By: Rohaizan binti Khairul Anuar

KUALA LUMPUR, 4 Dec : Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) held its annual Academia-Industry Gala Night at the Grand Banquet Hall, UTMKL Residensi  to honour its longstanding friendship and the flourishing partnership between the two entities..

The theme chosen for the evening was aptly named as  “Building an Alliance, Advancing Partnership” to signify UTM’s full commitment in synergizing with its industry and corporate organization partners for the long run.

In an era of interdependence, UTM foresees the importance of partnerships to ensure its relevancy and ability to be the source of new knowledge and innovation and to become providers of skilled personnel and credible credentials, contributors to innovation, attractors of international talents and business investments.

All these aspects are significant in driving our nation’s economic growth and elevating the livelihood of the community.

Currently, UTM has more than 2,137 industrial linkages and the evening was a platform to recognize and acknowledge the contribution of all its industry collaborators and corporate organisations in driving the progress of UTM.

In the spirit of energizing the quintuple helix model, a model that aims to bring together the government, academia, industry, civil society and the natural environment, UTM together with other stakeholders have developed and collaborated on impactful sustainable programmes.

The gala night was officiated by Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali, Chairman to UTM Board of Directors and attended by 105 industry representatives from 55 corporate organizations.

The night was made memorable by a special performance by Tan Sri Azman Hashim, the Chairman of AmBank together with the UM Big Band.

Six category of awards were awarded to 12 industry partners in recognition of their contributions in our Research, Endowment, Academic, Alumni Relation and CSR Projects with a special category for the Best Industry of the Year Award. The award recipients were :-

Research Category

• PETRONAS RESEARCH SDN BHD

Corporation Excellence Award-winning

• BAKTI SUCI SOLUTIONS SDN BHD

SME Excellence Award

Endowment Category

• YAYASAN AZMAN HASHIM

Endowment Contribution Excellence Award (Endowed)

• MAHA PERSADA CAPITAL SDN BHD

Endowment Contribution Excellence Award (Expendable)

Academic Category

• COUNTRY GARDEN PACIFIC VIEW SDN BHD

Graduate Employer Excellence Award

• ERICSSON MALAYSIA

Academic Talent Development Excellence Award

Alumni Relation

• KLIA PREMIER HOLDINGS SDN BHD

Commitment & Linkages Excellence Award

• Q-BENA RESOURCES SDN BHD

Smart Partnership Excellence Award

Corporate Social Responsibility

• CIMB FOUNDATION

Knowledge & Technology Transfer Excellence Award

Special Awards

• INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PETRONAS

Best R&D Industry Cooperation Award

• INSTITUTE OF NOISE AND VIBRATION

Best UTM Centre of the Year Award (Industrial Collaboration)

• YAYASAN AZMAN HASHIM

Best Industry of the Year Award