UMT WIDENS NETWORK BY SIGNIING MOU WITH TWO UNIVERSITIES IN ACEH
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In an effort to widen its educational and research network, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with two universities in Acheh, Universitas Teuku Umar (UTU) and Universitas Malikussaleh (UNIMAL) on 13 December.
UMT Vice Chancellor Professor Dato’ Dr Nor Aieni Mokhtar said that, through this MOU, various aspects could be attended to that would benefit all.
The MOU would create opportunities for programmes such as student mobility, lecturer exchange, training and attachment, and joint research and publication that would benefit all.
“I’m certain that with this MOU officially formalised, we can attract more students and even lecturers from both universities to further their studies at UMT,” Professor Nor Aieni said.
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The decision to collaborate with these two well-known universities in Aceh was arrived at after considering the strengths of both universities in the fields of agriculture and marine, Professor Nor Aieni said.
“UMT and the two universities share some similarities, such as being located by the ocean, and this will allow for sharing of expertise that will help all especially UMT to bolster its research output, which in turn will set UMT as a well-known and highly respected university at the international level,” she said.
During the signing ceremony, UMT was represented by the Vice Chancellor, UTU the Rector Professor Dr Jasman J. Ma’aruf and UNIMAL the Rector Professor Dr Apridar.
Also present were UMT principal officers and lecturers, and UTU and UNIMAL delegates.
Source - ruhani@umt.edu.my
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LOVE FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP TAKES UMT STUDENT TO RHODE ISLAND, USA
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If there is a search for someone at UMT who is so deeply interested in social entrepreneurship, look no further than an undergraduate student. Muhammad Aidil Ridzuan Nasaruddin is a third-year Food Technology student at the School of Food Science and Technology, and he loves to get involved with social entrepreneurship activities.
Muhammad Aidil’s interest in social entrepreneurship first came about when he joined UMT social entrepreneurship-themed club, ENACTUS (Entrepreneurial-Action-Us) UMT. There, he learned about the potential of entrepreneurial action in generating sustainable social impacts for the community and solving social problems in Malaysia through social projects.
In addition, his passion has also led him to be involved with the Young Conservationist Programme (YCP) of UMT to get first-hand insights into the current environmental problems faced by the world in a bigger picture and get exposure to the efforts made by the YCP members to tackle the problems, be they educational or conservational.
“Since then, I’ve become more intrigued to find sustainable solutions for every social problem I encountered in his life,” he said.
He also knew that in order to achieve his goal he had to leave his comfort zone and that he needed to go out and get a wider perspective on things he could do, especially on how to use his expertise in food technology and to incorporate entrepreneurial approach for more effective solutions. Early last year, a golden opportunity came knocking on his door when he found out about the 2018 Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI)
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Fall Academic Fellowship programme, a fully funded U.S government’s programme under the U.S Department of State to strengthen leadership development and networking for youths in Southeast Asia.
With his past experience in sustainability projects with ENACTUS and YCP included in his resume, he managed to attract the attention of the U.S government to support his mission. They awarded him USD14000 so that he could come to the country and be a part of the YSEALI community for five weeks.
Muhammad Aidl joined another 20 fellows from 10 different countries who were selected to be part of the programme at one of the Ivy Leaguers Brown University in Rhode Island, USA, under the theme Social Entrepreneurship and Economic Development.
Through various networking sessions and knowledge exchanges with other YSEALI fellows, the wider community members of Brown University and local social entrepreneurs, Muhammad Aidil managed to have a deeper understanding of social innovation concept and entrepreneurship through more critical lens.
While there, he also had the opportunity to participate in a series of social activities.
“One of my most unforgettable experience there was developing lesson plans for 4th grade students and teaching them at the D’Abate Elementary School,” he said.
If one comes to UMT now looking for Muhammad Aidil, he won’t be found lazing around, or heavily engrossed in video games. Instead, he can be found thinking hard about his next environmental project, potentially giving UMT another opportunity to be proud of him.
Source - aidilm17@gmail.com
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UMT RESEARCHERS WIN MEDALS AGAIN, THIS TIME AT SIIF’18, KOREA
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It is not uncommon to hear UMT’s name mentioned in another country. This time, it happened in Korea. A team of UMT researchers participated in the Seoul International Invention Fair 2018 (SIIF’18) that took place in Coex, Seoul, on 9 December, and made UMT proud after taking home a Special Award, two Gold medals, and a Silver medal for showcasing quality innovative products.
The Special Award was won by Dr Md Uwaisulqarni Osman, a lecturer from the School of Fundamental Science, through his product Synthetic Conductive Polymer.
Synthetic Conductive Polymer was made of biodegradable thin chitosan films that were lightweight, cost effective and easily produced at laboratories, and capable of conducting electricity, according to Dr Uwaisulqarni.
The mixture had the potential as biodegradable electrolyte in solid form to replace the liquid electrolyte to be used in commercial batteries, he said.
“I hope that the recognition given will create more opportunities for research and development to improve the product so that it can be commercialised,” said Dr Uwaisulqarni.
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Gold medal was won by Dr Lee Oon Jew from the School of Fundamental Science while Silver medal by Dr Wan Rafizah Wan Abdullah from the School of Ocean Engineering.
More than 700 innovative products from 32 countries were showcased at SIIF’18 and juried by a panel of international judges and agencies based on originality, innovativeness and potential for commercialisation.
The fair provided a platform for researchers to set up collaboration with external agencies to help commercialise their products.
Meanwhile UMT Vice Chancellor Professor Dato’ Dr Nor Aieni Mokhtar, when informed of the good news, congratulated the researchers on their success.
The feat certainly would promote UMT and make it more well-known at the global level, she said.
Source - uwais@umt.edu.my
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DELEGATES FROM TWO FRENCH UNIVERSITIES GIVEN A WARM WELCOME
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Universiti Malaysia Terengganu has been collaborating with two universities in France, University of South Brittany and Aix-Marseille University, since 2013, and the strategic partnership continued through the present as reflected by the official visit from delegates of the two universities to UMT on 16-20 December.
The visit saw a lot of exchanges of ideas and experiences among the three universities that could provide valuable lessons and inputs to all. The delegates shared many of their ideas and experiences with UMT lecturers, science officers and students.
Among the tips shared were on how to publish in high impact journals, given by Professor Dr Edward Anthony, Editor-in-Chief of Elsevierpublished Marine Geology journal, and how to use a mobile phone to analyse changes along the coastal lines such as beach erosion, given by Associate Professor Dr Mouncef Sedrati.
Their visit to UMT was also related to obtaining and sharing more information about the evolution of geomorphology in the state of Terengganu, where a lot of sedimentation occurred at Terengganu River in the early days coupled with the presence of high tide that resulted in the formation of beach ridges, known as Gong in Terengganu dialect. In Terengganu, many places were named using the word as prefix, such as
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Gong Badak, Gong Datuk, Gong Pak Jin, Gong Sentol, and Gong Nering to name a few.
For a number of years dating back to 2013, many collaborations and agreements have been established among the three universities. These included UMT lecturers given places at the other two universities for their PhD studies, UMT lecturers being invited to give lectures there, UMT science officers undergoing training, and a host of joint research that yielded articles for publication in high-impact international journals. The official visit was fully sponsored by the French Embassy, who lauded the symbiotic relationships among the three universities and subsequently agreed to create avenues for UMT to obtain special fund from them.
This strategic relationship is seen as supporting the aim of UMT to widen the collaborative partnerships with top-notch universities from around the world, in line with the university’s vision of being marine-focused university that is well-known and highly respected both locally and globally.
Source
- effihelmy@umt.edu.my
- mfadzil@umt.edu.my
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UMT HELPS AQUAFARMERS TO DIVERSIFY FOR BETTER QUALITY OF LIFEUMT LENDS A HELPING HAND IN PALU
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In fulfilling its social responsibilities, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) has organized many programmes, conducted a host of activities, and carried out several projects involving local communities that would help them improve their quality of life.
One of the projects successfully run last year was the all-male giant freshwater prawn farming pioneer project, which was facilitated by the Institute of Tropical Aquaculture (AKUATROP), involving aquafarmers from Kampung Keluang Keluang, one of the villages in the district of Besut, Terengganu.
The project was introduced to the farmers as one of the initiatives to get them to be interested in taking on giant freshwater prawn farming as one of the ways to diversify their aquafarming products, thereby widening the means for them to secure better income. Giant freshwater prawns, or Macrobrachium rossenbergii, have always been in high demand everywhere. As per the tradition, the farmers there were rearing mostly Groupers and Asian Sea Bass.
Through the project, UMT researchers were able to share knowledge and expertise with the aquafarmers regarding giant freshwater prawn farming. Project leader Dr Nor Azman Kasan said that in this project the organic method of prawn farming was adopted that would yield twice the number of fully grown prawns compared to conventional methods.
“To date, organic-based aquaculture projects have not been started on a systematic basis.
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This project, which have been successfully carried out organically, will be setting the trail for other similar projects to follow,” he said.
Prior to embarking on the project, the farmers underwent some training first. Following a dialogue session that touched on issues and problems faced by aquafarmers, they were invited to UMT to be briefed on aquaculture and water quality management by AKUATROP researchers. The farmers were also given a motivational talk on how to be more prepared mentally as enterpreneurial aquafarmers.
After a series of training sessions, five farmers were chosen to start the pioneer project. To get it rolling, UMT through AKUATROP supplied 68,500 giant freshwater prawn seedlings to be placed in five ponds. They were reared for five months, and 200 kilograms of fully grown prawns were harvested at the end of the project, proving it to be successful.
“I hope this noble effort by AKUATROP will receive continuous support from UMT, the state government, department of fisheries and the local communities so that giant freshwater prawns can become one of the main aquaculture products in Terengganu,” Dr Nor Azman said.
Source
- amyra@umt.edu.my
- nizamlani@umt.edu.my
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About UMTSohor eNewsletter
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UMTSohor eNewsletter is a monthly online newsletter, published as one of the platforms to let the public know more about Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. In each issue, we highlight some of the significant and memorable events happening recently at UMT.
UMTSohor is a term coined by the top management as a branding strategy. Since UMT is located in Terengganu, befittingly a local word “sohor” is added to the university’s acronym. “Sohor” means
renowned in English. So UMTSohor in essence means UMT is renowned, famous. And if UMT is not already is, it is certainly working towards achieving that stature.
We hope you have enjoyed reading this newsletter, and subsequently marked the calendar for the release dates of future issues, so you can be constantly updated.
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