MONDAY, 9 JULY- Industrial Training is a compulsory 5-credit hour course for the students who have completed their six (6) semesters of study in the Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (FKJ, UMS).

Industrial Training provides opportunity to the students to experience the real working environment so that they can relate theoretical knowledge with application in the industry.

The students will develop skills in work ethics, communication, management and working in a team.

The students are required to undergo industrial training for a minimum period of 10 weeks at the relevant industry or government body, locally in Malaysia for inbound industrial training or internationally for outbound industrial training.

As for the academic session 2016/2017, a total of 25 students from Civil, Electrical and Electronics, Chemical, Mechanical, and Electronics (Computer) Engineering Programme, FKJ, UMS, had conducted their outbound industrial training at various relevant companies in South Korea and Japan.

The students come from different backgrounds, including six Sabahan. Previously, several students received job offer to work in South Korea through the industrial training. Positive feedbacks were also received from the industrial training supervisors through their evaluation and students through their experience sharing session.

This effort was also praised and received good comments from Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC), Malaysia, during their visit to review our Mechanical Engineering Programme in 2016.

Continuation from the past successful event, a total number of 35 students from Civil, Electrical and Electronics, Chemical, Mechanical, and Electronics (Computer) Engineering Programme will undergo their outbound industrial training for the academic session 2017 / 2018, a positive increment in the number of student than the previous session.

Out of this number, 26 students will be attached in South Korea which Professor Dr. Seock-Sam Kim has assisted their placement process, and nine (9) students will be in China which the attachment procedure was arranged by Dr. Kenneth Teo Tze Kin. These include 13 Sabahans and 19 students in the category of bottom 40% household income (B40).

For the students who are going to South Korea, their placement of attachment is mainly at various distinguished companies at Daegu.

In China, the student’s placement is at Beijing and Fujian. Their industrial training starts since 25 June 2018. Furthermore, the outbound industrial training of FKJ, UMS students is also supported in procedure-wise and financially by UMS Centre for Industry and Community Network, and Center for Internationalization and Global Engagement.

Through this outbound industrial training, the students of FKJ, UMS will be exposed to new and advanced working environment in developed countries. This will also boost up their confidence and enthusiasm, particularly in engineering fields.

They will have the opportunity to experience cultural exchange, to absorb the fast, efficient, and effective working style, and to apply their knowledge in real international working industry. Consequently, through the outbound industrial training, the employability of students can be improved and reliable future engineer can be produced.

FRIDAY, 29 JUNE - An inaugural fruitful discussion coordinated by the EcoCampus Management Centre (EMC), UMS was carried out between the Faculty of Engineering, UMS and ‘No More Plastic in Our Waters’ (NOW) Project Group today.

The discussion primarily focused on the potentiality of partnership between the faculty and NOW Project Group to engineer a trash skimmer boat to collect floating plastic waste from the ocean and/or rivers, and to set up a waste plastic pelletizing teaching-pilot plant, a system that turns plastic waste into repurposed products at the faculty. 

Indeed, plastic waste is choking our Earth as nearly 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste have been produced worldwide since 1950s, and only 10% have been recycled.

Malaysia is not spared the agony as approximately 1.0 million tonnes of plastic waste were created making the country the 8th most affected nation globally.

Hence, such an initiative, although was preliminary in state, is deemed imperative to transform ideas and suggestions into localized actual actions that eventually address the pressing issue of plastic pollution.

The success of this partnership will inevitably also provide a showcase in sustainable environmental issue solution for both UMS and NOW Project Group.

The NOW Project Group is a Public-Private Partnership being presided by the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Sabah, and the group is being led by Gaya Recycle Sdn. Bhd.

The group consists of various private companies, NGOs, media, and governmental agencies, including UMS.

Present during the discussion were Dr. Abu Zahrim Yaser, Deputy Dean (Research & Innovation) and Dr. Mohd. Suffian Misaran@Misran of the Faculty of Engineering, UMS, Mr. Adam C.Y. Chan and Ms. Norfatimah Isa as the Secretariat of the NOW Project Group, and Mr. Kueh Boon Hee @ Kelvin, Deputy Director of EMC, UMS.

Source: EcoCampus Management Centre

TUESDAY, 5 JUNE – A total of 11 third year students of International Relations (HA15), Universiti Malaysia Sabah from the Faculty of Humanity, Arts and Heritage, have successfully conducted a program named as ‘Introduction to CPR and Natural Disaster Preparedness at Stairway to Hope in Luyang, recently.

Project Manager, Muhammad Nazirrudin Roslan said that Stairway to Hope is an alternative school that consist of majorly Filipinos students.

“The program which was participator a total of 30 students ranging from 13 to 20 years old gives them a basic education on First Aid and increase their awareness on natural disaster.

“The knowledge and skills gained from this program will be a great aid for the students in the near future,” he said in a statement today.

According to Nazirrudin, the program consists of two sessions; begin with presentation and practically learning about CPR, follow by begin with presentation and practically learning on Natural Disaster.

“Learning theory alone is not enough; therefore the students were thought practically on the proper technique to CPR.

“Meanwhile the learning on Natural Disaster aimed to give the students awareness and basic knowledge about earthquake to prepare and educate them the best course of action during an earthquake,” he said.

Also present at the event was the founder of Stairway to Hope, Marilou Salgatar Chin.

The work of making dictionaries describes impossibility because it is a daunting task to be carried out specifically by those from cultures which do not have the advantage of established and extensive documented history of literacy and lexical recording of their languages.

The task of compiling a document of indigenous lexicon for the use of the indigenous communities or for basic documentation so outsiders can learn about an indigenous community’s language is no mean feat. Yet for two strongly motivated individuals, that is what they have done on their own with minimal assistance. Their efforts to document and preserve their indigenous languages into ethnic dictionaries were shared in the second Brown Bag Seminar for Languages and Linguistics recently at Bilik Mesyuarat Utama, PPIB. The speakers, Datuk Cosmas Abah and Mr. Ricky Ganang, indeed provided powerful motivation for the younger generation interested in ethnic dictionaries documentation.

With the theme “Challenges and the Future of Ethnic Dictionaries in Sabah’, both speakers spoke on their individual journeys of developing their respective ethnic dictionaries which started as far back as 30 years ago. The audience were privileged to listen to first-hand information in the making of ethnic dictionary.

In his paper titled ‘Challenges of making the Dusunic dictionary and the future of unwritten languages’, Datuk Cosmas outlined the difficult challenges he faced in making the Kadazan Dictionary (in Tangaa Papar) which was published in 2016. The dictionary has 334 pages and contains four sections (Kadazan root words register, botanical terms, zoological terms, and English-Kadazan-Malay dictionary). It is a personal satisfaction to overcome the challenges given that Datuk Cosmas is an engineer by training and he had to learn linguistics on his own at the beginning of his venture.

The second speaker, Mr. Ricky Ganang, recalled how he started his Lundayeh – English dictionary before the age of computers and word processors. With basic pen and paper notetaking methods to the more systematically prepared present volume, the Lundayeh – English dictionary is a work of passion and love for his language which he feels is his contribution to his indigenous community. In summary, despite the challenges which are present in making dictionaries for indigenous language, the future is a positive one.

The speakers gave their talks to a full house with representatives from local partners such as SIL Sabah, the Kadazandusun Cultural Association, Sabah State Library, IPG Kent, Sabah Cultural Board, as well as students and academic staff from UMS. 

The Brown Bag Seminar Series features local and international speakers sharing and highlighting their research in the fields of languages and linguistics - two very rich sources of research data on Sabah's indigenous communities.