SHOWCASING IDEAS AND SOLUTIONS
Held for the first time away from the nation’s capital, PECIPTA 2017 aims to gain insights while promoting varsity products and services through various channels.
THE International Conference and Exposition on Inventions by Institutions of Higher Learning (PECIPTA) 2017 is breaking away from tradition by hosting the event in Terengganu this year.
Having the biennial conference in the state is to coincide with Visit Terengganu Year 2017, said Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) deputy vice-chancellor (research and innovation) Prof Dr Mazlan Abd Ghaffar.
The three-day conference which opened yesterday at the Gong Badak Indoor Stadium in Kuala Terengganu, will end tomorrow.
The previous conferences were held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
This year’s theme is on “Nurturing Entrepreneurship Through Education, Industry, Technology and Social Innovation.”
This year’s event showcases the creations and innovative products and services from local and international institutions of higher education.
PECIPTA creates a platform for networking and collaboration opportunities for participants to develop prototypes and then to commercialise them, he said.
“The concept of PECIPTA 2017 is based on the concept of providing and commercialising solutions that are driven by community and industry market demands,” he said.
“We are shifting from manufacturing to a knowledge-based economy, and we need innovation to bolster our gross domestic product.
“This will also help the M40 (middle class) improve their living standards by increasing their household income (through product commercialisation),” he said.
Prof Mazlan said the Higher Education Ministry has organised the conference since its inception in 2001, together with selected universities. For this year, its partners will include UMT and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) .
There is also a competition with three categories each for the 10 different clusters featured in the conference.
“A new cluster has been added this year – Tourism, Travel & Tours – to coincide with Visit Terengganu Year 2017,” he continued.
The other clusters are Environment & Renewable Energy; Agriculture & Aquaculture; Industrial Design, Building Engineering & Architecture; Disaster Management; Education, Community Development & Social Innovation; Health, Medical, Pharmaceutical, Food & Supplement; Digital Era, Data Analytics & Automation Revolution; Manufacturing Technologies, Food Processing & Mechanisation; Automobile, Aeronautical & Maritime Technology
During the soft-launch in May, Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Mary Yap Kain Ching said PECIPTA is an opportunity for public and private universities to not only showcase their ideas and innovations, but to compete at the national and international levels.
There are two new categories this year – Showcase of Success Story and Services & Consultancy.
Prof Mazlan explained that Showcase of Success Story is to highlight successful commercial and community projects that have created a big impact on society.
The Services & Consultancy category will allow budding entrepreneurs to gain insight and advice from academic experts.
The conference will also have live demonstrations from participants, a Business Matching session, Icon Talk with industry leaders sharing their expertise, Entrepreneur’s Sales Carnival by Terengganu Entrepreneur’s Developments Foundation (Yayasan Pembangunan Terengganu) and the University Students Entrepreneur’s Club, and short video presentations of 21 products created by public universities that could positively impact society and industries.
There will also be a pitching session to help entrepreneurs promote their products to their target audience.
The Business Matching, he added, is a more focused session that could better pair industry leaders with potential partners within their own clusters.
Prof Mazlan said relevant industrial agencies and associations would be present at both sessions.
PECIPTA 2017 will see participation from public and private universities, polytechnics, community colleges, Teachers Education Institutes and international higher education institutions and agencies.
“There are also exhibitions by the ministry, government-linked companies, industries and communities,” said Prof Mazlan
There will be a myriad of innovative products on display at the exhibition.
Among them, said Prof Mazlan, are IT applications (apps) for the latest gadgets, the latest scientific breakthroughs, and new solution providers for the services, community and industry sectors.
“Translational Research will also be a key display as it is important to show how research findings can be used to solve national and international issues,” he added.
“Each PECIPTA conference has recorded its own success stories over the last 16 years.
“Besides the increasing number of people attending the conference, there has been an increase in interest from industry players and users,” he added.
“PECIPTA 2017 can be summarised as a network of research and innovation together with commercialisation and collaboration between the academia and industry,” Prof Mazlan said.