Login
Register

Month: June 2021

UiTM signs MoU with Microsoft Malaysia

Posted on by FSKM Editorial Team

The Faculty of Computer & Mathematical Sciences (FSKM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and Microsoft (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 19 March 2021.

The MoU aims at mutual cooperation to benefit the university and students from Microsoft’s expertise. The MOU was virtually signed by the Former Vice-Chancellor of UiTM, Emeritus Prof. Datuk Ir. Dr Azraai Kassim and Microsoft’s Managing Director, Mr K. Raman.

Under the MoU, UiTM can leverage Microsoft Learn for Educators (MSLE) resources to achieve its vision – to establish UiTM as a Globally Renowned University of Science, Technology, Humanities and Entrepreneurship.  The mission is to empower UiTM to lead the development of professionals through state-of-the-art curricula and impactful research.

Affiliated as one of the “Premier Digital Tech Institution”, UiTM is always looking forward to offering competitive programmes that fulfill market needs, spearhead national development and promote global prosperity.

This MoU will extend the opportunities to the UiTM lecturers and students to upskill with the Microsoft Future-Ready Skills through Microsoft Learn. It provides self-paced, digital learning resources to build skills and a foundational understanding of technology besides making available the resources to complement existing institution courseware and study materials to best prepare students for in-demand jobs and Microsoft industry-recognized certifications.

This MoU is expected to be able to improve UiTM’s graduate employability as it helps validate students’ knowledge of technology and potential to perform in technology industry jobs through Microsoft certification in the Azure Fundamentals, Azure AI Fundamentals and Azure Data Fundamentals courses.

Students will be equipped with relevant technical skills and graduate as certified IT professionals, making them more competitive in the job sectors which are becoming more digitized and automated, requiring strong technology skills.

The effort by UiTM is another step taken to strengthen the ICT and AI capacity building of students relevant to the current needs and changes affecting higher learning institutions globally.

UNAIR alumna, Vania Santoso makes it to Forbes “30 under 30” list

Posted on by Editorial Team

University of Airlangga’s Faculty of Economics and Business alumna, Vania Santoso who is a co-founder of heySTARTIC, Artistic Eco-Fashion has made it to the list of 30 under 30 released by the international business and financial magazine, “Forbes”.

Interviewed by UNAIR NEWS on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, Vania said that heySTARTIC was a development of Vania and her older sister Agnes Santoso’s social project when they were at high school. Despite numerous challenges, Vania believes heySTARTIC can continue to grow thanks to residents, artists, and other creative industry practitioners’ support and innovation.

“Also, thanks to my experiences while studying at Petra Christian School Board and UNAIR,” she explained.

She had once represented UNAIR in the National Outstanding Student Election. At that time, Vania presented heySTARTIC concept in the Scientific Writing Competition. She is very grateful to get further direction from various faculties, especially from Prof. Ganden, a lecturer of UNAIR Faculty of Science and Technology. In the end, Vania was guided to find out more about the natural coloring and finishing process that does not damage the environment.

“I am very proud, from my scientific writing project, including my final thesis on Five-Diamonds Strategy for heySTARTIC supervised by Prof. Badri, now it can be a real social innovation with an impact,” she said.

HeySTARTIC Sociopreneur’s business started from a flood that entered Vania’s house in the 2000s. In 2005, Vania and her sister, Agnes Santoso, who is also UNAIR alumna, created an environmental community to educate people about environmentally-friendly lifestyles.

“At that time, we were rejected many times when submitting proposals for funding environmental activities. We also tried to get funding from garage sales to selling recycled products, ” she added.

Finally, in 2007 in Sweden, their innovative waste management project paid off. Their work was trusted as 1st Place in the annual International Environment Competition from Volvo and UNEP, earning a grant of 10,000 dollars.

“This is a precious moment, but also a kind of wake up call. I am very grateful that I won so I can get funding for the environment,” she added.

In the future, Vania has a plan to continue and strive for consistency and commitment to live with the sustainability values ​​of heySTARTIC. One of the closest plans is to develop enviLOVEmental (an education and entertainment forum created by heySTARTIC’s collaboration with XD Entertainment and Srawa Space).

“Hopefully, this enviLOVEmental can become a hub that brings together audiences with various products, organizations, communities, creative industry practitioners who care about the environment, and ultimately choose to care more about the environment,” she said.

The recycled products that Vania brought to conferences abroad were selling well. However, in Indonesia almost no one buys. From there, Vania learned firsthand about the differences in consumer behavior and the fact that environmental education in Indonesia still needs to be improved.

“Therefore, heySTARTIC is here as a sustainable fashion product that hopefully becomes a medium of education. heySTARTIC believes, fashion products can be environmentally friendly, and vice versa, recycled products can also look fashionable,” she concluded.

TPU scientists produce cheap and high-quality gasoline

Posted on by Tomsk Polytechnic University

Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) have discovered how to produce high-quality gasoline of all standards from by-products of gas production. According to the authors of the research work, new technology is notable for its simplicity and will enable oil and gas producers to switch to self-sufficiency in fuel. The research findings are published in the Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering.

Stable gas condensates (SGC) are a by-product of natural gas processing. The scientists noted that in most reservoirs, for lack of better use options, they are blended with oil to improve its fluidity and facilitate transportation.

The TPU scientists claim that SGCs are a valuable hydrocarbon feedstock. The scientists believe that processing them into high-octane petrol components using a zeolite catalyst is a more efficient way to use them.

The research of the TPU chemists showed that processing on zeolite enables the octane number of SGC to be increased by an average of 18 points, i.e. to obtain petrol 80 Research Octane Number (RON) in a single technological stage. The scientists also proposed blending formulations for commercial petrol standards: 92 RON, 95 RON, 98 RON based on the by-products of SGC processing.

“We have established the directions of hydrocarbon transformations in the SGC, as well as the impact of processing parameters on the composition and characteristics of the resulting products. This will allow selecting optimal parameters for the most efficient use of condensates of different composition,” Maria Kirgina, Associate Professor of the TPU Division for Chemical Engineering, told Sputnik news agency.

The proposed technology allows extractive enterprises to produce fuel for their own needs, as well as to provide it to a certain territory. Delivering fuel to remote facilities significantly increases the cost of production. Therefore, the scientists believe that the feasibility of moving towards autonomy will prove relevant for a number of regions of the world, for example, for the north of Russia, where many extractive industries operate.

The processing method does not require hydrogen-containing gas or special feedstock preparation, making it possible to implement it even in low-tonnage versions outside large refineries, the scientists stressed.

The advantages of the technology are related to the catalyst used – zeolite, the TPU scientists explained. Zeolites are inexpensive minerals that do not contain noble metals and are resistant to catalyst poisons. The proposed research is the first to implement the processing of stable gas condensates over the ZSM-5 zeolite catalyst.

The Compounding software package developed at TPU was used to develop petrol blending recipes and assess their detonation resistance. The next stage of the project is to create a mathematical model to accurately predict the composition and characteristics of the resulting products, the scientists said.

Lingnan University’s research output is rated “world leading” in prestigious Research Assessment Exercise

Posted on by Editorial Team

Lingnan University’s research output has been rated “world-leading” in some areas, and most of it has reached international standards, according to the results of the University Grants Committee’s (UGC) latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).

More than 50 per cent of Lingnan’s research output was rated 4-star (“world-leading”) or 3-star (“internationally excellent”). In terms of research impact, more than half of LU’s impact cases were rated 4-star (“outstanding impacts”) or 3-star (“considerable impacts”).

LU came first out of the eight UGC-funded universities in 4-star output in the Units of Assessment (UoAs) of Sociology & Anthropology (27%), and second in Accountancy (35%), Philosophy (19%), and Social Work & Social Policy (13%). This is the first time that LU’s output was assessed in Sociology & Anthropology and Social Work & Social Policy in the RAE. “Lingnan scholars performed exceptionally well in these two UoAs, demonstrating their research strengths amid intense competition,” said Professor Leonard K Cheng, President of Lingnan University.

The RAE is part of the UGC’s commitment to assessing the performance of UGC-funded universities and is intended to encourage world-class research and drive excellence. The RAE assesses the research quality of Hong Kong’s eight UGC-funded universities by using international benchmarks to assess their areas of strength, and then makes recommendations for improvement. The previous RAE took place in 2014.

In this round of the assessment exercise, 119 LU staff members submitted 431 items of research output in 14 UoAs under the four RAE panels of business and economics, social sciences, humanities, and creative arts, performing arts & design.

Lingnan received a number of commendations from the RAE panels. “The impact case study … there was considerable evidence of its contribution in framing policy and legislation,” adjudicators for the Sociology & Anthropology UoA commented. “Staff in humanities disciplines are achieving good impact for their research,” RAE humanities panellists said.

Lingnan University is committed to helping build a better society and is passionate about making an impact with its research and knowledge transfer (KT) activities. The results of the RAE highlight the impact made by the research of LU scholars and the way the University has directly benefitted the community and business.

Professor Leonard K Cheng, President of Lingnan University

“Lingnan University has achieved remarkable results in the Research Assessment Exercise,” said Professor Cheng.

“Compared to the last RAE, LU scholars have received much better ratings for their research output. LU will continue to contribute to Hong Kong as a regional education hub through offering quality education and impactful research to promote the development of society.”

Find out more about Lingnan’s world-class research projects here.

USAID grants MMSU with funds to widen Nipahol tech

Posted on by John Vincent B. Toribio

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has granted the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) with a Php 4 million fund in line with its project WARP (Widening Application of Research within the Pandemic).

Through its Science Technology, Research and Innovation for Development (STRIDE) program, the international agency funds MMSU’s plan to establish another village-scale bioethanol industry using nipa sap.

Engr. Thomas Ubiña, chief of MMSU National Bioenergy Research and Innovation Center (NBERIC), said the project aims to deploy two units of Village-Scale Nipahol Technology (VSNT) in Aparri, Cagayan to enable the community to produce their own 70% ethyl alcohol.

“This will strongly push us toward technology franchising,” Engr. Ubiña added.

MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis, the principal investigator of the project, said the support from USAID-STRIDE brings the University closer to its dream of franchising bioethanol production in the region, and vertically integrating the nipa community and the bioethanol industry.

“This will further help us sustain renewable energy and create resilient communities amid the pandemic,” Dr. Agrupis added.

She received the WARP grant certificate in a virtual ceremony held today, April 27.

In this line, the team will conduct capacity-building activities to equip its partners in the said town with the required technical and entrepreneurial skills for their operations.

Also, they will also apply for registration to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through a side-by-side laboratory analysis with its certified laboratories and in-house researchers to ensure product quality and consumers’ safety. Moreover, market, supply and value chain, SWOT and PEST analyses will be conducted.

The research project is based on the previously-funded MMSU project in 2014 that led to the development of proprietary fermentation and distillation technologies that produced high-grade bioethanol from various feedstocks.

MMSU is among the only five higher education institutions (HEIs) in the country which have been given the WARP grant this year. Other universities include the University of the Philippines – Visayas, Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University in La Union, University of San Carlos in Cebu, and Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology.

The WARP grant demonstrates how technologies and research capabilities in a university can help address challenges within the new operating environment of the pandemic.

Dr Li Jianbin at EdUHK named APS Rising Star

Posted on by eduhk

Dr Li Jianbin, Assistant Professor at the Department of Early Childhood Education of The Education University of Hong Kong, was presented with the Rising Star Award by the Association for Psychological Science (APS) in February 2021. The award recognises outstanding APS members in the earliest stages of their research career.

Dr Li has published widely in the areas of adjustment and well-being from childhood to emerging adulthood, from a bioecological perspective. His research also emphasises the development of positive personal virtues, such as self-control and meaning in life, as well as their roles in understanding and facilitating adjustment and well-being.

“While feeling deeply honoured, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for Faculty of Education and Human Development’s trust and colleagues’ support that has helped me to become a better early-career researcher,” he said.