From left: Ow, Dr Yap, Prof Chuah, Sriman, Dr Lai, FEGT Department of Construction Management’s Dr Vignes a/l Ponniah and Dr Olenrewaju
UTAR and building performance analysis software company Integrated Environmental Solutions Limited (IES) exchanged a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at UTAR Kampar Campus on 18 April 2019.
Exchanging the signed MoU documents were UTAR President Ir Prof Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik and IES (Singapore) Head of ASIA Virtual Environment (VE) Sales and Senior Business Development Manager Sriman NCVK. Also present at the exchange ceremony were Enviroeye Engineering Limited Project Engineer Ow Ji John, UTAR Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology (FEGT) Dean Assoc Prof Dr Yap Vooi Voon, Faculty of Business and Finance Dean Dr Au Yong Hui Nee, Division of Community and International Networking Director Assoc Prof Dr Lai Soon Onn, FEGT Deputy Dean for Student Development and Industrial Training Dr Tan Kok Tat, FEGT Department of Construction Management Head Dr Olanrewaju AbdulLateef Ashola and other FEGT academics.
Delighted to have IES as UTAR’s latest MoU partner, Prof Chuah said that both UTAR and IES share the common goal in making the world a better place. He pointed that while IES uses technology to reduce the carbon emissions of buildings and cities worldwide, UTAR plays its role in providing affordable education to ultimately break the poverty cycle. “I’m glad that FEGT’s Department of Construction Management is initiating this collaboration so that our academic staff and students are able to learn and expose themselves to energy efficiency design for buildings, cities and so on. I also understand that IES has plenty of R&D professionals who keep their analytical tools current and innovative. Hopefully they could share their industrial knowledge with the students as well,” said Prof Chuah, who also mentioned that the Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science at UTAR Sungai Long Campus has recently incorporated the IES Virtual Environment (VE) software into its Architecture programme. “With such collaborations, we hope we can do more not only for the engineering field but also for the benefit of mankind as a whole,” he concluded.
Prof Chuah expressing his fervent hopes on the potential collaborations between FEGT and IES
Describing the exchange ceremony and collaboration with UTAR as a much-anticipated moment, Sriman thanked the FEGT academics for their effort and engagement. He also mentioned that UTAR’s “Responsibility in pursuit of excellence” mission embedded in the letter “R” of UTAR’s acronym resonates deeply with him. “We need to understand that a building doesn’t become green instantly upon construction. It requires continuous responsible pursuit in making it green and sustainable for a period of time,” explained Sriman. Also sharing the ongoing efforts by IES (Singapore) in engaging some constituencies in Penang to become green communities, Sriman also felt that university and school campuses are great platforms to convince Malaysians on the possibility for an entire community to go green. “Malaysia has close to 12 amazing campuses have lakes within and UTAR is certainly one of them. It would therefore be exciting to engage with them on the idea of creating smart campuses,” Sriman revealed, saying that UTAR is the second university in Malaysia to engage in this initiative.
The Senior Business Development Manager also announced that following IES’s recent launch of the “Intelligent Communities Lifecycle” (ICL) new software, he is therefore looking forward to working with universities by helping them to frame proposals for the funding of creating smart campuses. According to Sriman, with the 3D documentations, one will get to virtually see the campuses in 3D, control operations of the entire campus, as well as virtually place sensors which can detect temperature changes and public capacity.
Sriman explaining that the “C” in the ICL software also stands for community, city, campus, county and country as IES wants the software to be inclusive
The ceremony reached its highlight with the exchange of signed MoU documents and souvenirs exchange between Prof Chuah and Sriman.
Prof Chuah (left) and Sriman displaying the signed MoU documents
Prof Chuah and Sriman exchanging souvenirs
Prof Chuah (most right) explaining to Sriman the various milestones and achievements by UTAR since its inception in 2002 while Dr Lai (left) look on
From left: Dr Olanweraju, Dr Yap, Ow, Sriman and Dr Lai (most right) listening to Prof Chuah (second from right) shedding light on the 6,000-over-year-old fossilised timber displayed at the UTAR Gallery
Founded in 1994 by Dr Don McLean as a leading global innovator of sustainable analysis technology, IES is currently home to the world’s largest building analytics team supporting resource-efficient, sustainable and cost-effective built-environments through their uniquely developed software and technology known as the IES Virtual Environment (VE). The IES VE effectively simplifies the process of sustainable design analysis by providing a clear and unambiguous approach to analysis. Headquartered in Glasgow, UK, IES currently has offices operating in over 13 economies across Europe, North America, Asia, Middle East and Australia.
The MoU will form the foundation of joint research collaboration between both UTAR and IES such as applying for grants of building energy and even engage in knowledge on energy modeling. The MoU will also open doors for IES staff and researchers to serve as guest lecturers at UTAR as well as provide opportunities for UTAR students to have their industrial trainings with IES.
UTAR currently has over 330 MoU partners ranging from universities to corporations from more than 28 economies. These collaborative ties have been instrumental in catapulting the University to be a global university of educational excellence with transformative societal impact.
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