Global partners

AS part of a new academic-industry partnership to develop new funding streams, University of Malaya (UM) is targeting RM230 million in value generation over five years as it partners with five global companies across diverse sectors to develop new technologies and products.
UM's Engineering Faculty, represented by the university's vice chancellor Tan Sri Prof Dr Mohd Amin Jalaludin exchanged the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently with the companies’ representatives to set up the engineering@UM – Industrial Innovation Centre (eUM-IIC), located on campus.
Chief operating offi cer, Ooi Cheng Suan represented Daikin Malaysia Sdn Bhd; Icelandic company, Össur by its Asia Pacifi c president, Arni Alvar Arason; and German corporation, Rohde & Schwarz Malaysia Sdn Bhd by head of sales & marketing, Aw Eng Soon.
Managing director of Penang Operations, Dr Hari Narayanan represented Motorola Solutions Malaysia, and Datuk Md Radzaif Mohamed, deputy chief executive officer for Proton Holdings Berhad.
An MoU was also exchanged with National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) of Taiwan, Medical Device Innovation Centre deputy director, Prof Rong-Fu Kuo, to set up a joint research centre for medical devices.
The ceremony was witnessed by Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh.
“Our target of RM230 million in value generation represents investments by these five companies, projected intellectual property and patents arising from the research & development (R&D) into sustainable and cutting-edge technologies, as well as the commercialisation of innovation and high-value products for local and international markets.
“These will help develop new funding streams for the university,” Mohd Amin said.
“The collaboration demonstrates UM's responsiveness towards the industry’s needs and commitment to developing the next generation of talent.
“The eUM-IIC allows companies to leverage our research capabilities and expertise, while empowering our students with first-hand, real-world experiences,” he added.