TUESDAY, 9 JULY - The Centre for E-learning, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) organised a Technology Enabled Learning Carnival (TELC) 2019 in UMS, here, recently. Technology Enabled Learning is rapidly evolving into a driver of the education industry. Digital innovations which promote digital teaching and learning at all levels are set to disrupt conventional methods of teaching and learning.

The objective of this carnival was to foster excellence in the deployment of technology in teaching and learning with a view towards improving student interaction with the lecturers and the educational content.

The competition is motivated by the need to meet the challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs-4) which emphasizes inclusive and quality education by adaptation of teaching and learning material for all learners.

18 lecturers participated in the event and presented their innovations in teaching and learning to a panel of judges comprising Dr. Kok Boon Shiong and Dr. Ronald Yusri Batahong , from the Department of Technology in Education, Teachers Training Institute Kent Campus;  and Associate Professor Dr. Rayner Alfred, Faculty of Information Technology and Computing (FKI) UMS.

The six winners of the gold award presented innovations which focused on the application of technology to pedagogy. These included Dr. Leau Yu Beng and his team from FKI UMS who developed an augmented reality colouring book which can be utilized by learners with special needs.

Madam Siti Hasnah Tanalol (FKI UMS) and her team who developed three technological innovations which included mobile applications for learning the Jawi script, and the Dusun Language. Her team also developed a mobile application for teaching English grammar with Dr. Esther Jawing from Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language (PPIB) UMS. 

Associate Professor Dr. Maher Fouad Sefein from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Science developed a special teaching tool for medical students who intend to pursue a specialization in Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) and the innovative element involved the use of special videos describing the various clinical conditions in patients.

Lecturers in nursing, Madam Deena Clare Thomas also from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Science was awarded for her work on developing a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) which can enable students to study at their own pace.

The development of these innovations is driven by the vision of UMS to move towards a flexible learning ecosystem in keeping with the demands of digital natives who represent a growing global population.

The application of technology to teaching and learning represents one of the key strategic shifts proposed by the Ministry of Education to achieve globalized online learning in Malaysia.

WEDNESDAY, 3 JULY - Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Plant Design Team emerged as the overall champion for the 7th IEM Chemical Plant Design Competition 2018/2019, organised by the Institute of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) in Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), Perak recently.

This was the second time UMS became the winner in this competition.

UMS competed against 32 teams from universities all over Malaysia, and the two teams from UMS were amongst the seven teams shortlisted for the final presentation.

The winning team comprised of Aubriecia Tonia Lim, Reomelda Lim, Evangeline Lau Wei Yong, Karen Lim, and Samantha Donsia, and supervised by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rachel Fran Mansa.

The theme for the competition was ‘Monetisation of Waste Plastics for Sustainable Chemical Production’. The objective was to utilize waste plastics as a raw material in producing valuable products for profit.

The shortlisted teams were chosen based on the Progress Report and Final Design Report, and after that, they were required to send a Management Report and slides for the final presentation.     

The awards were given away by the Chairman of Chemical Engineering, UTP Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Abdul Halim S. Maulud.

Both UMS teams were accompanied by Dr. S. M. Anisuzzaman during the final presentation.

The first runner-up went to Heriot-Watt University Malaysia, while the second runner-up was UTP.

Previously, UMS was the champion for the same competition in 2017 and second runner-up in 2018.

WEDNESDAY, 19 JUN - Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) has been included in the QS World University Rankings for the first time ever. According to the QS World University Rankings 2020 that has just been released, UMS breached the top 1000 of the QS World Rankings and is ranked 801-1000 in the world. UMS vice-chancellor Prof. Datuk Dr. Kamarudin Mudin said being listed in the world university rankings is the university biggest achievement yet. This memorable milestone, attained during the 25^th anniversary of the university, is the result of hardwork, dedication and perseverance of all staff, in particular the academic staff of UMS. This is a significant step forward in realizing the university vision “to be an innovative university of global standing”. This success will motivate and inspire the university community to soar UMS to greater heights. We will continue to built the strength of UMS, among others towards enhancing global prominence, with reference to the university Strategic Plan. This requires the commitment and support of everyone in the university. It is a team effort and every contribution will make a difference. For the record, UMS was established in November 1994 and will be celebrating its silver jubilee this year.

QS World University Rankings has been undertaken by Quacquarelli Symonds since 2004. Shortlisted universities from all over the world are evaluated based on selected indicators: (a) Academic Reputation (40 %), (b) Employer Reputation (10 %), (c) Academic Staff to Student Ratio (20 %), (d) Citations per Academic Staff (20 %), (e) Proportion of International Academic Staff (5 %), and (f) Proportion of International Students (5 %).

Centre for Strategic Management & Corporate Communications

Universiti Malaysia Sabah

19 June 2019

WEDNESDAY, 8 MAY - The Department of Biomedical Sciences and Therapeutics (BMST), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), had successfully organized a Community Service Responsibility (CSR) program entitled “Jom Sihat Bah! 4.0” at Kg. Pomotodon Inanam, recently with collaboration from Pusat Rawatan Warga (PRW) UMS and Kawasan Rukun Tetangga (KRT) Inanam.

The main objective of this CSR was to deliver health education through talks and poster presentation as well as general health screening to promote healthy lifestyle among the people of Inanam.

Additionally, this program was aimed to foster close relationship between the faculty members, health professionals and the local communities.

The event was officiated by the Dean of FMHS UMS, Professor Dr Mohd Safferee Jeffree. He congratulated the villagers who had made a wonderful effort to attend the event.

“I am pleased to see the crowd today to come forward to get themselves checked for the sake of their health.

“FMHS UMS will always reach out for the community as we are very concerned about the health of the people. We will strive to do more CSR with the local people,” he said.

Among the activities that were held during the one day event includes blood pressure and sugar check up, mental health examination and various informative and interactive health talks.

There is also a blood donation drive which enabled the villagers to donate blood to the needy. There was a special session on breast examination technique for female participants which would allow them to self-identify abnormal lesions in their breasts in order to get timely intervention.

Apart from that, the medical and nursing students of FMHS UMS also displayed human anatomy models to instill interest in medical science among youngsters, and carbon monoxide level detection for cigarette smokers via breath test by using Smokerlyzer^® device.

There was a special home visit for the underprivileged members of the community where donations were handed over to brighten up their day and ease their burden.

According to the Head of Department of BMST FMHS UMS, Dr. Carolline Sunggip, this is the fourth consecutive year that her department is organizing this CSR in Sabah.

“Every year we will hold this Jom Sihat Bah! Campaign at different villages in Sabah. Last year, we held it in Menggatal and next year, we hope to hold it in Keningau.

“We want to show to the people that UMS as a concerned university is capable to bring affordable health care to the villagers. We also would like to promote our Hospital UMS (HUMS) which is scheduled to be officiated in January 2020,” she said.