The WISE Centre, established in collaboration between UTM and the National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), was officially launched at UTM on 24 April 2019. The Centre, mainly funded by the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), is aimed at strengthening collaboration between the researchers from Malaysia and Taiwan, through joint research, staff and students exchange, and joint training programmes. WISE Centre in UTM comprises researchers from the Resource Sustainability Research Alliance (RSRA), Research Institute for Sustainable Environment (RISE), and the Faculty of Science. The other Malaysian partners involved are USM and UniMAP.

During the launching event, NTHU was represented by the Senior Vice President, Prof. Sinn-Wen Chen and Prof. Ruey-An Doong from the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences. UTM was represented by the then Pro-Vice Chancellor (International) Prof. Dr. Nordin Yahaya. The launching event started with brief presentations about both institutions by Prof. Nordin and Prof. Chen, followed by a round table discussion between the researchers from UTM and NTHU. The delegates then visited the newly-established WISE Centre office at Building C07, officiated by Prof. Chen and Prof. Nordin on behalf of UTM and NTHU. The office will host visiting professors and researchers from NTHU on short visits to UTM to either conduct talks, lectures or for research exchanges.

Following this launching event, UTM will host the first Taiwan-Malaysia Workshop on Clean Water and Sustainable Energy, on 5-6 August 2019. This Workshop will bring prominent professors from NTHU to UTM, to deliver talks on topics related to water-energy nexus. All academic staff, researchers and students from any institutions are invited to participate in this Workshop, to build up stronger research network between Taiwan and Malaysia. Further information about this Workshop can be obtained from this link: https://www.utm.my/ipasa/2019/06/24/taiwan-malaysia-workshop-on-clean-water-and-sustainable-energy/

Group photo following the round table discussion

Officiation of WISE Centre office at UTM

Officiation of WISE Centre office at UTM

Photos courtesy of UTM Office of Corporate Affairs.