Curtin Malaysia and IIIT Bhagalpur to collaborate in education and research

Miri – 2 October 2021 – Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) and the Indian Institute of Information Technology Bhagalpur (IIIT Bhagalpur) in India signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen education and research collaboration between the two universities in a virtual signing ceremony recently.

Curtin Malaysia’s Pro Vice-Chancellor, President and Chief Executive, Professor Simon Leunig, and Director of IIIT Bhagalpur, Professor Arvind Choubey, signed the MoU on behalf of their respective universities. Professor Leunig was represented by his deputy, Professor Vincent Lee Chieng Chen, at the ceremony.

The MoU sets the framework for collaboration in a wide range of educational and research activities, including exchange of students and faculty members for research, knowledge sharing, academic internships, exchange of academic materials and publications, and the organising of joint academic and scientific conferences.

In his speech, which was delivered by Professor Lee, Professor Leunig said Curtin Malaysia was delighted to partner with IIIT Bhagalpur, one of the fastest-growing IIITs set up by the Indian government in a public-private partnership in 2017.

Professor Leunig noted that IIIT Bhagalpur is an institute of national importance under an act of parliament in India, whilst Curtin Malaysia is Curtin University’s largest global campus and hub in Southeast Asia, and as such, both have much to contribute to a dynamic education and research partnership.

“Curtin Malaysia is always keen to establish meaningful partnerships with leading universities and industry at national and international level. Our collaboration will foster greater academic advancement and research innovations at both our universities,” he said.

Professor Choubey concurred, saying the collaboration would benefit both universities in achieving excellence in education and research through exchange of knowledge and cutting-edge technological advancement on a global scale.

He also commended Dr. Sukanta Roy, Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Curtin Malaysia, and Dr. Gaurav Kumar, Head of IIIT Bhagalpur’s Mechatronic Engineering Department, for initiating the collaboration.

Dean of Curtin Malaysia’s Faculty of Engineering and Science, Professor Tuong-Thuy Vu, and Dean of Learning and Teaching, Professor Beena Giridharan, also expressed support for the collaboration, saying they look forward to seeing considerable collaborative activities and projects between students and academics of both universities.

As part of the collaboration, Curtin Malaysia and IIIT Bhagalpur jointly hosted a week-long ‘Faculty Development and Research Knowledge Sharing Program on Mechanical, Mechatronics and Soft-computing Engineering’ (MMSCE2021) online conference from 6 to 10 September 2021.

The conference was attended by 285 participants from 60 universities in Malaysia, India and Australia. They exchanged knowledge and ideas, and discussed innovations, trends and future challenges related to mechanical, mechatronics and soft-computing engineering.

The conference was inaugurated with candle lighting by Professor Arvind and a Vandana ceremony at IIIT Bhagalpur as a symbol of truth, peace, knowledge and understanding between the two universities. Representing Curtin Malaysia at the opening were Interim Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Vincent Lee, Professor Vu, Dean of Research and Development and Director of the Curtin Malaysia Research Institute Professor Ramasamy Nagarajan, Professor Giridharan, and Dr. Sukanta Roy, who was the convenor of the conference.

When delivering the conference’s inaugural speech, Professor Lee said the conference provided an effective platform for intellectual discourse and knowledge exchange which could spur future research collaborations between Curtin Malaysia and IIIT Bhagalpur.

“Now more than ever, experts, engineers, and researchers in academia and industry need to come together to share ideas and collaborate to create more reliable, efficient, and sustainable future technologies,” Professor Lee said.

The conference featured 14 sessions covering a wide range of research topics related to mechanical, mechatronics and soft computing engineering delivered by expert speakers from Curtin Malaysia and IIIT Bhagalpur.

The speakers from Curtin Malaysia were Dr. Garenth Lim (Recent Developments in Training Artificial Neural Networks), Dr. Sujan Debnath (Natural Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites in Research), Dr. Mahmood Anwar (Acoustic Materials Design Towards Noise Control of a Local Palm Oil Mill: An Industrial Research Project Perspective), Professor Vincent Lee (Vibration and Predictive Analysis for Machinery), Dr. Moola Mohan Reddy (Machining of Nickel-based Super Alloys with Advanced Cutting Tools), Dr. Wong Wei Kitt (Smart Sensor and Data Analysis for Human Motion and Activity Detection), Dr. Man Djun Lee (Role of Mechanical Engineers in Mitigating Climate Change), and Dr. Sukanta (Renewable Energy Integration for Off-grid Wind Power Generation).

Meanwhile, the speakers from IIIT Bhagalpur were Professor Choubey (Recent Trends in Soft Computing), Dr. Sandeep Raj (Development of Handheld Device for Heartbeat Monitoring using Artificial Intelligence), Dr. Purnendu Kumar Mandal (High Temperature Deformation Behaviour of 2219 Aluminium Alloys Micro-Alloyed with Silver), Dr. Tameshwer Nath (Investigations on Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) Behaviour in the Development of MEMS Devices), Dr. Abhinav Gautam (Continuum Damage Mechanics Application for Engineering Alloy), and Dr. Gaurav Kumar (Introduction to Electric Vehicle Technology).

IIIT Bhagalpur’s Professor Arvind Choubey holding up a copy of the MOU while Curtin Malaysia’s Professor Vincent Lee can be seen on screen holding another.

Screen grab of some of the MMSCE2021 participants.