PENANG, 3 May – Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) will explore greater opportunities to produce local engineers to help raise competitiveness in the production of the first electric motorcycles in the country by next year.
This effort will be implemented with the cooperation of another local university, that is, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM). A Memorandum of Understanding, to this effect, was signed by both parties yesterday.
USM Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Tan Sri Dato’ Dzulkifli Abdul Razak said that UteM has the infrastructure to help both universities to consolidate, strengthen and enhance their achievement especially in the area of engineering.
He said that the most significant effort that could be carried out jointly was in the production of the first electric motorcycle that met specific standards which were more environmentally-sensitive.
“In this context, we need a great deal of expertise to produce a motorcycle that is also sustainable and which will be an important innovation in propelling this field at the Asian level. We have been given to understand that Asian countries have not explored this aspect of producing electric motorcycles more deeply. Even if there is, the performance and quality can be improved upon and that is what we will do,” he said at a press conference after the MoU signing ceremony.
Also present were the Vice-Chancellor of UTeM, Prof. Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Yusuff Hassan; Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs and Development, USM, Prof. Omar Osman; and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic and International Affairs, UTeM, Prof. Dato’ Dr. Mohd. Nor Husain.
Prof. Tan Sri Dato’ Dzulkifli added that if the efforts to develop this area of producing electric motorcycles were successful, the country would have another area that utilizes the expertise and innovations of local universities.
“Indirectly, it will raise the quality of technology in the country and fulfill the aspirations of the government in enhancing the field of higher education in the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Prof. Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Yusuff said that the efforts of both USM and UteM can be described as a strategic collaboration that can strengthen and enhance higher education and which is also in line with the concept of collegiality that has been put forward by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia.
He said that besides exploring opportunities in the field of engineering, USM and UTeM will look into the potential of several other areas, including information and communication technology (ICT) and management.
“We are prepared to work with well-established universities, especially USM in exploring issues that can help the bottom billions,” he said.
He added that UteM has state-of-the-art equipment that could be utilised optimally while USM has expertise in various fields and if the two come together, it will result in high-impact output.
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