JOHOR BAHRU, 31 March 2015 – The Executive Vice-President and Provost, Prof. Dr. Nicholas P. Jones and Prof. Dr. Michael Adebola Adewumi, Vice Provost of Pennsylvania State University, U.S., visited Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) to deliberate on collaboration in academic and research.

Pennsylvania State or better known as Penn State is one of the top universities in the United States, and is very selective in choosing its strategic partners.Prof. Dr. Michael Adebola Adewumi during his visit to UTM in May 2014 as one of the Keynote Speakers in UTM’s University Presidents Forum, found UTM to be a worthy alliance, due to our strength in Engineering and Technology subjects.

UTM Deans and Deans of Research Alliances have forwarded proposals on how to capitalise on the collaboration. Among the suggested initial initiatives include partnering in  virtual laboratories and virtual workshops, which can facilitate discussions between faculty members and researchers from both universities.

The discussion also resulted in the agreement to hold two joint workshops which are expected to be held in August this year and February next year. Each university will nominate a coordinator in ensuring the smooth running of the workshops. The meeting also resulted in Penn State  opening up opportunities for UTM students to go to Penn State under the student exchange program.

The UTM-Penn State meeting was followed by visits to UTM’s laboratories involving the Institute of Bio-product (IBD), Wireless Communication Centre (WCC), Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC) and Institute of High Voltage and High Current (IVAT).

Following the visit, the Penn State University delegation was taken for a short tour to Kota Iskandar before departing for Changi Airport.