Unimas ready to market ITEX-winning inventions
KUCHING: The Universiti Malaysia Sarawak ( Unimas) is now ready to speak to industry partners about bringing their inventions to the market, following its feat of bringing home one gold and nine silver medals from the 28th International Invention, Innovation and Technology Exhibition ( ITEX) 2017.
Unimas vice- chancellor Prof Dato Mohamad Kadim Suaidi said the university stood out among 560 other participants whose inventions were on display at ITEX 2017, which took place at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from May 11 to 13.
“I would like to assure all that both research and innovation are relevant to the country’s needs. All our 10 products here can be commercialised. We are actively seeking industry partners to bring them to the market,” he told reporters during a press conference held at the University House on Campus yesterday, where Unimas deputy vice- chancellor ( research and innovation) Prof Kopli Bujang, deputy vice- chancellor (academic and international) Prof Wan Hashim Wan Ibrahim, and Unimas Innovations director Prof Lo May Chiun.
Unimas showcased a total of
I would like to assure all that both research and innovation are relevant to the country’s needs. All our 10 products here can be commercialised. We are actively seeking industry partners to bring them to the market. Prof Dato Mohamad Kadim Suaidi, Unimas vice-chancellor
10 inventions across various research fields – all of which picked up medals.
The gold medal winner was Dr Lau Sei Ping’s ‘Solar-Powered Adaptive Street Lighting with Energy-Neutral and Predictive Behaviour’. It is designed with the capability to maintain the functions of street lighting even with a limited energy budget.
It also allows smaller solarpowered streetlight system to be used, making it more affordable for rural settings.
The silver medallists were the ‘ Night- Cooled Water for Radiant Modular Radiant Cooling Prototype in Malaysian Buildings’ – an innovation led by Assoc Prof Dr Azhaili Baharun; the ‘Culture of Alien Freshwater Lobster (Cherax quadricarinatus) in Malaysia’ led by Assoc Prof Dr Khairul Adha A Rahim; and ‘ Production of Bacteriocin from Sago Starch in Continuous Mode’ led by Assoc Prof Dr Cirilo Nolasco Hipolito.
Associate Professor Dr Even Lau oversaw the ‘Impact of Carbon Dioxide ( CO2), Hydroelectricity Consumption on Growth in Malaysia’; Dr Mohamad Nazim Jambli on ‘ Effective Selection of Next Hop Node Based on Mobility Prediction for Habitat Monitoring in MASNETs’; Dr Jacey Lynn Minoi on ‘ ProColony: Automatic Colony Counting On-the- Go’; Dr Tan Cheng Siang on ‘Accelerating Antimicrobial Susceptibility Test via Mobile Apps (m-AST)’; Dr Stephanie Chua Hui Li on ‘ Localisation of Scratch Programming Environment in Rapsberry Pi’; and Chuah Kee Man and Radina Mohamad Deli on ‘ LexiVibe: Virtual Realitybased Vocabulary Learning Environment for VisuallyImpaired Children’.
ITEX 2017 was run by the Malaysian Invention and Design Society ( MINDS) and supported by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Ministry of Higher Education, and also Ministry of Education.
It attracts creations from major inventors and innovators, academics, research institutions and young entrepreneurs, as well as students from primary and secondary schools – all of whom share a common goal that invention is the primary source that propels the world’s technology and new orders of wealth creation.
This outstanding achievement has given Unimas researchers more encouragement and motivation to be diligent in the research and innovation ecosystem.