KUALA LUMPUR, 26 October 2015 – The recent signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between USM and the Malaysian Nuclear Agency on the occasion of the Technology Preview and Nuclear Showcase Malaysia 2015 programme will strengthen efforts at developing Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).

Dean of the School of Physics, Professor Dr. Mohamad Suhaimi Jaafar said that the MoA was signed to detail co-operation between experts from USM’s School of Physics and the Malaysian Nuclear Agency in the running of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Postgraduate Educational Course (PGEC) on Radiation Protection and the Safety of Radiation Sources for 5 years, beginning from this year. This collaboration will be managed by Usains Holdings.

“This programme, which is sponsored by the IAEA is being run by the Nuclear Agency of Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor. It has also previously been run five times by USM,” he stated.

Mohamad Suhaimi added that the participants of the programme would comprise selected government officers and that to date, 31 member states of the IAEA had been selected with the agreement of the secretariat whilst Malaysia had been selected as the IAEA Regional Training Centre for the Asia-Pacific region.

“Among the benefits of this collaboration to USM are that lecturers from the School of Physics will be able to contribute their expertise at the Asia-Pacific level, and the MSc (Radiation Science) Mixed Mode programme in the same field will be offered by the School of Physics, besides increasing opportunities for positioning and enhancing USM’s image at the Asia-Pacific regional level,” added Mohamad Suhaimi who is the academic co-ordinator for this collaboration.

Usains Holdings Managing Director Edwin Gomes meanwhile said that consultancy for the project between the Malaysian Nuclear Agency and the School of Physics will in principle be undertaken by Usains Holdings.

This programme was launched by the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) Datuk Seri Panglima Madius Tangau who stressed that the major challenge faced in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) is humanizing innovation in order to ensure that all members of the community, especially members of the grass roots can understand and experience the impact of STI in improving the quality of their daily lives.  

Various programmes have been planned in line with this event which runs from 26 to 29 October, including the launching of several books and products, a commercialisation and technology transfer seminar, innovation competition, intellectual property (IP) seminar, intellectual property clinic, R & D product exhibitions, visits to various plants and major facilities, business pitching and briefings on funding opportunities.

Also present at the programme was the USM Vice-Chancellor Professor Dato’ Dr. Omar Osman.

Translation: Dr Nurul Farhana Low Abdullah

Text: Hafiz Meah Ghouse Meah