MIRI: A team from the Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia), representing Malaysia, emerged as one of the top 15 finalists in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) Energy Innovation Hub competition recently.
The competition challenged students and teachers from around the world to identify and co-create innovative solutions that provide a multi-disciplinary and socially beneficial response to the world’s most immediate energy challenges.
Organised by the Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park (SRTIP) and innovation, digitalisation and enterprise solutions specialists Barrabes, it aimed to build a collaborative venue for the fostering and acceleration of an ecosystem that creates opportunities in energy, low carbon, and oil and gas sectors.
The Curtin Malaysia team, led by senior lecturer Dr Bridgid Chin Lai Fui, comprised newly-graduated chemical engineering students Yap Tshun Li and Mahrima Majid, and Adrian Loy Chun Minh from Monash University Australia.
Their submission, Deep Decarbonisation Pathway: Sustainable Green Hydrogen Production through Microalgae and Plastic Waste Mixture, was initiated by Yap and Mahrima, who had conducted preliminary research studies in sustainable green hydrogen for their final-year chemical engineering project under the supervision of Chin.
More than 100 submissions were received from teams from 17 different countries.
The other teams that made it into the top 15 were from the UAE, Morocco, India and Mexico.
All participants will be part of the SRTI Park ecosystem and will join its incubation programme in September.
They can also be speakers at one of the monthly events to showcase their solutions for smarter, more efficient and more sustainable energy.
Chin was delighted for the team, saying: “It’s a great opportunity for university teams to help solve urgent energy challenges faced by society today. My teammates and I are honoured to represent Malaysia in this competition and get the chance to showcase our idea in a business model.”
Prof Tuong-Thuy Vu, dean of Curtin Malaysia’s Faculty of Engineering and Science; Prof Nagarajan Ramasamy, dean of Research and Development and director for the Curtin Malaysia Research Institute, and Prof Simon Leunig, pro vice-chancellor, president and chief executive of Curtin Malaysia, were among those who congratulated the team.
For more information on Curtin Malaysia, visit curtin.edu.my, or look for Curtin Malaysia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or LinkedIn.
