USM, PENANG, 17 November 2016 – Scientists as well as science students will fly high if they are equipped with business knowledge and have a strong network with those in the corporate world.

“Our students will have to take minor subjects in business and their experiences in those classes can make them different from other science students,” said the Executive Director of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), Singapore, Professor Dr. Jackie Y. Ying to more than 30 Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) lecturers, postgraduates and students.

IBN is a multidisciplinary institute founded by Jackie in March 2003 that focuses on nanomedicine, synthetic biosystem, biodevices and diagnostics, and green chemistry and energy.

“In commercialising the research products, researchers not only have to find companies in the market which have the funding but those that are willing to develop the technology even when they have no prior experience in such technology before,” she said.

In her talk entitled 'The Ideal Way to Commercialise Research Product', she also advised the young researchers to make an impact in life and try to be different.

“I am very passionate about research since my undergraduate days and I spent almost 80 hours a week during my PhD, and that helped me to find my expertise,” said Jackie who obtained her full Professorship at the age of 35 in 2001.

Jackie was born in Taipei and raised in Singapore and New York. She graduated with B.E. summa cum laude in Chemical Engineering from The Cooper Union in 1987. She was the inaugural winner of the Mustafa Prize “Top Scientific Achievement Award” in 2015 for her research in bio-nanotechnology and received a certificate, medal and US$500,000 in prize money.

Also present at the talk were the Director of Innovation Office, Research and Innovation Division, Professor Dr. Rahmat Awang; Director of International Collaborations, Professor Dr. Lee Keat Teong and Director of Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Professor Dr. Norazmi Mohd Noor. 

Text: Nor Rafizah Md. Zain