ISSUE 57 I ISSN 1675 - 2023 I JANUARY - MARCH 2016
The Right Kind of Nurturing
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Message
from the VC
Let me start this message with the
telling of a short story.
A young child hankering for her father’s
attention one day asked her dad to
spend a little time with her. Being very
busy with work, even at home, the
father rifled through a magazine and
found a complicated world map. He
tore it into many pieces and told the
little girl that he would spend time
with her once she had finished reassembling the world map. The idea
was that it would take the child quite
some time to match the pieces and
glue them together.
However, in about 10 to 15 minutes or
so, the little girl brought the finished
map to her very surprised father.
“How did you finish it so quickly?,” he
asked. The little girl turned the puzzle
over and behind it was the face of a
man.
“I just fitted the pieces of the man’s
face and the map came together on
the other side,” she said.
The moral of this story, from the mouth
of babes indeed, is that when you build
the man, you build the world.
As we face an increasingly challenging
global environment, this is a lesson
that we should take to heart. Being an
institution of higher learning, we have a
portentous role indeed to develop and
mould the movers and the shakers of
the future. This is where we must instill
and strengthen the right attitudes, work
ethic, character, leadership skills and
principles in our future generation.
At home here in Malaysia, while we are
undoubtedly part of the world at large,
our responsibility is to ensure that we
grow and continue to develop into a
nation that all of us can be proud of.
We need to be a country, an economy
and people that can not only withstand,
but more importantly, overcome the
various challenges that constantly arise.
For only when the man is right, will the
world be right.
So like the little girl, let us build the
man - and the woman - and they will
build the world.
Let us also continue to grow UTP and
make 2016 our best year yet.
Datuk Ir (Dr) Abdul Rahim Hj Hashim
Vice Chancellor
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Feature Story
Thriving on
Challenges
While some people see challenges as
obstacles to success or perhaps as
negative experiences to be dealt with,
Prof Dr Azmi Mohd Shariff considers
them pathways for learning and
progress.
This, in a nutshell, sums up this
scientist’s outlook towards life and also
his journey, starting from his schooldays,
right into his professional life. This is
also the keystone that has led to his
recognition as one of Malaysia’s top
research scientists.
Humble and unassuming, Prof Dr Azmi
is a man dedicated to his chosen life’s
work, both as an academician and a
scientist and researcher. Seated in his
office, surrounded by books and papers
that bear testament to his passion and
dedication to his work, he recounts his
journey.
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Growing Pains
Prof Dr Azmi’s dance with challenging
situations and competitive
environments began during his
undergraduate days when he was
part of the first batch of chemical
engineering students at UTM.
This conviction served him well indeed
and carried him as he journeyed
through his professional career and
especially in his passion for research
which incidentally took root after he
obtained his bachelors’ degree.
“As the inaugural batch of students,
we were much like the scapegoats,
kind of like the test subjects for the
programme. We had to deal with
limited resources, and brand new
things and this called for much
resilience, motivation and creativity on
our part as well.”
“My first job was actually as a research
officer and even securing this position
was quite a feat as it was smack into
the recession and there were many
people looking for jobs,” he says in
reminiscence.
These characteristics soon became an
integral part of Prof Dr Azmi’s success
and in his own words he says that,
“Character is built when one faces and
successfully overcomes obstacles and
challenges along the way.”
To cut a long story short, Prof Dr Azmi
eventually obtained his MSc in Process
Integration from UMIST and PhD in
Adsorption Process from University of
Leeds, UK where he developed and
sharpened his strengths and attributes
for research.
These two different yet complementing
fields today form the focus of both his
research and academic work.
Having worked with UKM earlier in
his career, Prof Dr Azmi is one of the
pioneer staff of UTP and he also held
the distinction of being one of the
select few staff who was a PhD holder
at that point in time.
“When I joined UTP, my role changed
from research to academics as the
aim then was to develop and establish
the academic programmes of UTP.
We were the ones that developed the
Chemical Engineering Department
which I am so proud of today.”
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Feature Story
Heeding
the Call of
Research
In recent years, with UTP having
successfully established its academic
side of things in various engineering
fields, Prof Dr Azmi has been able to
refocus his energy and efforts towards
his first love - research.
His goal - to ensure that his research
fills the needs and gaps of the industry
so as to improve on processes and
production in any way possible.
“All research is only as good as the
benefit it offers to society, for what
good are findings and innovation if
they are merely academic exercises?
The ultimate aim must be to produce
something that would bring benefit to
people, processes and production,” he
explains.
Armed with this core belief, Prof Dr
Azmi has successfully also developed
positive links and tie-ups with industry.
Developing these crucial networking
relationships, he says, is the one sureway for academics and researchers to
have a clear understanding of industry
needs. Simultaneously, it would also
foster industry-university links that will
pave the way for better co-operation
and working relationships between the
two parties.
“Our role as scientists and innovators
is to find solutions to problems and
to create new ideas, products and
methods. We can only do this, and do
it to the best of our ability, if we know
what is lacking out there.”
Deeply committed to and involved in
both research and academia, Prof Dr
Azmi has a long list of successes and
accomplishments behind his name.
He has filed more than 20 patents and
copyrights and has led more than 25
research projects with cumulative grants
of more than RM35million.
With a firm belief that knowledge must
be passed on and leadership nurtured in
the next generation, he has mentored
more than 20 MSc and PhD students.
The good doctor also has more than
150 publications in indexed journals.
His recent induction into the Top
Research Scientists of Malaysia
(TRSM) hall of fame recognises and
acknowledges his contributions to the
field of research and science while
lauding his accomplishments. Not one
to sit on his laurels, Prof Dr Azmi feels
that his work is far from accomplished
“There is just so much to do, so much
to research and so much to find and we
simply cannot find the time to do it all.
So, the solution is to work smart and
effectively”.
With clear goals set before him for the
next decade or so, he is determined
to continue leading research activities,
for both UTP and its development as a
research university and for industry as
well.
UTP is most certainly proud to call him
one of our own and we look forward to
cheering more of his successes.
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News
A Spanking
New Building
for Research
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The UTP skyline has
changed…it now
includes a twoblock R&D building
standing four
storeys tall which
only earlier this
year was officially
completed and
handed over to UTP.
So we now have 65 more laboratories,
with additional office space on every
floor, all spread over 21,225 square
metres of space. These new blocks,
designed in compliance with the Green
Building Index Certification, will mainly
be the home of two of our Mission
Oriented Research (MOR) centres namely
the Carbon Dioxide Management and
Enhanced Oil Recovery centres.
Additionally, it will also house the
Exploration and Production Research
Laboratories for:
- Projects under the Long-Term
Research Grant Scheme
- Hybrid Energy Systems
- The Centre of Advanced Safety
Processes
- South-East Carbonate Research
- Gas Separation Research
- Geoscience and Petroleum
Engineering Research
This spanking new building will most
certainly be better environments that will
further encourage research. This is also
in keeping with UTP’s commitment to
constantly and continuously upgrade on
our facilities.
Improved facilities such as these would
help us consolidate efforts to strengthen
R&D activities as we propel ourselves
further, in both academics as well as
research excellence.
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More Gold,
Silver and
Bronze
We took part in eight sports at the recent
Higher Education Sports Competition
(SUKIPT) and we brought back medals for all
of them! Now, that’s an accomplishment to
be proud of indeed.
News
51 of our athletes marched forward carrying the UTP flag high and did us proud
with a sweep of two gold, two silver and four bronze medals. We displayed our
strengths in table tennis, badminton, taekwondo, volleyball, chess, athletics and
pencak silat.
Held at University Teknologi Malaysia in Johor this year, SUKIPT is organised by
the Ministry of Higher Education.
We Win
Again!
This first quarter of
2016 was definitely a
goldmine for UTP in
terms of sports.
For the seventh consecutive time, we
emerged as the overall champion of
Kejohanan Sukan Mahasiswa Zon Utara
2016!
This was achieved with a haul of 10
gold medals and five silver medals, an
improvement over last year’s seven gold
medals.
It is indeed heartening to note that our
students are committed to excellence,
not only in academics but also in sports
activities. While the games form a
platform to showcase sporting excellence,
they are also an excellent way to promote
such activities amongst students in private
educational institutions.
This time round, the competition was
organised by the Tunku Abdul Rahman
University College. It saw the participation
of 16 institutions that sent teams in for
badminton, basketball, bowling, chess,
futsal, netball, table tennis and volleyball.
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News
IHS Software…
for Training Our
Geoscience
and Petroleum
Graduates
IHS Global Pte Ltd has made a generous
donation of software worth USD7.27 million
to UTP.
This software is specifically targeted
to facilitate the training of the next
generation of geoscience and
petroleum graduates in their final stint
just before they step into industry.
Students and staff in the Geosciences
and Petroleum Engineering
Departments will use this IHS
Software for extensive production
optimisation as well as seismic and
geological research development.
It will go a long way towards
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enriching student’ experiences at
UTP while also improving research
capacities and increasing operational
excellence and academic delivery.
With the addition of contemporary
software such as this, UTP will also
be better positioned to meet today’s
education industry needs while
anticipating tomorrow’s innovation.
Thank you IHS…!
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News
Tribal…
Leading UTP
Towards Better
Management
of Student
Processes
UTP is on a mission to transform our admission to
graduation processes. This is in the interest of both
the university administration and the students alike,
smoothening the administrative pathway.
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For this, UTP has selected Tribal’s
SITS: Vision student management
information system (MIS), making
it the first in Malaysia to adopt this
student management solution.
UTP will use this MIS solution in
the management of its student
population of more than 8,500
students representing over 60
different countries. It will facilitate
better management of application,
enrolment and other student support
processes.
Just a note on Tribal - they are
a global provider of world-class
student management systems and
analytic services to universities
around the world. A market leader in
the UK, the company has a growing
global presence and their work in
the five continents of the world is
supported by some 1,300 staff.
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News
Something brand new on
the horizons…
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=
Alpha Matrix for
Enhanced Oil
Recovery (EOR)
+
Nanotechnology
=
Electromagnetic Energy
Enhanced Oil Recovery
This is the new equation that UTP
has proposed in the drive towards
a breakthrough in the world of oil
extraction and recovery. The name of
the game, Alpha Matrix.
A technique specially designed
as a “smart well” concept, Alpha
Matrix works on the premise that
electromagnetic waves will vibrate
nano fluids that will be pumped
into existing oil wells. This vibrating
nano fluids will then separate the oil
deposits from the bedrock, with the
loosened oil also propelled upward
by the said nano fluids.
Spearheaded by UTP’s Professor
Dr Noorhana Yahya, the project
is backed up by a team of experts
in both fields. As an integrated
approach, it will also draw upon the
expertise of numerous specialties
including physicists, mathematicians,
civil, mechanical and chemical
engineers, geophysicists and
geologists.
Incidentally project Alpha Matrix
has received RM42.3 million from
Petroleum Research Fund (PRF), the
single highest grant ever received by
UTP, attesting to the importance of
the project.
So now, we wait in anticipation to see
these labours coming to fruition.
Stay tuned for more on Alpha Matrix
in the future.
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UTP graduates
make their mark
everywhere they
go. This attests
to the learning
and the character
building they
undergo during
their time here
with us at UTP.
We at UTP believe
our students can
do anything they
set their minds
to, and succeed
in whatever
endeavour they
delve into, be it
climbing the ranks
of the corporate
ladder, building
businesses and
simply making a
difference.
Alumni
As Napoleon Hill
said…Whatever the
mind can conceive
and believe it can
achieve...and these
are some of our
graduates who
have personified
this statement.
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A Woman in a
Man’s World
Hani Zahira Zaharudin
Project Engineer
Sarawak Shell Bhd, SMEP
Whenever you think of the rough
and tough life of working in the
demanding arena of the oil and gas
fields, it is quite natural to conjure up
a picture of guys sporting hard hats
and getting dirty and grimy, much
like what we see in a lot of movies.
functioning and working as they
should. When it comes down
to it, she plays a truly vital role
as malfunctioning machinery or
underperforming equipment could
mean millions of ringgit in losses in
this challenging industry.
However today’s world is no longer
just a man’s world, and the fairer half
of the population have proven their
mettle by being just as competent
in many of the professions and jobs
previously held only by men.
So is her gender a handicap in any
way in relation to her job?
This is exactly what Hani Zahira
Zaharudin is doing.
Hani is a Project Engineer attached
to Sarawak Shell Bhd, SMEP and
she is truly the epitome of a woman
in a man’s world. A relatively fresh
graduate, having just completed her
tenure with UTP last year (2015) she
is totally immersed in the demanding
environment of the oil and gas fields
- and she loves it!
“Rarely do you find a woman doing
the kind of work that I do, but I think
we are as capable as any guy. Yes, it
is hard work and it is demanding, but
I love it,” she says.
So this determined and adventurous
young woman dons overalls and
a hardhat and helms the brown
fields in her task of ensuring that
equipment and machinery are
Hani firmly says that it is not.
“Being a woman in no way makes the
tasks more difficult. This is work that
any qualified person can undertake
and women have the ability and
capacity to learn the necessary skills
and carry out this work just as well as
men can.”
“The working world is a real-time,
fast paced environment, where you
constantly learn and think on your
feet with the objective to ensure
that the company’s needs and
requirements are met. You have to
be specific, goal-oriented, know
exactly what is required of you and
sometimes even think ahead and
anticipate potential situations.”
So Hani is out there, making a
difference and applying the skills and
talents she acquired at UTP within
an industry that is effectively fuelling
just about each and every aspect of
the world we live in today.
Creating Opportunities,
Expanding Minds
Muhammad Shafiq
Founder
Creative Minds
Getting a degree does not always
mean that one ends up working
for someone else, in other words,
employed, as it were. As Muhammad
Shafiq proves, a good and solid
tertiary education is an experience
that paves the way for creativity,
entrepreneurship and higher goals
and ideals.
Armed with his passion for learning
and passing on knowledge to
the young, this enterprising UTP
graduate founded Creative Minds, a
centre designed for children to learn
the intricacies of Math and Science.
Far from offering the usual tuition
classes that are all the rage these
days, Creative Minds, as its name
suggests, is a centre where learning
is through playing and tinkering with
Lego. Shafiq says the idea is to instill
a love for science and technology
in young minds towards cultivating
a future generation of innovative
minds.
are introduced to solar energy,
mechanical engineering, and
mechanics and later progress to
more in depth knowledge and
programming and problem solving
activities,” he explains. He adds that
the children are exposed to the Lego
EV3 Mindstorms Education range
that combines 21st century learning
solutions with a sturdy LEGO
Technic Building set.
The combination of Lego
construction and programming
results in a foray into the world of
robotics, an exciting and upcoming
industry.
At a Creative Minds centre then,
instead of desks and chairs, one
would see drawers filled with
colourful Lego blocks, large tables/
platforms and lots of wide open
carpeted spaces for the children to
test their robotic and mechanical
creations.
The carefully prepared modules,
designed to enhance the local
education syllabus, stimulates
thought, encourages teamwork and
develops problem solving skills and
children learn through hands-on
activities.
This is certainly education and
teaching that go beyond traditional
schooling. With more and more
parents looking for such learning
opportunities for their children,
Shafiq has certainly hit the nail
on the head with this brilliant
introduction.
Wouldn’t you want to go for a class
and learn the principles of science,
math, physics, engineering and
construction through building Lego
robots and making them move
and carry out tasks, or build and
programme robotic creations that
can kick a ball?
“Play, creativity and imagination
- these are the hallmarks of
childhood, and at Creative Minds,
we encourage and draw these out
of the children in the application of
Math and Science, through the use
of Lego blocks.”
“We teach them the basic
concepts of simple machines like
gears, pulleys and levers.They
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welcome aboard
24 new staff members joined us during the months of January to March this year. We welcome our new
colleagues from both far and near and we wish you a great journey with us here at UTP.
Abul Hassan Ali Quddusi
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Research & Innovation Office
Mohamed Latheef
Lecturer
Faculty of Engineering
Nurul Aini Amran
Lecturer
Faculty of Engineering
Ahmad Amirun Aqil Ahmad Rohi
Clerk
Student Support Services
Mohammad Ashraful Mobin
Research Scientist
Management and Humanities
Putri Nurizatulshira Buang
Lecturer
Faculty of Geosciences & Petroleum
Engineering
Amerul Hazriq Ibrahim
Clerk
Finance & Asset Management
Mohd Fauzi Abd Karim
Research Scientist
Faculty of Engineering
Amyra Nadia Zolkifle
Executive
Corporate Services
Mostafa Ghasemi Baboli
Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Geosciences & Petroleum
Engineering
Shafirah Samsuri
Lecturer
Faculty of Engineering
Muhamad Syamim Hasbullah Halmi
Executive
Design & Prototyping Centre
Sharmila Doraisingam
Clerk
Residential Village
Norshakirah Ab Aziz
Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Science & Information
Technology
Sohail Ahmed Memon
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Research & Innovation Office
Fitrah Noor Zairudin
Executive
Yayasan UTP
Haylay Tsegab Gebretsadik
Lecturer
Faculty of Geosciences & Petroleum
Engineering
Hitham Seddig Alhassan Alhussian
Lecturer
Faculty of Science & Information
Technology
Mahmod Othman
Associate Professor
Faculty of Science & Information
Technology
Numair Ahmed Siddiqui
Lecturer
Faculty of Geosciences & Petroleum
Engineering
Nurrakin Auni Mohamad Yaacob
Clerk
Human Resource Management &
Administration
Seyedeh Khadijeh Taghizadeh
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Management and Humanities
Venkatramana Losetty
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Research & Innovation Office
Yusma Hanis Mohamad Yusoff
Executive
Human Resource Management &
Administration
UTP Quarterly is the quarterly newsletter of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS. The views and opinions expressed or implied are
those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University’s management. No article in part or in whole
should be reprinted without written permission.
Editorial correspondence and contributions can be addressed to:
The Editor-In-Chief, UTP Quarterly, Corporate Services,
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
Tel: 605-368 8230