Earning an edge
MIMI Aminah Wan Nordin enjoys drumming and reading poetry, and she has a knack for starting things.
Trained in electrical engineering with a PhD in high frequency electronics, the International Islamic University Malaysia assistant professor already has startups like Qwork - a flexi-workers platform; Disruptometer - an algorithm that uses social listening for market indications; and Evenergy - a blockchain-powered renewable energy certificate platform; to her name.
Now with an MBA from the Asia School of Business (ASB), Mimi Aminah who sees herself as a technologist, wants to do more.
Armed with an infectious enthusiasm, she’s aiming to create more sustainable solutions.
“It was my mum who suggested I do an MBA. She thinks that I should be selling my own ideas instead of letting people speak for me.
“I’m a geek - very timid. Much of my life was spent in a lab. I’m quite new at entrepreneurship. But having start-ups made me realise how little I know.”
ASB, she said, has given her the knowledge and skills to marry business and technology. It’s given her the courage to sell her ideas. To date, she’s pitched ideas to over 70 investors.
“With my science background, I’ve always thought that you could only report something once you have the results. Now I know that it’s okay to fake it, until you make it. If you have an idea with the potential of success, it’s alright to share that. Being in this programme has equipped me with strategies to get things done.”
Dean’s Award for Outstanding Academic Performance recipient Jesse Frank Rafidi was instrumental in helping grow the family’s masonry business. The Australian, whose wife recently gave birth in KL, said studying at ASB was a no-brainer.
He’s built many contacts in the industry and benefited from expe- rienced professors in the course of the programme.
“There’s much potential in Malaysia for green technology that utilises by-products from the coal mining industry. I’m working with local companies to start a manufacturing plant here next year,” said the managing director of a cement and concrete technology development firm.
Corporate lawyer and Air Asia scholar Sylvia Lian hopes to move to the company’s business and strategic development department when she reports back for duty.
“Having a business degree makes me a more well-rounded person because now when I come up with solutions, I see things not just from a compliance perspective, but also the impact on finance, operations, and marketing.”
Mohan Ponniah Mahadeva who gave a speech on behalf of his fellow graduates, described the programme as a one-of-a-kind-journey.
“It’s not easy quitting a well-paying job to pursue an MBA in a brand new school for 20 months. This was true even for me - a Malaysian who lives 20 minutes away from ASB, and knows and trusts the institutions involved in the school.
“Imagine the leap of faith taken by my international classmates and their families - leaving their jobs and flying halfway around the world to bet on a startup business school.
“But without each and every one of them, we wouldn’t have had the same diversity in experience, knowledge and backgrounds. And that diversity is what made our learning experience world class.”
His key takeaway from the postgraduate journey is to not let past disappointments stop you from future exploration, and to always keep an open mind.
“I’ve learnt the most from people who are the most different from me, and from experiences that I least expected to learn from.”