MAI hopeful more will take up fully-sponsored post-grad slots
KUCHING: Malaysia Automotive Institute ( MAI) offers 20 fully-sponsored Master’s programme slots each year worth RM3 million under the MAI- Swinburne University of Technology Scholarship Research Awards.
MAI chief executive officer Dato Mohamad Madani Sahari said the scholarships are part of the Masters by Research Programme in conjunction with the collaborative research partnership between MAI and the university that was formalised in 2016.
“As part of the scholarship, students must be agreeable to the topics chosen. The topics are relevant to industry players, as a mechanism to resolve problems in the automotive industry,” he said on Monday in a press conference after visiting the Transport Innovation Centre ( TIC) at Swinburne Sarawak Campus, here yesterday.
The TIC, based at Swinburne’s Melbourne campus with a node at Swinburne Sarawak, carries out original research to find innovative solutions to transportation, auto and manufacturing industry, and human mobility challenges.
“It has been over a year that we have started TIC and despite offering 20 fully sponsored Master’s programme for the first year, we managed to get seven students. We are hoping that we are able to get more students next year from January,” said Mohamad Madani.
He added that of the seven sponsored students in the first year, five were from Sarawak and two from the peninsula.
For the past 12 months, he said there has been some very encouraging progress and some of the initial parts of the studies will be able to benefit the industry.
The event yesterday saw two presentations made involving brake pedals for motorcycles and cars, and a demonstration on reducing vibrations when riding motorcycles.
According to Mohamad Madani, the process of additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, means that composite materials can be used to produce brake pedals instead of metal.
“The most important aspect of this research is to design the brake pedal in order to meet vehicle safety requirements.
“Vehicles must pass the safety standards, one of which is the ability to brake and achieve a certain standard upon braking. This standard is determined by the way the brake pedal is designed.
“If using AM, the design part of the brake pedal can easily be changed to meet that safety requirement compared to metalbased brake pedals.”
He said the success of the research would benefit consumers as it would reduce the cost of manufacturing a car.
All of the studies being undertaken today is about improving safety and finding ways to reduce the cost of component manufacturing in Malaysia, he added.
MAI is an agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry ( MITI), serving as the focal point, coordinating centre and think-tank for the nation’s automotive industry.