PENANG, 26 October 2015 – The Innovation and Commercialisation Office (ICO) of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) continues to strengthen the innovation and commercialisation efforts of the existing research products.

The latest effort was done through My Innovation Hub (MIH), a platform connecting the international stage with the academia, government, industries and the community.

The MIH team paid a courtesy visit to ICO recently for discussions and to strengthen further the cooperation.

Director of ICO, Professor Dr. Rahmat Awang explained to MIH on its role of bridging the researchers at USM in efforts to commercialise the products of USM innovation into the market.

“During the visit, ICO has proposed a number of projects such as Carbon Nanotube-related technology, bio-plastic, oil palm and waste water treatment as among the areas having the potential in future cooperation efforts,” said Rahmat.

He hoped that MIH could work together with USM to explore and discuss issues in relation to innovation and commercialisation in the future.

Meanwhile, the Head of MIH, Vincent Wong Wai Sang explained that MIH was established and supported by the Ministry of Higher Education to create an Ecosystem for Innovation which would be capable of establishing connections between the academicians and the government, private sector and the community, and corresponding to the Seventh Thrust of the Malaysia Education Development Plan-Higher Education (PPPM-PT) 2015-2025 to drive forward the growth in the economy of the country, which is in line with the demands from the changes in technology.

“MIH was established to provide a bridging platform connecting the international stage with the academia, government, industries and the community for the development of new innovation or the integration of existing innovation into a new system to fulfil the demands of the market.

"It also helps to commercialise and market existing innovations, with the aim of turning Malaysia into a New Hub for Innovation to raise the standards of the country in the Global Innovation Index as well as in other similar indexes,” he said during the visit.

Added Vincent, the mission of MIH was to integrate all the research teams from the universities and institutions of higher education and to match them with the teams from the Public Research Institutes (PRI), as well as to establish cooperation with international universities and research institutions to produce advanced innovation, technology and services and to be followed with the commercialisation of such innovations for the betterment of the country and the world at large.

Others who were present at the visit include the Director of Industry Relations Division Ministry of Higher Education, Associate Professor Dr. Arham Abdullah and the Senior Principal Assistant Director, Industry Relations Division Department of Higher Education (JPT), Mohd Yazid Sairi.

Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin

Text: Hafiz Meah Ghouse Meah

Photos: Courtesy of Hartini Alias (ICO)