With the signed MoUs (from left to right): Dato’ Goh, Prof Ir Dr Lee, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Liow, Mr Zheng and Tan Sri Dato’ Lim Kuang Sia, Deputy President of Malaysia Teochew Chamber of Commerce.
Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Liow (third from right), together with Prof Ir Dr Lee (rightmost), Ms Leow (second from right), Assoc Prof Dr Loke (centre), Dr Poh (leftmost), and officials from TAR UMT and LipidGroup during the celebration of success for the Aurora Spray.
In conjunction with the recently held OCTF 2023 (Malaysia) Intelligent Technology Exhibition from 16 to 18 June 2023 at World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur, TAR UMT signed three Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with Malaysia Teochew Chamber of Commerce, Teochew International Economic Corporation Organization (TIECO) and Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Think Tank Research Institute.
With the formalities completed, TAR UMT can now work and collaborate with the three organisations on academic-entrepreneurial related projects, student and staff engagements, sharing of academic knowledge and best practices, joint academic and student-related activities such as research projects, publications, joint conferences/ seminars/ workshops or exhibitions and any other collaborative activities that meet the objectives of the collaboration.
Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai, Chairman of the Board of Governors of TAR UMT, reiterated the importance of the three MoUs especially to TAR UMT students and staff. “These MoUs have provided us with an important platform to connect with professionals, manufacturers and entrepreneurs from China where we can explore and discover the latest innovations in smart technology together. Such collaboration will provide ample opportunities for TAR UMT students and staff to work together with top smart technology companies with the aim to expand our network and open up new market opportunities,” he said.
Dato’ Goh Wan Sing, Chairman of TIECO, shared his vision for the collaboration with TAR UMT. “Through this collaboration, many more industries will gain access to students’ works and projects and these exchanges will spur more innovative ideas to develop. Students will also have more opportunities for international engagements, especially with industry leaders in China, and this will enhance students’ competitive advantage,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Mr Zheng Han Ming, Chairman of Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Think Tank Research Institute detailed how these collaborations will benefit TAR UMT. “These collaborations are good stepping stones for TAR UMT to further strengthen its position in technology, particularly Industry 4.0. Shenzhen is a technology innovation city and these collaborations are a pathway for TAR UMT to tap into the futuristic technology and resources that Shenzhen can offer,” he detailed.
In addition to this, the ceremony also witnessed the celebration of TAR UMT’s successful research commercialisation with industry partner, LipidGroup Sdn Bhd for the Aurora Spray, a commercial outcome following the research on colloidal silver by TAR UMT researchers, Assoc Prof Dr Loke Chui Fung, Vice President of TAR UMT and Dr Poh Tze Ven, Principal Lecturer from the Faculty of Computing and Information Technology (FOCS) that began in 2011.
Ms Leow Min Min, Chairman of LipidGroup Sdn Bhd in her speech said: “We started selling the product three years ago and the response has been very encouraging. Aurora Spray is available in more than 500 stores nationwide and as well as other countries in the region. Our collaboration with TAR UMT is definitely a starting point to allow more science and technology-based products to be discovered and commercialised, which will bring benefits to consumers.”
Prof Ir Dr Lee Sze Wei, President of TAR UMT shared how TAR UMT will move forward following this successful project. “TAR UMT will continue to assist and take an active role in facilitating the translation of its intellectual capital into business. This is not only for TAR UMT’s self-sustainability but also to encourage our academic researchers and student entrepreneurs to work hard towards the goal of nurturing a knowledge-based economy, fostering an innovative and technological culture within the communities in the region, as well as creating a healthy ecosystem for technological entrepreneurship and start-ups within our campus,” he said.
