KOTA KINABALU: Sabah-born Professor Datuk Dr Kasim Md Mansur is the new Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) vice-chancellor.

The 61-year-old will assume his new appointment from next Monday.

A Business Administration degree graduate, he also has a master's degree in Economics from Indiana State University, Terre Haute, the United States and a Doctoral degree in the same field from the University of Wisconsin.

Kasim served as the deputy vice-chancellor (Student and Alumni Affairs) of UMS for five years from 2009 to 2014.

In a statement, the Higher Education Ministry said Kasim was a highly regarded academic figure among the university's officers and students.

"At the Sabah state level, he contributed significantly to Sabahans as a member of the Sabah Economic Advisory Council and a board member of the Institute for Development Studies, Sabah.

Based on the reputation of the leadership of the institution, Kasim, the statement said can form a harmonious network of working relationships with all stakeholders, especially in Sabah.

"The ministry is confident that he will lead UMS in becoming one of the preferred universities at the national level, thus promoting overall academic excellence."

The statement also extended acknowledgement and gratitude to former vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Taufiq Yap Yun Hin on his contributions to UMS.

KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Digital Geoscience Global Sdn Bhd (DGeG), a geoscience services provider, have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to expand their collaboration recently.

Under the letter of intent, both parties aim to jointly harness each other’s strengths and experiences to enhance the growth of several academic and research activities.

The LoI was signed by the Dean of Faculty of Science and Natural Resources UMS, Professor Dr Jualang @ Azlan Abdullah Gansau and the Chief Executive Officer of Digital Geoscience Global Sdn Bhd, Siti Sarah Ab Rahman while co-witnessed by Aidah Noordin, Deputy Senior Registrar of UMS and Noor Nazira Nazari, the Chief Operation Officer of Digital Geoscience Global Sdn Bhd, who joined in carrying out the LoI signing procedures in an event held in Intercontinental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

Siti Sarah who is also a proud alumna of UMS co-founded DGeG with her partners in 2021 to enhance and upscale the quality of geological tasks. With the motto of “Digitalisation of Earth towards Sustainability”, DGEG offers robust solutions by using the most innovative integrated digital geology approach aligned with Industrial Revolution 4.0 and Sustainability Developments Goals (SDGs) adopted by United Nations (UN).

This collaboration was initiated through an initiative by DGeG and UMS to form a consortium to study the potential of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in Malaysia with other well-established universities and companies. Through the Letter of Intent, FSSA also seeks to partner with DGeG to promote interventions that expand academic and research quality collaboratively. Specifically, both parties have unitedly agreed to manage activities, such as sharing expertise through teaching, research and publication activities, student internship, staff attachment, professional training, consultation, and any collaboration that benefits both parties for further networking and development.

“The collaboration between UMS and DGeG is a good step especially when we now encourage the involvement of industries in academics. With the sharing expertise and latest technology between industries and universities, we are hoping to empower research and development in geoscience field, especially related to energy resources. The planned research of carbonate and clastic rocks in Sabah could be a good start for further networking which serves particularly in sedimentology and seismic modelling through digital geoscience,” said Jualang.

“In DGeG, we believe that collaboration between university and industry is important, not only to achieve the fourth SDG which is to enhance quality in education but also to achieve a few other SDGs such as to promote clean energy, sustainability development in cities and human as well as to reduce climate change impacts. Hence, we aim to expand collaborations with industries and universities to enhance sustainability in geoscience and align with the 17th SDG which is to revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development by 2030” said Siti Sarah.

Appointed as chairman of Women in Geology 2023 by the Institute of Geology Malaysia (IGM) recently, she also addressed that there is no gender bias when we speak about the quality and there are many women in geoscience that have been awarded and recognized internationally.

KOTA KINABALU: The Confucius Institute @ Universiti Malaysia Sabah (CI@UMS) and the United Sabah Chinese Communities Association of Kota Kinabalu (USCCAKK) will jointly organise the Land Below the Wind Talk-20 on this Sunday (Sept 25), to start at 9pm.

The organisers have invited Dr Tan Beng Huat to deliver his talk entitled “Maritime Silk Road Culture: Sabah Narratives in the Context of the 10-year-old Belt and Road Initiative”.

Dr Tan graduated from University of South Australia (UniSA) with the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA). He founded the Sabah Maritime Silk Road Society in 2015, and served as the president of the society until 2019.

It was not only the first overseas Maritime Silk Road organisation in Malaysia to adhere to the “Belt and Road” vision, but also the only one from the positioning of the South China Sea culture at that time.

As a prelude to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, Dr Tan as the founder of the Malaysia Sea Silk Association and Sabah Sea Silk Association will talk on Sabah’s post-pandemic reconstruction and recovery from the perspective of a researcher and promoter of cultural and creative industries.

Besides, he will touch on how to revive the rich cultural and historical resources of the South China Sea so that Sabah can find its own revitalisation and win-win position for the next wave of “Belt and Road Initiative”.

This Land Below the Wind Talk is opened to the public free of charge. The language of this talk is Chinese and English.

All are welcome to participate by scanning the QR code.

KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Social Security Organisation (Socso) on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to pave the way for various collaborations in the field of rehabilitation medicine.

Its Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Student and Alumni Affairs, Associate Prof Dr Raman Noordin, said the MoU spearheaded the strategic collaboration between the university and Socso in teaching and research under medical rehabilitation for those insured under Socso.

Raman, who is carrying out the duties of the UMS Vice-Chancellor, said this collaboration will also provide benefits and interest not only to the two institutions but also to those insured, who are Sabahans themselves.

“Through this MoU, UMS will work directly with the Socso Tun Abdul Razak Rehabilitation Centre which practices rehabilitation principles that integrate medical and vocational rehabilitation treatment to restore maximum ability.

“This will enable them (those insured) to return to work or society,” he said when speaking at the MoU signing ceremony at the UMS campus, here.

The MoU was signed by Raman and Socso Chief Executive Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Azman said the collaboration will give new light to Socso contributors who experience accidents or illnesses, especially in Sabah, through a comprehensive and dynamic rehabilitation and disability management programme.

He said the effort was carried out through rehabilitation treatment and the Return To Work (RTW) programme where participants who are disabled due to accidents will be assisted until they are able to become independent, then return to work and generate income for themselves and their families.

“Since the RTW programme was introduced in 2007 a total of 49,851 RTW participants have been successfully assisted to return to work. We are confident that this collaboration with UMS will be able to help more contributors to become independent and return to productivity,” he added.

He said Socso also intends to develop a MYFutureJobs Satellite Centre at the UMS campus for UMS undergraduates and graduates to benefit from the agency’s various employment services such as career counselling, job search and matching as well as individual support for job placement, including preparations for interview.