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179971
Wed, 05/04/2011 - 16:15
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https://oananews.org//node/179971
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UTEM'S INVENTIONS SHINE LOCALLY AND ABROAD
By Fadzli Ramli
MELAKA, May 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's first technical public university, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) today unveiled innovative inventions that have won praise locally and abroad.
Last year, the university's researchers invented products that won 41 awards at local and international expos and exhibitions.
UTeM Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Ahmad Yusoff Hassan said that the awards were testimony to UTeM’s fast progression in the field of inventions.
He said that five of the awards were special mentions, while eight were gold medals. The university also won 11 silver medals and 17 bronze medals.
“Three of the special mention awards and all the medals were won at international competitions,” he told Bernama.
CHAMPIONS AT INTERNATIONAL EXPOS
Ahmad Yusoff said that UTeM won the awards in four international expos and exhibitions and two national carnivals.
Among the international awards are four gold medals and one bronze at the World Exhibition On Innovation, Research and New Technologies 2010 (INNOVA 2010) held on Nov 18-22 last year in Brussels, Belgium.
The gold medals were for the Distribution Board Alert System (Dbas), the Traffic Light Electrical and Mechanical Fault Alert System (Wi-Traffic Light), Dual Band Polarized Antenna and Electro-Mechanical Locking System (EM-Lock).
"Developing inventions is important, but equally important is the human factor -- the researchers. We are keen on nurturing our researchers, who are mostly young people,” he said.
He said UTeM had always encouraged its researchers to not remain content with resting on their laurels and, instead, attempt to attain new knowledge for the nation’s benefit.
ALWAYS IMPROVING ON INVENTIONS
Ahmad Yusoff said UTeM researchers had launched over 200 inventions, aided by a university allocation of over RM4.5 million (US$1.5 million).
UTeM, established on Dec 1, 2000, had also obtained funds for the project, including from the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation.
“All our young researchers are locals. Our university is young too, so we’re proud that we are able to produce world-class inventions, despite the age of the university and our local researchers,” he said.
On the subject of commercialising the inventions, Ahmad Yusoff said that UTeM was exploring the possibility of joint ventures with the industry. Ten to 15 per cent of UTeM’s inventions are currently in the market.
"It’s good that the products are in the market, but more importantly, it is beneficial for us to explore new technologies by inventing new products,” he said.
UTeM today has over 7,500 students and an academic body of 750. There are six faculties -- four engineering faculties, an information technology and communications (ICT) faculty and a technology management and 'technopreneurship' faculty.
INVENTIONS WITH ENORMOUS POTENTIAL
Meanwhile, EM-Lock inventor Ir S. Sivarao said that the electro-mechanical based lock had commercial potential, especially in the security industry, since it could be used for bank vaults.
"This EM-Lock needs less than 4 per cent of energy compared with a regular magnetic-based lock. EM-Locks only need energy to lock and unlock, while regular magnetic locks requires energy all the time,” he said of the invention, which was devised after research began in 2008.
Sivarao said he took just two years to complete the product. In addition to the benefits of the EM-Lock, he pointed out that regular magnetic locks would unlock in the event of a power or battery failure, while the EM-Lock would remain locked even in such instances.
Mazran Esro, inventor of the Dbas, said his invention could immediately warn companies or owners of malfunctioning distribution boards (DB), which can lead to power failures.
"For a factory with over 100 production lines, this technology is crucial since each production line usually has its own DB. If a DB is damaged, all of the production lines could go down. But with Dbas, we can single out the damaged DB and, thus, limit the loss of productivity,” he added.
Mazran, who started working on the product in 2009, took about a year to finish his invention, which can also warn users of DB malfunctions via SMS.
Meanwhile, Wi-Traffic Light inventor S. Sivakumar said that his product could inform, also via SMS, local authorities or the Works Department about traffic light failures.
“My invention can give detailed information on the failure. such as time, date and type of malfunction. I started working on the product in 2008 and completed it two years ago," he added.
MELAKA, May 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's first technical public university, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) today unveiled innovative inventions that have won praise locally and abroad.
Last year, the university's researchers invented products that won 41 awards at local and international expos and exhibitions.
UTeM Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Ahmad Yusoff Hassan said that the awards were testimony to UTeM’s fast progression in the field of inventions.
He said that five of the awards were special mentions, while eight were gold medals. The university also won 11 silver medals and 17 bronze medals.
“Three of the special mention awards and all the medals were won at international competitions,” he told Bernama.
CHAMPIONS AT INTERNATIONAL EXPOS
Ahmad Yusoff said that UTeM won the awards in four international expos and exhibitions and two national carnivals.
Among the international awards are four gold medals and one bronze at the World Exhibition On Innovation, Research and New Technologies 2010 (INNOVA 2010) held on Nov 18-22 last year in Brussels, Belgium.
The gold medals were for the Distribution Board Alert System (Dbas), the Traffic Light Electrical and Mechanical Fault Alert System (Wi-Traffic Light), Dual Band Polarized Antenna and Electro-Mechanical Locking System (EM-Lock).
"Developing inventions is important, but equally important is the human factor -- the researchers. We are keen on nurturing our researchers, who are mostly young people,” he said.
He said UTeM had always encouraged its researchers to not remain content with resting on their laurels and, instead, attempt to attain new knowledge for the nation’s benefit.
ALWAYS IMPROVING ON INVENTIONS
Ahmad Yusoff said UTeM researchers had launched over 200 inventions, aided by a university allocation of over RM4.5 million (US$1.5 million).
UTeM, established on Dec 1, 2000, had also obtained funds for the project, including from the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation.
“All our young researchers are locals. Our university is young too, so we’re proud that we are able to produce world-class inventions, despite the age of the university and our local researchers,” he said.
On the subject of commercialising the inventions, Ahmad Yusoff said that UTeM was exploring the possibility of joint ventures with the industry. Ten to 15 per cent of UTeM’s inventions are currently in the market.
"It’s good that the products are in the market, but more importantly, it is beneficial for us to explore new technologies by inventing new products,” he said.
UTeM today has over 7,500 students and an academic body of 750. There are six faculties -- four engineering faculties, an information technology and communications (ICT) faculty and a technology management and 'technopreneurship' faculty.
INVENTIONS WITH ENORMOUS POTENTIAL
Meanwhile, EM-Lock inventor Ir S. Sivarao said that the electro-mechanical based lock had commercial potential, especially in the security industry, since it could be used for bank vaults.
"This EM-Lock needs less than 4 per cent of energy compared with a regular magnetic-based lock. EM-Locks only need energy to lock and unlock, while regular magnetic locks requires energy all the time,” he said of the invention, which was devised after research began in 2008.
Sivarao said he took just two years to complete the product. In addition to the benefits of the EM-Lock, he pointed out that regular magnetic locks would unlock in the event of a power or battery failure, while the EM-Lock would remain locked even in such instances.
Mazran Esro, inventor of the Dbas, said his invention could immediately warn companies or owners of malfunctioning distribution boards (DB), which can lead to power failures.
"For a factory with over 100 production lines, this technology is crucial since each production line usually has its own DB. If a DB is damaged, all of the production lines could go down. But with Dbas, we can single out the damaged DB and, thus, limit the loss of productivity,” he added.
Mazran, who started working on the product in 2009, took about a year to finish his invention, which can also warn users of DB malfunctions via SMS.
Meanwhile, Wi-Traffic Light inventor S. Sivakumar said that his product could inform, also via SMS, local authorities or the Works Department about traffic light failures.
“My invention can give detailed information on the failure. such as time, date and type of malfunction. I started working on the product in 2008 and completed it two years ago," he added.
