On 5 May 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the covid-19 virus was no longer a public health emergency, suggesting the pandemic’s crisis phase had ended. The past four years have been challenging as UTAR rode through the waves of the pandemic, switched to online teaching and learning, provided support and online learning resources for our students, worked from home, began operations for UTAR Hosptial and managed health and safety protocols for everyone on campus. Having gone through all these has made UTAR stronger, more united and ever ready to take on new challenges as an educational institution which main objective remains to provide affordable quality education and to train our youths to be leaders of tomorrow.

The UTAR Research and Development (R&D) Roadmap 2021 – 2032 for faculties and research centres was introduced in 2021 and is continually monitored every 6 months to further enhance R&D activities in UTAR. This Roadmap paves the way on what actions need to be taken and how we can maximise the economic, environmental and societal impact of research through effective application of new knowledge.

The UTAR 10-Year Strategic Plan 2023-2032 was launched on 16 December 2022. In the strategic plan, the educational goal is enhanced to include the education of youths who will be forward-thinking, ethical and global professionals and entrepreneurs who engage in lifelong learning and contribute to society with greater impact. It involves 5 Strategic Thrusts, 18 Strategic Priorities, and 62 initiatives which progress are monitored every 6 months. The outcome of the July 2023 monitoring cycle of the 62 initiaives indicated that 48 initiatives (77%) achieved, and 3 initiatives (5%) partially met the set targets respectively.

UTAR’s focus on teaching and research excellence has earned the university much recognition especially at the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 and the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2024 where UTAR is ranked #1001–1200 and #301-350 respectively. UTAR’s Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2024 stands at a ranking of #301–400.

UTAR is also ranked 87th (Top 90) listed in the SDG 4: Quality Education table and 70th (Top 90) listed in the SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals respectively. These latest rankings as well as UTAR positioned 115th for World's Most Sustainable University in UI GreenMetric World University Rankings 2023 highlight the university’s strategic achievements and its direction in the right path in support of the SDGs.

UTAR is at present ranked #801-850 in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2025 and ranked #160 in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asia University Rankings 2024. This bears testimony of UTAR’s efforts who has always aimed for excellence in its educational, research and internationalisation initiatives.

The university is proud of the many committed researchers, whose dedication has earned them much praise and many accolades. Many have won national, regional and international awards and have gained the respect of experts from the industry. Their passion for research and their contributions in their field of expertise have added to the strong repute of the university, enhancing the foundation of the university for the people, by the people.

The previous year was filled with many meaningful projects and activities with our researchers as they manoeuvred through the pandemic. It is with pride that I present to you the following highlights in the UTAR R&D Annual Report 2023:

UTAR has the opportunity to contribute to making Malaysians healthier, through our Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics Research and Training Unit (N²RTU). University of Reading in partnership with UTAR emerged as the winner of the UK-Malaysia Education Institutional Partnership Award 2023 for their collaboration in establishing the project “Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics Research and Training Unit (N²RTU). N²RTU is the first of its kind in Malaysia, with a focus on knowledge and technology transfer in the emerging field of nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics via research and training. It was set up under UTAR Centre for Biomedical and Nutrition Research (CBNR), in collaboration with the University of Reading UK; funded by the British Council, UK; and Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), with the Ministry of Health (MOH), Malaysia, the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) and Nutrition Society of Malaysia (NSM) also as our associate partners. This will the pave way for large-scale research on Nutrigenetics, Nutrigenomics, and Precision Nutrition in Malaysia, and the recruitment of more specialists and technologists to further facilitate translation of research findings into practical applications and treatments that benefit patients.

Six researchers from UTAR Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF) are part of the team implementing the SOHO Project (Smart, Optimized, High-quality, and On-demand Tourism Innovative Education for Sustainable and Green Development, Grant Agreement no. 101129336) funded under the ERASMUS+ Programme, Key Action 2 – Capacity Building in Higher Education. This innovative international collaboration project unites a consortium of nine prestigious universities from Europe and South-East Asia and is planned to unfold over three years, starting in December 2023 and concluding in November 2026.

Researchers at the UTAR Lee Kong Chien Faculty of Engineering and Science (LKC FES) will soon release a three-dimensional (3D) metal printer that is cheaper, smaller, and easier to use compared to what’s available in the market today. Dubbed Me+ (material extrusion plus) with its patent filed in Malaysia, the United States, Europe, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand and India, the UTAR project is a collaboration with Solid Labs Sdn Bhd and aligned with the National Policy on Industry 4.0 (Industry4WRD), which is aimed at improving product performances through smart manufacturing, and transforming the manufacturing sector and related services in Malaysia through Industry 4.0 applications and technologies.

These are just a few of the many accomplishments in R&D, and the university is certainly constantly evaluating for improvements and expansion including developing a cooperative research framework with other institutions and professions.

I would like to also sincerely thank all the staff members of UTAR for their dedication, resilience, efforts and contributions in pursuing their research projects and collaborations during this challenging time. Let us all stay on-track and remain committed to pursue further collaborative research that will enable us to seek improvements for the society, the nation and the rest of the world.

Thank you

With best regards,

Ir. Prof. Dato' Dr. Ewe Hong Tat