21 April 2014. Skudai. The drive on the concept of “memasyarakatkan Universiti” (socializing the University), and on a softer note of being a research University, the UTM Community Transformation Centre (UTM-CTC), under the Office of Deputy Vice Chancellor Development strategizes on marketing UTMs expertise to corporate industries to give a home to poor communities in Johor.
The engagement with Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad leverages on the strength of UTM’s Construction Research Alliance through the Fast-Track Wall (FTW) technology to help build homes for the poor in the region of Johor. This engagement aligns with the University’s community engagement key focus area in improving livelihood.
Bank Islam’s “Projek Bantuan Rumah Bank Islam” (Housing Assistance Project) is a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme under the bank’s community track initiative which commenced in 2008. As many as 150 homes have been built and repaired through this project using their CSR contribution to improve the life quality of the poor and unfortunate. Such homes have been built and repaired across Malaysia, namely, in the states of Kelantan, Pahang, Kedah, Terengganu, Perak, Sarawak and now, in Johor.
With UTM’s strategic location in Johor and our strong construction expertise, Bank Islam has awarded UTM with a contract to build 6 new homes and perform repairs and maintenance on 5 homes in the state of Johor. The new homes will be built using German, South African and Malaysian FTW technology, which is known to be relatively stronger than conventional homes built using cement, sand, and wood. In addition, the construction costs will only be a fraction of those built using conventional materials and technology.
The UTM FTW technology is led by Prof Dr. Muhd Zaimi Abdul Majid. He said that the technology has been developed to suit the Industrialised Building System, a building concept that emphasized on the preparation of building components at the factory before transported to the construction site. He added that the construction of the homes involved a combination of local technology which incorporates raw materials with German and South African technology.
One of the strengths of the FTW homes is that it can withstand strong tremors and will not collapse easily because the walls are made of metal and plastic. The period of building such homes is also shorter, with a unit’s completion period not exceeding 30 days. This will help reduce waiting time for those in dire needs of homes. UTM has been given a time frame of 10 weeks to deliver all the homes as stated in the agreement with Bank Islam’s General Manager of Syariah Department, Haji Mohd Nazri Chik.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Development, Prof Dr. Azlan Abdul Rahman and Director of UTM–Community Transformation Centre, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nur Naha Abu Mansor hope that the UTM Research Alliance communities will continue to share their expertise through the newly established UTM-CTC. UTM-CTC acts as a focal point at the University to coordinate and drive community engagement. Its establishment also aligns with the MOE’s mandate for all Malaysian public universities to establish a University Community Transformation Centre (UCTC).
Prof. Dr. Azlan Abdul Rahman in one of his community engagement welcoming speeches to the industry, highlighted the importance of strengthening and building partnerships with the corporate industries and NGOs. This is because CSR initiatives will indeed create a strong university-community-industry partnership. He also beseeched UTM students to take the opportunity to learn and engage in community projects as this would create a sense of shared ownership and responsibility within the community which could be further enhanced and sustained when they join the industry.
The next UTM community engagement drive with Bank Islam later this year will be related to the bank’s “Pintar” (smart) project. Bank Islam has shown a strong interest in the Chem Eng Outreach @ BIODIESEL in School 2014 project headed by Faculty of Chemical Engineering’s champion of Biodiesel, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Firdausi Razali. The collaboration will take the form of UTM students’ engagement with secondary school children across six schools in Malaysia under Bank Islam’s Pintar School adoption programme. The engagement hopes to raise awareness among youths to become an eco-conscious youth nation by preparing them with responsibilities to manage environmental conservation.