UTAR President Ir Prof Dato’ Dr Ewe Hong Tat, a Fellow of the Academy of Engineering and Technology of the Developing World (AETDEW) and President of ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology (AAET), visited Xiaomi Corporation on 1 November 2023, in Beijing, China. Prof Dato’ Ewe was accompanied by Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology (FEGT) Dean Ir Prof Dr Ng Choon Aun and AETDEW Fellow Mr Xie Ou.

The team was greeted by the Xiaomi Team at Xiaomi Corporation and had a friendly conversation with Xiaomi Corporation Secretary-General of Technical Committee Mr Zhou Yujia. Prof Dato’ Ewe also had the opportunity to introduce UTAR and AAET, their mission, and the efforts made by UTAR in supporting social and technical education in Malaysia.

At the discussion, Secretary-General Zhou first introduced the role of the Technical Committee in Xiaomi. He explained that the Technical Committee is a unique management department within the corporation that oversees the development of technical systems, and it consists of more than 1,000 staff. Further elaboration by Secretary-General Zhou enlightened the UTAR delegates on Xiaomi’s laboratory products; covering the original idea of the lab products, and the implementation of functions and the design details.

Later, Director of Xiaomi Mr Yong, introduced the history and development of Xiaomi, and its current market share. According to him, Malaysia has always been one of Xiaomi’s largest overseas markets. He also discussed the concept and planning of Xiaomi Education, including the cooperation with domestic universities, and academic activities, for instance, the competitions organised by Xiaomi for college students. Both parties then discussed potential collaborations between Xiaomi and UTAR. The end of the visit was marked with a tour around Xiaomi’s product exhibition hall and smart home experience centre, accompanied by Director Yong.