Year: 2021

The Office of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University, launched Chula UltimateX Library, the first unmanned library in Thailand on Thursday, November 26, 2020. The library is now dubbed as the first unmanned library that combines innovation in library management through automated service stations, with remote-controlled building management.

Prof. Dr. Bundhit Eua-Arporn, Chulalongkorn University President, presided over the online opening ceremony and delivered the opening speech.  Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amorn Petsom, Director of Chula Office of Academic Resources, then gave a welcoming speech and introduced the UltimateX Library.  Following the speeches was an award ceremony for the winners of the “Chula Library Brand Ambassador 2020” and the library naming contest.

Chula UltimateX Library is supported by Kasikorn Thai Bank under the CU NEX project.  The library is now dubbed as the first unmanned library that combines innovation in library management through automated service stations, with remote-controlled building management.

With the help of technology, library visitors can use the automated service stations with ease and get answers to information inquiries.  The communication systems and tools provided by the library are available thru remote consultation and the library’s opening and closing, control of the lights, air-conditioning, or even security can be controlled remotely at any time, anywhere.

“The library started off with a question in mind.  With the potential problems of limited staff and resources, would an unmanned library be possible?  Library management that uses less staff is flexible and relevant to the new generation’s lifestyle, in which they don’t want people to keep an eye on them”, said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amorn Phetsom about the history of the library.

Chula UltimateX Library houses under one roof resources and materials from the faculties of Psychology, Allied Health Sciences, Sports Science, Nursing, and Chula Graduate School, and is accessible to students of all faculties.  In doing so, the operating costs drop significantly, compared to maintaining separate libraries.  Plus, the library has flexible hours to meet students’ needs, especially during the holidays and exams, when library staff needs to be paid overtime.  Security, Wi-Fi service, and other amenities are also readily available.

“We want to invite students and the interested public to use the library services.  To do so, members of the public are required to present their IDs, just like at Chula Central Library.  At Chula, we would like to provide more automated libraries that do not require attendants and are flexible in giving services that uphold the standards of library services.  This includes security for library users that is at par with traditional libraries.  Hopefully what we have today will inspire further development of other libraries in the future”, Assoc. Prof. Amorn added.

The Office of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University, will continue to develop modern, prototype libraries under the project to develop services of the future.  Some of the target improvements include opening the library every day of the week, providing common space for learning activities, and launching new applications to improve services that will meet current and future lifestyles.

Airlangga Global Engagement (AGE),  Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) with World University Association for Community Development (WUACD) held an international webinar, Conducting Enjoyable Virtual Classes, on Thursday, January 28, 2021. It was conducted in collaboration with Daffodil International University, Bangladesh, and presented three speakers.

UNAIR Vice Director for Academic Affairs Yuni Sari Amalia spoke on strategies for students in virtual classes. Yuni revealed that one of the main problems in e-learning is students’ low focus and attention during the class.

“Therefore, students really need hydration, variety, exercise, and breaks between virtual classes so that their attention and focus can be retained, ” explained the graduate of the University of Illinois.

Yuni also gave some examples of stretching movements and simple activities that could improve physical performance and focus while participating in virtual classes. This activity is specifically aimed at optimizing students’ physical and psychological health as they spend a lot of time in front of the screen which tends to lead to digital fatigue.

Meanwhile, Director of Students Affairs and Head, Daffodil International University Syed Mizanur Rahman enthusiastically conveyed the strategy of holding fun virtual classes, especially for children.

According to him, virtual classes for children will not be effective only if teachers deliver the lessons innovatively. “In delivering material, we must maintain interaction and use living things, materials, and performances. Delivering the material interestingly can help to attract their attention and engage them, “he added.

Deputy Director of Human Resources Development Institute, Ejaj-Ur-Rahman, shared material related to gamification. Gamification is a strategy that uses various activities and rewards to encourage greater engagement with students.

“Through gamification, teachers can design a variety of learning involving games that will encourage students’ participation to join and think together in a virtual classroom,” said the senior lecturer at Daffodil International University.

In the international webinar via Zoom Meeting, participants were invited to play together online through the Kahoot application. From the webinar attended by more than 140 participants, both teachers and instructors are expected to implement and formulate appropriate virtual classroom learning strategies.

Fatin Najwa Azman from the Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) has achieved rank one in Malaysia and has ranked nine globally in the recent December 2020 ACCA global examination.

This achievement is based on the score that she obtains for the Audit and Assurance subject.  The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants or ACCA is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification. Its headquarters are in the UK and it conducts its professional examinations four times a year worldwide including Malaysia. During the December 2020 examination recently, over 2,000 students sat for the exam in Malaysia alone.

What makes Fatin’s achievement all the sweeter is the fact that students generally found the Audit and Assurance exam challenging as evidenced by consistently low global passing rates for this paper.

Her achievement also debunks the perception that Malaysian students generally cannot excel in subjects that are narrative by nature and require a lot of writing in the examination. This perception of the subject has not deterred her, instead has motivated her to devise a strategy on how to pass. She would identify areas that are perceived difficult by asking others who have attempted the subject before, prior to taking this subject

She attributes her success to studying for something that she has a passion for and the drive to do better all the time.  As she puts it, “if you have the passion and put your heart in it, you will try your best really to keep going no matter how hard it gets”.

She stands by the maxim of nothing beats hard work, discipline, and time management to pass the ACCA examination. According to her, being always surrounded by smart and inspiring students at UiTM and having inspiring and dedicated lecturers are further encouragement for her to continuously improve.

ACCA was one of the earliest programs offered during the initial establishment of UiTM, back when UiTM was known as Maktab RIDA. UiTM is also the first public university that offers professional qualifications including Chartered Institute of Management Accountants UK (CIMA) and Institute of Chartered and Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators  UK (ICSA).

Throughout its establishment, ACCA continues to be offered by UiTM under the Faculty of Accountancy as it sees the need to be pro-active to produce more Bumiputera-professionally qualified accountants in support of the Government’s national agenda. This is to increase the percentage of Bumiputera-professionally qualified accountants’ representation to 25% percent in 2030 from around 8% currently.

Offering ACCA programs at the Faculty of Accountancy also allows for a seamless pipeline to a professional qualification from the internal programs such as Diploma in Accountancy, Diploma in Accounting Information System, and the Bachelor of Accountancy.

UiTM also regards professional accountancy qualifications such as ACCA as a global benchmark of UiTM’s own internal programs particularly concerning the syllabus content and teaching and learning delivery.

The composition of some extracts obtained from plant raw materials was studied at  Samara Polytech, and their anticarcinogenic and antioxidant properties were assessed.

Samara Polytech chemists investigated the potential anticarcinogenic effects of extracts obtained from plant materials of lingonberry, raspberry, black chokeberry, grapes, Krasnodar green tea, ginseng, fireweed and coffee, and also evaluated their effect on the growth and viability of colon cancer cells.

The research was carried out within the framework of the state assignment for fundamental research No. 0778-2020-0005, its results were published in the journal Proceedings of Universities. Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology.

Prevention is the most cost-effective and long-term strategy for controlling this disease. It is now well known that almost 50% of all malignant tumors can be prevented with proper nutrition based on natural products with a preventive effect.

“Polyphenols are the largest variety of plant components. It is this class of chemical compounds that have shown powerful antioxidant properties. They actively fight against cellular damage caused by free radicals, slowing down the aging and preventing oxidation. In addition, they protect the body from inflammatory, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative diseases, and some forms of cancer”, one of the authors of this study, associate professor of the Department of Technology and Organization of Public Catering of Samara Polytech Natalya Eremeeva explains.

“We studied in detail the beneficial properties of lingonberry, raspberry, black chokeberry, grapes, Krasnodar green tea, ginseng, fireweed and coffee.”

When conducting the MTT cytotoxicity test, the scientists found that the ginseng extract was the most cytotoxic, and the coffee extract was the least cytotoxic. It has been proven that all the studied extracts are able to reduce the expression of pro-inflammatory genes. The most pronounced inhibitory effect on the expression of these genes is possessed by the extracts of chokeberry and fireweed.

The research team supposes that this study may serve as a basis for conducting in vivo experiments to determine anticarcinogenic activity.

On the Day of Russian Science (February 8), Tomsk Polytechnic University opened a multimedia classroom for the university lecturers and invited speakers’ lectures. The classroom was equipped as part of the university’s digitalization program and in honor of the 125th anniversary of the university. This kind of classroom is the first in Russia.

Andrey Yakovlev, acting rector of TPU, and Liudmila Ogorodova, Deputy Governor for Scientific and Educational Complex and Digital Transformation, took part at the official opening of the classroom.

“TPU has always been an advanced university, where new technologies were born. The new classroom is aimed at the solution of two problems at once: technical and psychological. Now students have an opportunity to gain knowledge using high-tech equipment, including 360 degrees cameras and VR. As for the lecturers — they can not only hold the attention of the audience and compete with other online resources but convey information most effectively,” Liudmila Ogorodova noted.

The classroom multimedia module consists of two big TV sets, where all students are displayed, a digital board, which can be used as a horizontal or vertical electronic flipchart. Three video cameras catch the speaker on video at the same time, and then they deliver an image in 4K resolution. The lecturer’s presentation is displayed on the control monitor. The classroom is equipped with a radio communication system: radio microphones, acoustic speakers, video and audio mixers.

“In fact, the multimedia classroom is a full-featured video studio. This complex fully represents the atmosphere of a classic lecture, which has been faded with the advent of distance learning. We did our best to create conditions for the interactive work as close as possible to reality,” Andrey Yakovlev explained.

The lecturer conducts the lesson using a lavalier radio microphone. Thus, he can gesture and move freely, the sound remains clear and proper. The monitors of the audience alternately show the speaker from various perspectives and the image from the board or a presentation. Videos of classes will be recorded and saved in good quality.

An electronic board is one of the features of the classroom. The lecturer can write with electronic markers both on a blank sheet and over the blanks, make corrections and erase the written text in one movement. Moreover, the image is transmitted not through a video camera, which can cause interferences such as blinks, but directly in digitalized form.

Any lecturer of Tomsk Polytechnic University can use the multimedia classroom.

“We’re also planning to invite visiting speakers into this classroom to conduct open lectures for the TPU students and other Russian universities. During a pandemic, it is the best option in comparison with an ordinary meeting because thousands of participants can join the lecture, whereas the number of seats in the ordinary classroom is limited,” Andrey Yakovlev said.

“Now TV studios exist in many educational institutions, but their operation is expensive, a whole staff of employees is required and these studios hardly allow you to receive participants’ feedback quickly.”

“The classroom at TPU is unique for the universities of Russia: due to the novelties of the world of technologies it allows the processing of HD video and sound digital streams rapidly and seamlessly integrating them into video conferencing systems, and only one technical support employee can easily provide the whole support,” Andrey Yakovlev considered.

Pavel Strizhak, TPU professor, was the first to read the lecture in the new classroom. He told students about researches in the field of energy: the development of micro-explosive grinding technology for fuel droplets to improve the energy efficiency of engines.

The Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Department of Drama, Thammasat University, opened a theatre workshop to stimulate involvement and social responsibility among high school youths.

The Department of Drama decided to organize “Theatre Workshop to Build Citizenship and Social Responsibility in High School Youths” for high school students from five schools to produce a drama about citizenship and social responsibility.

However, due to the spread of COVID-19, the workshop changed from theatre performance to video performance. The attending schools are Joseph Upatham School, Nakhon Pathom, Streesmutprakan School, Suankularb Wittayalai Nonthaburi School, Nawamintharachinuthit Horwang Nonthaburi School, and Santirat Witthayalai School, Bangkok.

The workshop was very successful considering that the students not only learned the drama production process but also learned to listen to other people’s opinions and become more considerate.

Their works portray various social issues such as social inequality in school, economic inequality among students, and sexual harassment. These issues are what students have encountered in their real life.

Their work will be portrayed on online social media and presented with the others of the faculty’s work under the “Shape the Young Mind” project.

COVID-19 required people to change the nature of their social interactions. Higher education has been massively affected by this epidemic. The universities had to postpone physical attendance and face-to-face lectures. However, the learning institutions quickly adapted and moved their learning and lecturing processes to digital platforms.

The use of internet technology for higher education in Malaysia is not a new thing. For example, in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), the online education method has been allocated at as much as 30% since 2010. Various learning platforms such as Moodle and Google Classroom have been activated, but UiTM also has its own platforms such as i-learn and u-future.

Faced with this health crisis, UiTM is willing to take full advantage of the method of online education. COVID-19 pandemic has been the main driving factor that influences most universities in Malaysia to take advantage from the use of online technology.

Other than the learning process, various seminars, courses, and training also take full advantage of online technology. Student associations are also actively conducting activities that sharpen the skills and leadership by making full use of internet technology.

The same goes for international student mobility and the globalization of education. The COVID-19 outbreak did not stop UiTM, especially the Faculty of Chemical Engineering (FKK) from staying proactive to establish more bilateral cooperation with foreign universities including Indonesia, China, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia through Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Memorandum of Agreement ( MOA) which are conducted online to highlight internationalization activities.

In this pandemic situation, FKK has targeted international networking activities by carrying out as much virtual cooperation as possible which not only saves money but also time. Diponegoro University, Syiah Kuala University, Sebelas Maret University dan Semarang State University from Indonesia have partnered with FKK in a student exchange program.

A total of 23 students from Indonesia and 18 students from FKK have been involved in this program for the year 2020. FKK has also involved the lecturers to provide virtual lectures to these universities.

In addition, the collaboration of research supervision involves multiples universities such as Hochschule Hannover (Germany), Semarang State University, 11 Maret University, Syiah Kuala Acheh University, Diponegoro University (Indonesia), Imperial College London, University of Leeds (United Kingdom) and Nanjing Forestry University (China) is intensified and enhanced through  online means.

FKK wants to ensure that the exposure of students and researchers at the international level continues to put UiTM, especially FKK at the global level.

UiTM, especially FKK remains active in implementing internationalization programs, student mobility, and online learning despite being constrained by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there are major differences to learning and research activities done through physical and face-to-face methods, however, the challenges faced should be calmly and positively overcome.

The COVID-19 pandemic is not a reason for educational and research activities to remain active. Undoubtedly, we have lived in the new norm patiently in the era of health crises that will be in the history book and as a reference to future generations.

Chiral N,N-acetals are an important component of several bioactive drugs and medicines. Owing to this, chemical reactions that lead to high-purity yield of the desired “enantiomeric” form are highly sought after. In a new study, scientists from Japan demonstrate high selectivity formation of N,N-acetals from reactions between 2-aminobenzamide and various diketones in presence of bis(imidazoline)-phosphoric acid catalyst and look into the possible mechanism, opening doors to facile synthesis of novel pharmaceutical drugs.

In the case of N,N-acetals, several studies have demonstrated their enantioselective preparation from aldehydes, aldimines, or enamines. However, in all these cases, their reaction partner has been limited to aldehyde or imines. While ketones have been employed, with instances of successful enantioselective N,N-acetal synthesis, their use—in general—is not considered effective.

In a recent study published in Advanced Synthesis & Catalysis, scientists from Nagoya Institute of Technology (NITech) and Osaka University in Japan explored this situation with an enantioselective synthesis of chiral N,N-acetals from α-dicarbonyl compounds—compounds with two carbonyl (ketone) groups on the α-carbon—in presence of chiral imidazoline phosphoric acid catalysts, and obtained yields as high as 99% with a maximum enantiopurity of 96%.

“Our study presents the first highly stereoselective formation of chiral N,N-acetals from α-ketoesters using an original catalyst that can be used for other stereoselective synthetic reactions as well,” says Prof. Shuichi Nakamura from NITech, who led the study.

The scientists began by examining the reaction of 2-aminobenzamide with various α-ketoesters in presence of different catalysts. The α-ketoesters differed from one another in the nature of the functional group attached to the α-carbon, while the catalysts chosen were bis(imidazoline)-phosphoric acid with different substituents attached to the nitrogen in the imidazoline ring, mono-imidazoline-phosphoric acid, and two commercial chiral phosphoric acids.

Among these various combinations, scientists found the best yield (99%) and enantiopurity (92%) in the case of α-ketoester with benzhydryl group and a bis(imidazoline)-phosphoric acid catalyst with 1-naphthalenesulfonyl group.

Scientists next examined the reaction of various aminobenzamides (bearing either an electron-donating methyl group or electron-withdrawing fluoro, chloro, and bromo groups) with different α-ketoesters (containing the same benzhydryl group but different functional groups in place of an earlier phenyl group) keeping the same bis(imidazoline)-phosphoric acid catalyst with 1-naphthalenesulfonyl group. All the combinations showed good yield (77–95%) along with high enantioselectivity (82–96%).

In addition, the team looked at the enantioselective synthesis of N,N-acetals via the reaction of N-benzyl isatin (a cyclic α-ketoamide), benzil (an acyclic diketone), and benzaldehyde with 2-aminobenzamide for the same catalyst. All three reactions yielded products with high enantiopurity (91–93%).

The team also proposed a possible mechanism for the N,N-acetal formation reaction corresponding to the best yield (99%), involving a ketimine intermediate with an amide group that helps avoid steric repulsion between the phenyl group on imidazoline, enabling the formation of an (R)-isomer with high enantiopurity.

While the mechanism is still speculative and requires further investigation, scientists are excited about the potential implications of the experimental results.

“Our new method will enable the synthesis of candidate pharmaceutical drugs that are currently difficult to synthesize, and can even potentially help create and provide people with new and better medicines in the future,” concludes Prof. Nakamura.

The BIO-OM Co. Ltd., a Chulalongkorn University spin-off biological technology research company supported by the CU Innovation Hub, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BBGI Public Co. Ltd. to cooperate on the production of Biological Products (Type: Enzymes).

The agreement is to further develop enzyme-based biological products to remove any toxic chemical residue on fruits and vegetables, which will benefit consumers and the food industry.  The products developed will be a spin off from research conducted by Prof. Dr. Alisa Vangnai, Department of Biochemistry, and Asst. Prof. Dr. Jittra Piapukiew, Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University.

The MOU was signed by Miss Phinchayut Akrakulsan, Managing Director of BIO-OM Company Limited, and Mr. Kittiphong Limsuwannarot, Chairman of the Executive Committee of BBGI Public Co. Ltd. Prof. Dr. Bundhit Eua-arporn, President of Chulalongkorn University, presided over the signing ceremony.

Also present during the MOU signing as witness were Prof. Dr. Chakkaphan Sutthirat, Vice President for Research Affairs, Chulalongkorn University; Mr. Thanarak Phongphatar, representative of CU Innovation Hub; Ms. Suwipa Wanasathop, Vice President of National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) and Director of Thailand Science Park; Ms. Chompoonuch Anusardsittikit, Director of Business and Innovation Cluster Development, Thailand Science Park; Prof. Dr. Polkit Sangvanich, Dean of Faculty of Science; and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sehanat Prasongsuk, Head of Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University.

Business Standard, the daily newspaper, in its B-School Ranking 2020, ranked Chitkara Business School among Top-50 B-Schools in A4 Band Category.

Chitkara Business School received an impressive ‘Overall Score’ of 70%. The Parameters included Audit – 80%; Perception – 50%. The ‘Audit’ was further split in parameters – Intellectual Capital – 80%; Admissions – 45%; Placements – 65%; Infrastructure – 45%; Industry Interface – 85%; Governance – 80%; Scale of Operations – 75%.

The methodology for the Business Standard B-School Survey used a combination of self-audit by the institutes and an external rating by industry. The final ranking of the business schools that participated this year was been obtained by arriving at a weighted composite score comprising the audit index and the perception index.

The audit index was calculated on the basis of a self-audit by the B-schools on six different parameters. The perception index was a weighted score arrived at by merging ratings obtained from the industry- alumni and HR professionals.

Business Standard B-School Survey assigned each parameter a different weightage based on the direction of an expert committee. The scores represent the percentile scores for all the six parameters of the audit module and the perception module. The categorisation was done after analysing the distribution of the final scores and the inflection points on this distribution curve. After the categorisation, percentile scores were calculated for each parameter.

The daily newspaper Business Standard is one of the preferred choices of serious business readers. It provides content and writings related to finance, stock market, opinions, politics, technology, RBI information and updates, and education.