KUCHING – Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus today signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with other universities for exploration and collaborative partnership in research and development projects in Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem.
Aimed towards establishing smart cities in Sarawak, the projects will also involve Curtin Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) and Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak Campus (UiTM).
The MoA signing was part of the three-day Industry 4.0 Awareness Programme held at the university’s campus from 16 to 18 October. It is jointly organised by Swinburne Innovation Malaysia (SWIM) Sdn Bhd and Swinburne’s School of Information and Communication Technologies, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, and supported by the Ministry of Industrial and Entrepreneur Development Sarawak (MIED) and Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA).
Present to witness the signing ceremony were Deputy Chief Minister, Minister for Industrial and Entrepreneur Development and Second Minister for Urban Development and Natural Resources Sarawak YB Datuk Amar Haji Awang Tengah bin Ali Hasan, and Assistant Minister for Industrial Development Sarawak YB Malcolm Mussen anak Lamoh.
Also present were Permanent Secretary of MIED YBhg Datu Liaw Soon Eng, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of Swinburne Sarawak Professor John Wilson, Vice-Chancellor of UNIMAS Professor Datuk Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi, Rector of UiTM Sarawak Campus Professor Dato Dr Jamil Haji Hamali, and Associate Professor Dr Ramasamy Nagarajan on behalf of Pro Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Curtin Malaysia Professor Jim Mienczakowski.
The MoA outlines the engagement of the four top universities in Sarawak to design, build and deploy a minimum IoT ecosystem in an existing city using low-cost, off-the-shelf components. The ecosystem consists of a low-powered wide area network (LPWAN) together with selected end-devices and infrastructure around the pilot locations namely Swinburne campus in Kuching; UNIMAS campuses in Kuching and Kota Samarahan; UiTM campuses in Kota Samarahan and Mukah; and Curtin Malaysia campus in Miri.
The pool of expertise from these universities will be responsible in the local deployment of IoT base innovative applications, for example, loop sensors, cameras and beacon that could be used as end-devices for smart traffic monitoring. The collaboration is expected to produce a body of knowledge that can be served as enablers for urban development.
Meanwhile, the awareness programme aims to encourage Sarawak manufacturers to leverage on the latest Industry 4.0 technology in order to achieve high competitiveness, with focus on timber and food manufacturing. Furthermore, it also seeks to foster a stronger industry-academic ecosystem that addresses the specific needs and expectations within the industry.
Apart from the MoA signing, today’s event also featured keynote addresses titled ‘Society 5.0: Digitalisation of Food and Agribusiness’ by Geuko Bosker, Senior Specialist for Technology and Innovations, NTT Data Corp, Japan; ‘Assisting Manufacturing SMEs in Digitisation: An Australian Perspective’ by Dr Nico Adams, Director of Factory of the Future, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia; and ‘Industry 4.0 for Manufacturing Plants’ by Ir. Dr Mohd. Danial bin Dato’ Dr Hj Ibrahim, Senior Lecturer, UNIMAS.
Other highlights include focus group discussion, on-campus demo and laboratory visit.
Swinburne offers top-notch Australian education in foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. At the Sarawak campus, its professionally accredited and industry-applicable courses in engineering, business, design, computing and science are identical to those offered at the Melbourne campus. As a result, graduates are awarded the same Australian qualification that allows for broader recognition and better employment opportunities around the world.
At present, it is home to approximately 3,500 students from more than 45 countries. This makes for a culturally diverse and colourful campus community where students gain rich learning experience with an international flavour.
For more information about Swinburne, visit the university’s website (www.swinburne.edu.my), Facebook page (@swinburnesarawak), Instagram (@swinburnesarawak), Twitter page (@Swinburne_Swk) or YouTube channel (Swinburne Sarawak).