s need to realise. Thus, it is vital
to encourage the researchers to conduct impactful and effective research for
the society with the collaboration of the industry especially in getting
research funding. Vice President for R&D and Commercialization Prof Ir Dr
Lee Sze Wei said, “It is definitely not an easy task to handle however with
the current economy landscape and fluctuated expectation, the chances of
obtaining research fund would be higher if the research has greater impact
to the socioeconomic development of Malaysia and relevant to the Malaysian
industry. There are also incentives and schemes for the researchers/staff
such as the research fund top up scheme to boost them up. “As researchers,
we are very used to writing pure research papers and producing post
graduates but it is insufficient for any university as we need to conduct
research that has relevance and applicable in the Malaysian context.”
When asked about the future outlook of research, Prof Lee said, “We would
continue to make UTAR’s research more relevant to the industry, nation and
society and at the same time we will ensure that the research done in UTAR
are cost effective. In any given area, it has become more competitive and
resource funding is getting limited, thus, it is important that a research
should be cost effective besides being able to solve problems. You don’t
need a huge amount to conduct a research as there are many research that can
be completed using cost effective ways.”
“We are having a situation where undergraduates are lacking the awareness of
research and not many are keen to pursue their post grad study by research.
We are trying to enhance their awareness as we strongly believe that
undergraduate degree alone would not be enough for the students to enter an
industry that has high value added roles. Take initiatives to acquire more
skills during your tertiary studies to be able to take on high value added
jobs,” said Prof Lee when asked about his advice for the younger generation.
According to Prof Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng, “This research project [referring to
the research on the smart grid and solar energy] is also funded by the local
as well as the international funding agents due to its potential of bringing
significant, financial and environmental benefits to the society. Through
several funding schemes, we were able to construct a realistic energy
storage system. The performance of the system is further improved through
the international collaboration with one of the most leading researchers at
the UK University. In addition, this project has received much attention
from the utility company, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), due to the potential
improvement of this project on their networks.”
Prof Lim said, “The international ranking of the university will be improved
because of the publication of high-impact international journals from this
project, an international collaboration through acknowledgement of the local
and international funding agents, as well as the graduation of many
postgraduate students. The ranking can be further improved if this project
is commercialized for the benefits of the society and the utility
companies.”
Over the years, UTAR has done remarkable research that has gained
Intellectual Property (IP) status from the beginning of 2011. For instance,
under the Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science, Dr Low Kaw Sai,
Dr Tiong Ngee Heng and Dr Ng Soon Ching obtained the patent for their
invention of membrane encased lightweight concrete or mortar panel and block
on April 2016. Their invention also won them a silver medal and Malaysian
Innovative Product Award at the ITEX 2011.
Another research that gained IP status is the Copper-Mixed Ligand Complexes
with Anticancer Properties by Dr Ng Chew Hee, Dr Munirah Ahmad and Dr Alan
Khoo Soo Beng. They collaborated with the Institute of Medical Research
Malaysia (IMR). The invention relates to the application of copper (II) -
polypyridyl complexes with anticancer properties by generation of reactive
oxygen species, proteasome targeting, topoisomerase inhibition and DNA
damage.
In order to provide a comprehensive overview of UTAR’s R&D to our
stakeholders which include the industries, governmental agencies,
international and local partners, current and prospective students and other
interested parties, UTAR will continually put in immense effort and strive
towards R&D Excellence.
Wholly owned by UTAR Education Foundation (200201010564(578227-M)) LEGAL STATEMENT TERM OF USAGE PRIVACY NOTICE