Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin and his consort Toh Puan Norlidah R.M. Jasni spent time with the staff and students of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) during a fast breaking ceremony at the UMS Islamic Center on Saturday.

Juhar, who is also UMS Chancellor, together with UMS Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Kasim Mansor had witnessed the presentation of zakat donation amounting to RM34,500 by the Sabah Islamic Religious Council (Muis) to UMS during the event.

The donation was presented by Muis senior assistant secretary of the zakat and fitrah division, Saffruddin Manshuruddin, to UMS board of directors chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

Juhar also witnessed the handing over of zakat wakala amounting to RM40,000 from Bank Islam Berhad to UMS, presented by Bank Islam Sabah director Baria Sarudin.

A total of 1,198 students and 24 UMS staff are eligible to receive the zakat distribution, with student zakat assistance for the asnaf group including selfsupport, study and dormitory fees as well as assistance to undergo industrial training.

Attendees at the event also listened to a Ramadan tazkirah session delivered by the State deputy mufti Datuk Abdul Manap Lakaribah before breaking of fast.

Juhar then performed Maghrib, Isyak and Tarawih prayers at the UMS mosque together with about 300 UMS staff and students.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is out to make its graduates more employable with China-based investors by increasing their Mandarin language fluency.

UMS Confucius Institute (Malaysia) director Professor Dr Chong Khin Phin said the university was signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kibing Group to teach its employees how to communicate fluently in Mandarin.

Kibing has reportedly sealed a RM2 billion silica sand processing and solar panel manufacturing project in Sabah.

The group, which aims to employ nearly 2,000 local workers, is expected to be fully operational in Sabah in November.

"With these investments, I believe our local graduates will have more job opportunities.

"What the institute is doing is providing locals with basic Mandarin conversation skills so they can speak and communicate well with their employers in the future," he said after awarding language course completion certificates to the first batch of 40 trainees at UMS here.

Chong added that there were some legal aspects to be finalised before the UMS-Kibing deal was signed.

He said the institute, established in 2019, offered up to Level 6 Mandarin language courses.

Present were Confucius Institute (China) director Deng Rong and UMS Registrar Luqman Ridha representing Vice-Chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Kasim Mansur.

Karen Chong, 37, who received her certificate today after completing the language course, said she was satisfied after achieving a personal goal to finish the third level of the Mandarin course.

The legal adviser at a Sabah-based utility company said she signed up for the course in 2019 and paid RM100 for each level.

"Although I had some basic knowledge of the language, with proper learning, I can now speak with proper grammar and identify words more easily than before."

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) started developing a Living Lab in mid-2022 to inspire the university, community and industry in creating innovation.

Vice Chancellor, Professor Datuk Dr. Kasim Mansor said the Living Lab application was a collaborative approach to innovation that involved various stakeholders.

"Living Lab is often used in the fields of smart cities, healthcare, sustainability and education.

"Now, where we are is also a Living Lab that involves testing marine-based technology, products and services," he said while speaking during the UMS Living Lab launching ceremony.

According to Kasim, collaborative partnerships between academies, industry, government and the community were important to ensure sustainable growth of the innovation development ecosystem.

"Collaborative models across these various entities are the main support for the development and growth of the Living Lab at UMS.

"In this model, industry partners take advantage of academic capabilities to support their needs in producing more innovative and competitive products," he added.

He added that the government also intended to develop, establish and manage its own Living Lab to provide policy for administering the implementation of innovative skills.

At the international level, Living Lab is an open loop innovation ecosystem that focuses on users, integrated in the simultaneous research and innovation process.

"Our mission at UMS is to ensure that our Living Lab can be an inspiration to the university, community and industry in creating innovations that are beneficial to society and industry.

"This is in line with the theme of the university as the leader of the innovative community," he added.

He added that the Living Lab application could also be used as a platform that could solve and help promote economic models.

"This can focus on efforts to promote an economic model that is in line with environmental sustainability and social interests.

"Living Lab is also able to provide an Information Transfer Programme (KTP) to target communities to foster the sustainable use of marine natural resources." he said

Researchers from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) continue to make the institution proud after winning nine medals and one special award at the Malaysian Technology Expo (MTE) 2023.

The university had won three golds, two silvers and four bronzes in the International Innovation Awards (IIA) category which saw a 100 percent victory for all its entries.

The first gold medal was won through an innovation titled Interactive Pre-Maths by a group of researchers led by Dr Connie Shin. The product was also crowned as the recipient of a Special Award from the International Federation of Inventors’ Associations (IFIA).

The second gold medal was won by a group of researchers led by Dr Jinky Jane C. Simeon with the Sompoton Video Assisted Learning (VAL) KIT product. 

Another gold medal was won through an innovation titled UMS Transformation Modules for Young Inmates by a research group led by Dr Esther Jawing.

Meanwhile, Connie who also led the research group for the Eco Pre-Maths product once again made UMS proud when their innovation successfully contributed a silver medal.

The second silver medal was obtained by a group of researchers led by Prof Associate Dr Fauziah Sulaiman through an innovation titled Integrated STEM-PBL Physics Module.

Four bronze medals were each won by research groups led by Dr Razak Mohd Ali Lee (WiRSense), Dr Intan Soliha Ibrahim (UMSfm’s Broadcasting Technology), Junaidah Januin (Prison Learning Project: Enriching Adults Inmates with Communication Modules), and the group of Prof Associate Dr Oliver Valentine Boy (Advance Tool for Tourism).

MTE was held for three days at the Kuala Lumpur World Trade Center recently, which witnessed the participation of more than 500 innovative products from 15 countries.

The opening ceremony was completed by Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang.

Also present at the award ceremony were UMS Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation Prof Ir Dr Rosalam Sarbatly and UMS PPIP Director Associate Prof. Dr Jidon Janaun.