LONDON, 22 January 2014 – UNIVERSITI Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Imperial College London (Imperial) will spearhead world class transport research to promote and intensify innovation and training of advanced research in the field of low carbon technologies.
UTM Vice Chancellor Professor Ir Dr Wahid Omar said, UTM in collaboration with Imperial has established the UTM Centre for Low Carbon Transport to conduct research with particular application to road transport.
He said, the specific areas of research which the centre will champion are efficient downsized engines, integration and optimization technologies for advanced hybrid and electric vehicles, new concepts for energy storage for vehicles and waste energy recovery technologies.
Their research on technologies for high efficiency and downsized internal combustion engines will be a catalyst, and will be expanded further into other aspects of technology in transport.
The centre is based upon the on-going collaborations between Prof. Dr. Ricardo Martinez-Botas from Imperial and Dr. Srithar Rajoo from UTM.
The collaboration between UTM and Imperial has started in 2011, whereby both parties signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in London, witnessed by Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
The MoU has laid a strong foundation for joint commitments between both institutions to promote research collaboration, exchange of PhD students and placement of post-docs.
To mark the significant milestone which will strengthen bilateral ties already existing, UTM and Imperial have signed Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to establish the UTM Centre for Low Carbon Transport and collaboration to conduct research on the related fields.
The signing ceremony took place at the Imperial campus, was signed by Professor Ir Dr Wahid Omar and his counterpart Professor James Stirling, Provost of Imperial College London, with the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, today.
The Deputy Prime Minister later launched and visited the UTM Centre for Low Carbon Transport which is located in the Imperial campus.
The establishment of the UTM Centre for Low Carbon Transport in collaboration with the Imperial even more significant and relevant for the future science, engineering and training development.
This meaningful engagement also aligns with Malaysia’s commitment for a 40% reduction in terms of greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020, as stated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the 2009 United Nations Summit on Climate Change in Copenhagen.
The strong commitment requires unified efforts from many sectors of Malaysian life and economy, and transportation is high on the list. Thus, the establishment of the UTM Centre with Imperial is timely to complement the government’s carbon commitments by 2020 and beyond.
It is worth noting that UTM has for many years build a strong professional network with Imperial, mostly through individual researchers who have completed their PhD and continued doing collaborative research and publications with their supervisors.
