One of the stars was Unimas Applied and Creative Arts Faculty Assoc Prof Dr Nazlina Shaari’s invention called “Eco-Mordant: Utilising Sago Effluent in Natural Dye Process” which won the Very Best Invention and Innovation Award.
Her invention showed an alternative method of using sago effluent in the natural dyeing process.
The pre-mordant and mordant of natural dyes have a lot of heavy metal additive used in enhancing natural pigments, such as copper, iron, aluminium, ammonium sulphate and others.
The product utilises sago effluents to produce various tones of natural colours in fabrics through the fermentation process.
With Nazlina’s invention, the dyeing process can replace the toxic and non-biodegradable chemical dyes with a dye that is low in toxicity and is also biodegradable.
The success of Unimas researchers at the expo has become an im- petus to step up their research activi-ties with the hope of pro- ducing inventions and innovations for the possibility of commerciali- sation.
MTE, which was held from Feb 16 to 18 at the Putra World Trade Centre, was organised by the Malaysian Association of Research Scientists (MARS) and PROTEM Exhibitions Sdn Bhd.
Some 558 inventions from local and international participants were exhibited. Unimas showcased 18.
Foreign institutions of higher learning and organisations which participated came from 40 countries, including South Korea, Croatia, Russia, Poland, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
A total of 95 gold, 156 silver and 194 bronze medals were awarded.
Extracted from the star.
