FICT researchers get Best Paper Award at IWAIT 2021
Dr Lau (top row, second from left) and Ts Lai (third row, far left) during the virtual best paper award ceremony
A team of three lecturers from UTAR Faculty of Information and Communication Technology (FICT), namely Ts Lai Siew Cheng, Assoc Prof Ts Dr Lau Phooi Yee and Assoc Prof Ts Dr Tan Hung Khoon received the Best Paper Award titled, “3D Deformable Convolution for Action Classification in Videos” at the International Workshop on Advanced Image Technology 2021 (IWAIT 2021) which was held on ZOOM from 5 to 6 January 2021.
Providing an international forum for researchers and engineers who are interested in the field of advanced image technologies, IWAIT 2021 was organised by Kagoshima University of Japan and co-organised by Korean Institute of Broadcast and Media Engineers (KIBME), Korea; Institute of Electronics Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE), Japan; Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers (ITE), Japan; Japanese Society of Precision Engineering (JSPE-IAPI), Japan; and Image Processing and Pattern Recognition Society (IPPR), Taiwan.
UTAR lecturer contributes to the India Book of Records and Asia Book of Records event
Martin’s certificate
Adding a feather in his cap, UTAR Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences’ Department of Physiotherapy lecturer Martin Ebenezer Chellappan was named in the India Book of Records and Asia Book of Records event for writing two Book Chapters under Advances in Health care, Nutrition, and Healthy Lifestyle areas. Martin is one of the maximum authors contributing to a book on Covid-19 and its impact.
Organised by ESN Publications, the award ceremony took place in January 2021 in Chennai, India. Martin was also awarded “The Most Distinguished International Award – AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE” by the organiser, ESN Publications, as a tribute to his contributions.
Proud achievement at 2021 NCKU Joint Research Programme with Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand
Dr Chua was selected to be the co-researcher for NCKU SATU Programme
UTAR Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering lecturer Dr Chua Kein Huat’s research project titled “Stability Analysis of a Hybrid Renewable-energy System Fed to a Multi-Machine Power System Using a Static Compensator Integrated with a Flow Battery” was one of the twelve awarded projects in the 2021 NCKU Joint Research Programme with Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. Additionally, Dr Chua was also selected to be the co-researcher for NCKU SATU Programme.
The 2021 Joint Research Programme provides a subsidy up to 12 merit projects. The awarded teams must participate in the NCKU Overseas Week, scheduled to take place from 8 - 12 November 2021 (subject to change). Dr Chua’s research project was led by a Professor from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Prof Wang Li, who is also the principal investigator for the awarded project. Other team members include NCKU Prof Lee Chien Hsing, UTAR LKC FES doctoral student Bong Huey Lih and Dr Chua.
LKC FES academic secures research grant from
Tin Industry (Research and Development) Board
Dr Tham Mau Luen
Academic and researcher Ir Ts Dr Tham Mau Luen from Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science (LKC FES) successfully secured an RM10,000 research grant from the Tin Industry (Research and Development) Board Research Grant 2021.
The grant will facilitate his research titled "Deep Learning-based Machine Vision for Tin Soldering Defect Detection in Low Powered Embedded Platform". His research explained that with the emergence of Industry 4.0 and the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), automating visual inspection systems using machine learning has become a popular trend. Tin soldering, which is an integral process of printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing, can adopt AI techniques to detect defects. However, deploying these AI models on resource-limited embedded systems remains an open issue. Therefore, this project aims to develop a deep learning-based machine vision system for tin soldering defect detection in the low powered embedded platform. His research is joined by another LKC FES academic Chean Swee Ling.
UTAR FEGT bags two golds and three bronzes in iCompEx’2021
Certificate of award of Dr Sin and his team
FBF academic receives National Outstanding Young Researcher Award
Dr Lee displaying her award certificate
Faculty of Business and Finance academic Assoc Prof Dr Lee Voon Hsien was recently awarded the “National Outstanding Young Researcher Award” by the Private Education Cooperative of Malaysia. The award was conferred to Dr Lee at this year’s Private Education Excellence Awards 2021 which was supported by Emerald Publishing.
In addition to this award, Dr Lee was also conferred the “National Outstanding Educator Award” by the Private Education Cooperative of Malaysia in 2018. Her other recent achievements also included numerous research honours, namely Most Downloaded Article in Machine Learning with Applications, Best Paper Award at an International Conference in 2021, and the Most Downloaded Article awarded by Expert Systems with Applications (ESWA), Elsevier, USA. Dr Lee is also the Chairperson of the Centre for Business and Management.
UTAR FEGT bags two gold medals and two special awards at the 6th Annual International Invention Innovation Competition, iCAN 2021
UTAR Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology (FEGT) academics, namely Prof Dr S. Sumathi, Assoc Prof Dr Mohammed J. K. Bashir, Assoc Prof Dr M. Yamuna, and Dr M. Mathialagan continued to shine by winning two globally recognised gold medals and special awards at the 6th Annual International Invention Innovation Competition, iCAN 2021.
The 6th annual edition of the International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada, iCAN 2021 was held virtually in Toronto, Canada on 28 August 2021. This was the second year in which the event progressed virtually due to the ongoing Covid-19. The competition saw two teams participating from UTAR.
The first winning team, which was comprised of Prof Sumathi, Dr Bashir and Dr Yamuna, was awarded a gold medal and an International Special Award by EUROBUSINESS-HALLER & Haller Pro Invention Foundation for their invention titled “EggSORB”. The team walked away with a gold medal, a special award medal and certificates.
Six UTAR researchers ranked among the World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University
Six UTAR academics made it into Stanford University’s list of Top 2% Scientists Worldwide. Stanford University recently released the updated list that represents the Top 2% of the most-cited scientists and academics in various disciplines.
UTAR FMHS Researchers awarded the MTSF Science & Technology Award 2021
Emeritus Prof Dr Cheong Soon Keng and his co-researchers were awarded the prestigious Malaysia Toray Science Foundation (MTSF) Science & Technology Award 2021. This award is only given out every year to two outstanding Malaysian scientists/researchers in the country in recognition of outstanding achievements, discoveries or contributions in Science and Technology. Each award comes with the prize of RM30,000.
Emeritus Prof Dr Cheong, Dean of UTAR Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, and his co-researchers in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Prof Dr Choo Kong Bung, Prof Dr Ong Han Kiat, Dr Leong Pooi Pooi and Dr Teoh Hoon Koon, won the award based on their research on induced pluripotent stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells.
The Malaysia Toray Science Foundation was established in 1993 through an endowment by Toray Industries Inc, Japan. The Foundation is registered with and is recognized by the Malaysian authority as a charitable organization formed to promote and advance science and technology in Malaysia.
UTAR Faculty of Science researchers awarded
MTSF 2021 Science & Technology Research Grant
Mr Wong Sian Sang and co-researchers from the UTAR Faculty of Science, Dr Lim Tuck Meng and Dr Wong Wey Lim were awarded the Malaysia Toray Science Foundation (MTSF) Year 2021 Science & Technology Research Grant of RM14,000 which is funded by the Toray Science Foundation of Japan.
They were awarded the grant for their research project on the Fundamental Assessment and Analysis of Host Extracts as Attractants for the Host-searching of Oil Palm Bagworm’s Parasitoids.
FICT secures special award and three medals at In-ViDE 2021
The awards received included a “National Planetarium Best Innovation Award”, two “Inventor Gold Award” and one “Inventor Silver Award”
The participation by Faculty of Information and Communication Technology academic Ts Dr Lee Chen Kang and his students, namely Lim ShienShen and Tan Jian Yee in the International Virtual Expo of Innovation Product and System Design 2021 (In-ViDE 2021) saw the trio winning a special award and three medals for their research.
Themed ‘Revolutionized Innovation: Embracing the New Norm’, the expo aimed to give exposure to various levels of inventors, as well as encourage the culture of innovation design focused on latest technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Covid- 19 related technologies and inventions, in line with the theme of the expo. It was organised by University Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Malaysia Innovation Foundation, and National Planetarium Malaysia from 27 October to 22 November 2021.
FBF researchers won best research award at AAM Conference
A team of Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF) academics added a feather in their caps when they were conferred the Best Paper Award at The Asian Academy of Management (AAM) International Virtual Conference, organised by Universiti Sains Malaysia from 3 to 5 December 2021.
The team consisted of main author Deputy Dean for R&D and Postgraduate Programmes Dr Choong Yuen Onn, and co-authors, namely FBF academics Seow Ai Na, Julian Teh Hong Leong, Dr Peter Tan Sin Howe, along with Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) academic Dr Hafizah binti Mohammad Ismail.
The award-winning research was titled “The Mediating Effect of Digital Transformation Extent on the Relationship between Managerial Proactiveness and Business Resilience: Government Intervention as a Moderato”.