Towards World-Class HICoE: UMPEDAC Bags The 2014 HLAF Award

The Human Life Advancement Foundation (HLAF) through its evaluation committee has chosen UM Power Energy Dedicated Advanced Centre (UMPEDAC), University of Malaya as the recipient of this year’s HLAF Lifetime Achievement Award.

As the recipient of the prestigious award, UMPEDAC has been awarded with a trophy, certificate and USD 100,000 (One Hundred Thousand US Dollar). This prominent award was presented by the HLAF Chairman, Y. Bhg Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the HLAF Award & Workshop 2014 - Award Dinner at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), Kuala Lumpur on 9th June 2014.

Human Life Advancement Foundation (HLAF) is a newly established foundation active in the fields of education, technology transfer and sustainable development in the developing world. HLAF mission is to develop networks of organizations and individuals that are able and willing to contribute to the needs of society, as well as in the development of internationally competent individuals.

HLAF also award scholarships to PhD and Post-PhD scholars who are involved in research works that will have significant milestone and impact on the world communities.

The Lifetime Achievement award was established to honour outstanding researcher or research group around the world in the field of science and technology that creates a positive impact on the future innovation in the scientific community. The eligibility criteria for this international award are the nominees’ contributions towards improving quality of life for the society benefit; novelty in the innovation or invention; technical feasibility and scalability; scale of market need and economic opportunity; potential for commercial success; and intellectual property potential.

UMPEDAC’s proven track records since its establishment helped in winning this prestigious award. Despite its humble beginnings in the year 2000, headed by its Founder and Director, Professor Dr Nasrudin Abd Rahim, UMPEDAC rose through the ranks and emerge as the nationally acclaimed Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE) in the Engineering Cluster for Renewable Energy research.

During the previous HICoE vetting process, UMPEDAC has successfully met all listed requirements and is now waiting for the official acknowledgement as a regional / international centre by the government.

In collaboration with MS Elevators Sdn Bhd, UMPEDAC has produced an award-winning 7.5 kW elevator drive prototype, securing the 2008 AKSA award bestowed by MAMPU. Together with another industry partner, the centre has also successfully produced local pre-commercialised grid-connected PV inverter. Close collaborations through consultancy services with local industries shows that UMPEDAC is serious in its effort to contribute towards enhancing the nation’s quality of life and local economic impact, which happens to be part of the award’s requirements. Industrial consultancy engagements have so far netted in a total of RM1.5 million, secured via various sources (CRDF, TechnoFund, and CREST).

Furthermore, UMPEDAC’s achievements are also eminent in publishing top-tier ISI publications, supervising postgraduate students, and filing for new patents.

A current challenge taken is the commercialization of the first ever made in Malaysia grid-connected inverter through technology licensing with local industry (EXT Technology Sdn Bhd); a RM2.4 million research work funded by UNDP-GEF. In ensuring the relevance of its research efforts, the centre also forged academic linkages with top rank universities in the world, for example Kyoto University, Japan; Virginia Tech. Institute (College of Engineering), United States of America; Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom; King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia; King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Thailand; Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), Austria; as well as other international and local universities.

Apart from the centre’s core businesses listed above, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and knowledge transfer programs also carried considerable weight in the award’s evaluation process.

UMPEDAC’s most immediate main goal is to become the first and foremost national centre for testing of Photovoltaic (PV) modules, PV cells and high-power inverters in Malaysia.

This success will indisputably propel the centre’s name to the international level, in line with the aspirations stated in the third core thrust of PSPTN of strengthening research and innovation activities.

Part of this thrust include establishing 20 world class international Centre of Excellence (CoE) by the year 2020. Securing this outstanding award confirmed UMPEDAC status to be at par with other international leading research institutions.

The conferred award has undeniably further improved UMPEDAC track records, and in the same time, bridging the existing gap between advanced and developing nations in areas of innovation and technological advancements.