R & D ANNUAL REPORT 2016

FOREWORD BY PRESIDENT

As we embark on another year, it is truly my utmost pleasure to deliver this foreword for the UTAR R&D Annual Report 2016.

I am elated to report that we have made great progress and 2016 has been a positive year for UTAR. Although we are a young and vibrant university in terms of age and dynamics, we have never ceased to grow and bring forth improvement in various areas. I am indeed very pleased to witness the continuous success, especially in the area of research and development. I believe if we continue to pursue and press on towards the mark, we will be able to achieve even greater heights in research and development.

Over the years, we have seen an increase in the number of students and R&D activities. Also, the consolidation of both the campuses in Klang Valley to the Sungai Long Campus has innervated the university to strategise and focus on better use of resources and facilities and increased focus on research developments since staff are also integrated to facilitate better communication. Our focus on research and development and the various schemes to support it, reflects the commitment of the university towards excellence in education and research.
The fact that the university has now successfully attained self-accreditation status is also indicative of its remarkable progress in the field of education. With this, we will seek further excellence in teaching and hope to set the standards for even better performance in research and publication.

UTAR’s growth is further indicated by its enrolment of more than 26,000 students and an alumni base of more than 50,000. Its global collaborations with more than 230 local and foreign partners, enable both staff and students to get greater access to exchanges, knowledge and networking especially with foreign partners for collaborative research.

The previous year was a hive of meaningful projects and activities with some of our researchers attaining sponsorships, awards and recognitions for their publications and research papers

It is with pleasure that I present to you the following highlights in the UTAR R&D Annual Report 2016:

• Cumulative internal research funds awarded totalled RM43.02 million as of 31 December 2016, an increase of 18 percent since 2015.
• Cumulative external research funds solicited as of 31 December 2016 amounted to RM41.19 million, an increase of 15 percent since 2015.
• Scholastic publications cited (cumulative) in Scopus rose from 2,143 in 2015 to 2,562 in 2016.
• The cumulative number of citations of publications in Scopus increased from 10,112 in 2015 to 15,432 in 2016.

Showcasing the excellence of our staff and postgraduate students are the following achievements:

•  Faculty of Arts and Social Science Deputy Dean for R&D and Postgraduate Programmes was awarded the Outstanding Asian Researcher Award;
• Two researchers obtained the Malaysia Toray Science Foundation (MTSF) Science and Technology Research Grant (STRG);
• The Centre of Immersive Technology and Creativity (CITC) received a silver medal and a special award for their VR Malay House Walkthrough project from the Korea Invention Academy at the 2nd World Invention Innovation Contest (WiC) 2016 held in Chung Mu Art Hall, Seoul, South Korea;
• Six researchers from the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology (FICT), with their brainchild titled “Basketball Net – A Flexible and Resilient Topology for Wireless Sensor Networks”, won a silver prize in the 27th International Invention and Innovation Exhibition (ITEX 2016);
• Faculty of Business and Finance tutor received the “Telematics & Informatics Most Downloaded Article (May – July 2016)” award from Elsevier (USA)’s Telematics and Informatics journal.

The abovementioned highlights are just a few of the many accomplishments UTAR has achieved. With these successes, UTAR aims to aspire further towards more collaborations, especially joint research projects and initiatives with the industry.
No organisation will succeed if we fail to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of staff, students, sponsors and partners for their time, energy and enthusiasm. .Therefore, I am deeply grateful to all of you for the profound commitment to the project and the University. I ask that you all continue to offer your advice, sagely wisdom and support so that we will continue to move forward.

Let us all strive to do even better and work harder for greater excellence in R & D projects. We have an enormous responsibility to take this organisation to another level and to leave our footprints in the sand of time.