UiTM Deepens Partnership with Fraunhofer IEM Mechatronic System Design Germany to Advance Malaysia’s Innovation Ecosystem

Seeing Germany as a forerunner in the shift to Industry 4.0 and a global leader in manufacturing innovation, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) has selected the country as a major partner for its engineering programmes. One of the Asia-Pacific nations, Malaysia, has been selected as the test bed for the Fraunhofer IEM's first innovation lab. UiTM is the largest public university in Malaysia and is home to more than 160,000 students and 18,000 academics and staff. The intention is to establish conditions under which corporations and educational institutions might collaborate on R&D initiatives. This lab debuted in September 2019 for students, researchers, and the industry, and it features "Digital Engineering" workstations, prototyping technology areas, and workshop and training facilities. 

Both institutions have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to work together on future projects, including research, development, and the growth of innovation laboratories. A new agreement has been signed in light of the fruitful results of the first cooperation. The LOI was signed on July 13, 2022, at Fraunhofer IEM in Paderborn, in the presence of Dato' Seri Abdul Razak bin Jaafar, the Secretary-General of Malaysia's Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE). The long-term objective of innovation laboratories is to establish an ecosystem capable of overcoming the "invention death valley" typically encountered between Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 and TRL 6. There is an immediate need to establish a framework for collaboration between institutions of higher education and private industry to promote innovation. Meanwhile, Fraunhofer IEM connects the academic world in Germany with the private sector. Under collaboration with Fraunhofer IEM,  industry visits to Diebold Nixdorf, Beckhoff Automation, and GEA Westfalia helped to interact with industry experts and learn more about the industrial environment in Germany.

The program aims to produce well-rounded graduates capable of handling stress, making meaningful contributions to society, and competing successfully in the global job market. The university has issued a statement explaining its plans to become a globally recognised institution by 2025. One of the ways it plans to do this is through bilateral academic-industry cooperation with Germany.