MIRI: Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) and Press Metal Bintulu Sdn. Bhd. recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for collaboration in research and academia.
The tie-up is also for student and staff development, human resource capacity building for Malaysia, including the offering of financial aid and scholarships to Curtin Malaysia students and joint community engagement activities.
Signing for Curtin Malaysia and Press Metal Bintulu were deputy pro-vice-chancellor Professor Vincent Lee and group general manager Choa Wei Keong respectively.
Among those present were Curtin Malaysia’s acting chief operating officer Assoc. Prof. Pieter Pottas, dean of research and development Prof. Ramasamy Nagarajan, dean of learning and teaching Prof. Tang Fu Ee, director of School of Pre-U and Continuing Education (SPACE) Dr. Fidella Tiew, associate dean of external engagement Dr. Lim Chye Ing and marketing and communications manager Nicholas Leong, and Press Metal Bintulu general manager Kenzer Tan.
Prof. Lee said Press Metal Bintulu’s industry experience as a globally integrated aluminium producer with a significant presence in Southeast Asia could be leveraged with Curtin Malaysia’s strengths in research and academia for their mutual benefit and the benefit of its students.
“We look forward to any potential joint research projects, career guidance, mentoring sessions and speaking engagements by Press Metal Bintulu staff, as well as internship and industry immersion and job placement opportunities for our students.
“As Curtin University’s largest global campus and hub in Southeast Asia, and a private university majority owned by the Sarawak government, coupled with our broad expertise and modern and well-developed research and teaching facilities, we are well placed to be a strong partner in these collaborations,” he said.
Prof. Lee stressed that Curtin is committed to innovation and excellence in teaching and research, and engaging local communities and transforming lives through leadership, innovation and excellence.
“We are also committed to providing inclusive learning ecosystems that maximise the opportunities for our students and ensure that the education we provide is relevant to industrial practices, and our students are career-ready when they graduate.”
Choa, meanwhile, thanked Curtin Malaysia for the renewal of the industry-academia partnership and the promise of more collaborations between the two organisations.
He said their previous joint research project to develop a system for environmental surveillance of fluoride emissions from aluminium smelters and investigation into the effects of fluoride accumulation on the surrounding environment proved a success and it would be interesting to see what new collaborations can be formed in the near future.
“Now that we have more freedom from COVID-19, we have the chance to renew our partnership and explore a few potential collaborative projects that we at Press Metal have in mind. We are also interested to hear any ideas from Curtin Malaysia,” he said.
He added that the internship programme for Curtin Malaysia students at Press Metal Bintulu is still ongoing and he looked forward to more Curtin students undergoing internships with the company so that they will have relevant industry exposure and Press Metal Bintulu, in turn, will have the opportunity to identify potential hires among them.
