The Vice-Chancellor’s Medal and the Jan Atkins Prize Awards Ceremony was held at the University of Nottingham Malaysia on Thursday, 7 November. During the ceremony, five employees also received the UNM Long Service Award in recognition of their 15 years of service at the university. The university encourages, recognises and values the hard work, commitment and achievements of all staff. One of the recipients is Dr Lim Wee Gin, an Associate professor from the Department of Electrical Engineering, who has been with the university since 1 July 2004.
The Vice-Chancellor Medal is awarded for exceptional achievement by the current staff or students of the University of Nottingham. Winners of the award would have contributed to advancing equality, diversity and inclusion in University life or made notable endeavours that made a difference to the University, and within the local community. Winners may also have exhibited an individual achievement or sustained achievement over a period of time.
The Jan Atkin Prize was established by Emeritus Professor Brian Atkin, who was the former CEO of the University of Nottingham Malaysia from 2003 to 2008, in memory of his late wife Jan. This prize aims to award worthy students who have met both academic standards and who are deemed to have made the greatest contribution to the campus or the community. The winner receives RM 5,000 in cash each and a certificate. Professor Graham Kendall presented all awards to the students and staff.
At the ceremony, staff who have been working at the University for 15 years received the Long Service Awards to celebrate the commitment and contribution towards the university.
The full list of recipients is as below:
VC Medal
Staff: Mandy Siew Chen Sim
Spearheaded the Global Business Services (GBS) module through NAA, enabling students to gain practical experience at reputable organisations; facilitated partnerships between reputable organisations and Careers Office; supportive mentor, teacher, and colleague - internally and with external parties; commended for her hard work in course planning, securing funds, building partnerships, etc.
Staff: Muhammad Affendi Faizal Zubir
Instrumental in organising the university team and won the 11th Tri-Campus sports competition. organised and hosted the MASISWA Game 2018, established the futsal team - enabling them to participate in the IPT league. Partly responsible for creating better athletes - establishing better coaching/training/equipment; ability to drive the community to appreciate and participate in sports activities (e.g. bowling tournament for staff).
Staff: Professor Malachi Edwin Vethamani
Helped to promote creative writing in UNM and has 60 years of research in creative writing; produced an anthology "Malchin Testament: Malaysian Testament"; won a grant of RM10,000 to organise the first Malaysian Poetry competition, in collaboration with MoHE; organised the first World Poetry Day in UNM in 2018; recognised as a leading Malaysian literary figure.
Staff: Ir Dr Show Pau Loke
Exceptionally successful in research and has achieved significant accomplishments in the field of sustainable bioprocess engineering; contributed to six book chapters, represented UNM in more than 50 conferences; invited as visiting professor at several international universities in Japan, China, Taiwan and Vietnam; awarded the AIRTF ASEAN Scholars Award 2019, Da Silva Award 2018, JSPS Fellowship 2018, ranked no 1 as the top reviewer in Biology and Biotechnology (Publon's Global Peer Review Award) 2018, plus several other awards in 2017 at a young age. Successfully supervised five PhDs and two master’s students; co-supervise with colleagues in UM, UPM and Monash; encourages students to seek new knowledge and carry out good quality research.
Student: Grace Yeyen Chin
Active member of IEM-UNMC since 2016, elected as Vice President in 2017, first female President for 2018/19 - active volunteer (for talks, visits, events); organiser as part of the Engineering Carnival week; under her leadership, the student section was selected as Outstanding Student Section (2017), Best Academic Society (2017), Best Society (2018) - benefitting around 1,000 students; represented UNM in Young Engineers Summit for 2017 and 2018; organised IEM Sports carnival; hosted the visit from Oklahoma State University Engineering students' visit.
Student: Roshini Rajan
Vice President of the UNM Investor Club; works closely with the management - Provost, Director of Academic Service; secured internship with an accounting firm (Ananthan Chelliah & Associates); nominated as Inspirational Woman in the Inspirational Women Campaign.
The Jan Atkin Prize
Aravin Pillai, Environmental and Geographical Science year 2
Deputy International Student’s Officer. Launched “The Great UNMC Race” – team competition that promotes and local cultures to students through a variety of challenges. Served as the Public Relations Officer of the newly launched society; Nottingham’s Stress Relief Society in 2017-2018. Volunteers for underprivileged children in the community especially Rohingya children.
Chua Rou En, English Language and Literature year 2 student
Module convenor NAA Student Media 2018/19. Organised the IGNITE Industry Training Week 3.0 and member of BARO (Bento Animal Rescues Organisation) to rescue on-campus cats and dogs Educator in MyDigitalMaker, a big event that selected the top 100 Malaysian Secondary Students to prepare them towards a digital-proof workforce and society. Serves as a volunteer to teach Vietnamese students and help their learning environment by mural painting. Head of Academic tutor for two Korean Universities; Shin Ansan and Dong-Eui Institute of Technology (DIT) and student helper for Hanyang University.
Madhara R. H. Iddamalgoda Finance, Accounting and Management year 2 student
President of Youth Entrepreneur Society (YES). Pioneer of “YES Talks” series of workshops that connects prominent entrepreneurial talents to the fore by setting up shop during the event Involved in community outreach projects in Sri Lanka including flood relief projects and initiative named Education Beyond Ability (EBA), provide need-appropriate academic resources and facilities to differently-abled children in rural parts of the country. Coordinate and executed UNM Startup Weekend and Global Youth Entrepreneur Camp Challenge (GYECC) 2019. This event brings together aspiring entrepreneurs from Malaysia and Brunei.
Long Service Award
- Dr Lim Wee Gin, Associate Professor from Electrical Engineering
- Chiang Choon Lai, Associate Professor from Foundation in Engineering
- Lee Yoong Hon, Associate Professor from Nottingham Business School (NUBS)
- Nigel Heng Jee Pei, Assistant Manager from the IT Department
- Dr Vasanthi Sethu, Associate Professor from Chemical Engineering
According to UNM Provost and CEO Professor Graham Kendall: "We are delighted to have this opportunity to show our appreciation to our staff and students. It is right that we mark these significant achievements. Also, it is often said that the most valuable resource that a company has is its staff. This is certainly true at Nottingham and the fact that some of our staff have dedicated 15 years of their professional life to the University deserves to be applauded."
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The University of Nottingham is a research-intensive university with a proud heritage, consistently ranked among the world's top 100. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our 44,000 students - Nottingham was named University of the Year for Graduate Employment in the 2017 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, was awarded gold in the TEF 2017 and features in the top 20 of all three major UK rankings. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement. We are ranked eighth for research power in the UK according to REF 2014. We have six beacons of research excellence helping to transform lives and change the world; we are also a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally.
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Posted on 14th November 2019