The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) is collaborating with two businesses, MES Asia and Yotta Technology through UNMC research initiatives. An MOU was signed today to formalise this partnership between UNMC’s Vice-Provost of Research & Knowledge Exchange Professor Claire O’Malley, Yotta Technology President Dr Patrick Yeung and MES Asia President Miranda Lui.
The partnership between UNMC and MES Asia aims to deliver CPD training courses in the area of building information modelling, a 3D-model-based process of building which helps engineers and architects in the design and construction of the building.
Meanwhile, UNMC’s partnership with Yotta Technology plans to utilise carbon fibre from scrapped aerospace parts to create energy harvesters, heating garments and medical devices.
UNMC’s Vice-Provost of Research & Knowledge Exchange Professor Claire O’Malley said: “Our priority as a research-led university is to promote knowledge exchange and collaboration to ensure that our research impacts businesses and communities at large.
Last August, UNMC and MIDA (Malaysian Investment Development Authority) co-organised a conference aimed at bringing together universities and businesses to discuss collaborative R&D funding opportunities. Arising from that, today, we witness a successful partnership with industry leaders with whom we will be working to deliver our research innovations into significant business deliverables.”
MOU on BIM
The partnership will result in a series of training workshops on BIM, a state of the art management tool for architects, civil engineers and construction practitioners, to help equip them with the knowledge to use BIM in their building projects. BIM has the capability not only for drafting, but also procurement, management, facility management, and scheduling - all packed into one. In fact, it has been announced that all government projects above RM100 million must employ BIM in their submissions. It is quite pressing that industries in Malaysia embrace this tool as soon as possible.
The partnership with Global BIM Centre if Excellence (CoE) and MES Asia also includes further collaboration in research, towards the development of more advanced BIM tools and modules. CoE, MES Asia and UNMC will continue to work together to offer certification and accreditation for BIM workshops in the future.
According to UNMC project lead Edwin Goh: “BIM is the new international benchmark for the industry and UNMC needs to take lead to ensure that we are leading Malaysia in reaching this new benchmark. We are the pioneer in the research and teaching of BIM and partnering with MES Asia will ensure that our research be taken into the industry more swiftly.”
MOU on carbon fibre
The collaboration between UNMC and Yotta Technology focuses on energy harvesting from the environment. This is done using and treating recycled carbon fibre, which comes from scrapped aerospace parts, like the wings and the fuselage.
Items are taken from commercial airplanes in the form of carbon fibre, which are energy intensive to manufacture, and its waste, which is non-biodegradable and goes to landfills. Researchers at The University of Nottingham have been recycling carbon fibre as a means of sustainable manufacturing.
For this project, UNMC researchers have developed materials with appropriate quality control methods in the production of the energy harvesting and medical products. This project is led by Professor Andy Chan and Dr Lau Phei Li.
The MOU signing was witnessed by MIDA Deputy Chief Executive Officer Chief Information Officer (CIO) Manufacturing & Services Development I Datuk Phang Ah Tong and Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia Deputy Director General of Survey and Mapping II Sr Dr. Teng Chee Hua.
(Article image caption: MES Asia President Miranda Lui and UNMC’s Vice-Provost of Research & Knowledge Exchange Professor Claire O’Malley at the signing)
(Thumbnail image caption: (from left to right): Institute of Engineers Malaysia Vice President Ir Ong Ching Loon, Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia Director Sr Dr Teng Chee Hua, UNMC Dean of Engineering Professor Andy Chan, Yotta Technology Chief Executive Officer Dr Patrick Yeung, MES Asia President Sr Miranda Lui, UNMC Vice-Provost of Research & Knowledge Exchange Professor Claire O’Malley, Malaysian Investment Development Authority Deputy Director Jeyasigan Nair, UNMC Assistant Professor Dr Wong Jing Ying, UNMC Associate Professor Dr Lau Phei Li and UNMC Senior University Teaching Fellow Edwin Goh.)
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More information is available from Professor Andy Chan on andy.chan@nottingham.edu.my or Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager on +6 (03) 8924 8746, josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my.
Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with a “distinct” approach to internationalisation, which rests on those full-scale campuses in China and Malaysia, as well as a large presence in its home city.’ (Times Good University Guide 2016). It is also one of the most popular universities in the UK among graduate employers and the winner of ‘Outstanding Support for Early Career Researchers’ at the Times Higher Education Awards 2015. More than 97% of research at The University of Nottingham is recognised internationally and it is 8th in the UK by research power according to the Research Excellence Framework 2014. It has been voted the world’s greenest campus for four years running, according to Greenmetrics Ranking of World Universities.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest-ever fundraising campaign, is delivering the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.
Posted on 20th March 2017