Research Opportunities In Malaysia [Archive]

chenchow

22-11-2003, 04:19 PM

topdog

22-11-2003, 04:41 PM

Hahah... I always smile when I see Chenchow writing "let's brainstorm". No offense ok chenchow. It's just that you seem to be the only person I know who's always saying it. :D

chenchow

22-11-2003, 04:43 PM

Topdog, sorry for the limitability of my vocabulary... but i really hope that everyone would share their thoughts on this issue and we, as RECOM, could do something constructively...

oxherd

14-05-2004, 12:06 AM

Joe from Carnegie Mellon University wrote:"I have a suggestion..... that day the ambassador come to visit...and someone bring up an issue about research opportunity back at home that many lecturers in malaysia universities need students to help out in their research..... since many malaysian students from US going back over the winter or summerbreak... they can work under the professors to gain experience and contribute.... a malaysian who studying master here and taught in UM forshort time said that a network between malaysia universities and malaysian students abroad is needed...."

I think that is a good idea, but the problem again is (which I think has been discussed somewhere else on this forum) is that the research environment in many local unis aren't on par in many ways with foreign universities. A possible way that I can see it do a sort of 'technology transfer', where graduating postgrad students return back to local unis to continue research in their areas of specialities, while still maintaining working links with the active research groups in the foreign unis. The newly expanding research groups in the local unis could fuel the development of the departments in general.

tmnt007

23-08-2004, 10:50 PM

This 'research opportunity back in Malaysia' topic is very interesting.
I personally feel as an electrical engineer that, doing research in Malaysia is not so easy yet, and not a career path to take as yet, because I don't see or hear any companies or government councils that invest into research projects in the universities in Malaysia. I think Malaysia is still concentrating more on manufacturing instead of research.

If there's any insights or comments that anyone can give me regarding my statement above, please reply to me, as I'm in thirst of knowing any sort of funding opportunities that I could probably apply for in order to do research in Malaysia.

thank you.

regards,

digimushu

23-08-2004, 11:55 PM

Research in M'sia is geared more towards the computer industry(which I think is pretty risky) and the biotech industry. We have our own MIT knock-off back home.

http://www.must.com.my/

Check it out
:)

masterof_none

24-08-2004, 12:04 AM

I think Malaysia usually lost focus.

1900 - 1970 - agriculture
1980 - heavy industry
1990 - IT
2000 - biotech.

While it's good to diversify, I wonder what happen to all these industries. It seems like before even competitive in each and every sector we're in, we already move to somewhere else. I think if Malaysia focus on heavy industry till 2000, our car/bikes/train/ etc will go far. Now, we're still pretty much behind in each and every sector.

I believe that if we specialize even in agriculture and IT, we can move far. I wonder why they're jumping into the bandwagon when people spread rumors about biotech as the next big thing.

So, I believe that research opportunity should be empahisized in a selected few industries (or even set the priority). Govt must choose to specialize in which industry. It's like MIT specialize in Science and Tech, Harvard in Business and USC in their football team :)

jiinjoo

25-08-2004, 03:14 PM

We'll focus if we know what to focus in! R&D is a vicious cycle - whatever you produce must be good and earns you lots of money in return, and then the money goes back to doing more R&D.

Problem is that we've not "stumbled upon" something to focus on for this decade. Electronics in the past wasn't really R&D focused too - it was just an attempt to get outselves away from tin and rubber into manufactoring. That's a straight forward formula. R&D is one step tougher to get into - and the returns might not be so apparent instantly.

There are definitely research labs all around Malaysia that does research in a variety of fields. Probably their own individual focus will be on a very small part of the industry. Here's a random list I found on Google wrt Biotech
http://www.bic.org.my/resources_body_localscenarios_research.html

MUST is mentioned, and I also should mention that Intel and other MNCs in Malaysia is also actively tapping our talent pool to get involve in research.

For social sciences, check out ISIS.

Another fact: UPM is actually the largest receipient of government research funds to date.
http://admin.upm.edu.my/~research/rsch1.html

And trust me USC didn't started off focusing on their footall team :wink:

digimushu

25-08-2004, 10:29 PM

Hrm...

The funny thing is that R&D is not very active in our industry,more towards our universities. I was surfing through jobstreet.com for positions in engineering and it seems that most companies, with the exception of multinational companies(like Motorola, Intel...etc ) are only looking forward to hiring bachelors degree grads.

Even one of my friends here who was doing stuff on hydrogen fuel cells for her masters degree in Chem. Eng. was actually turned down because they say she was overqualified and this is for Shell, the oil company.

No wonder the braindrain is happening....

wawa

19-09-2004, 01:05 PM

I've had lecturers who were and are still very passionate about their research.

gonjeng

20-09-2004, 11:38 PM

heh i somehow thinks that we complaint more than offer help/solution. obviously, the technology in mesia, compared to in US, is far apart. i was told some years back that we are about 10 years or more behind... err was it US or japan?

anyhow, imho, those who wants to do go back home and do research, they have to lower their expectation. i mean, we cant expect the same treatment, feasibility or what have you, that we are or may be receiving in any other well-develop countries. from our experience or what not, we may think that we can and want to do this and that, and how doing these and those are good... but reality check, it aint as easy and yet, not impossible either. like most of you guys said, the government are somewhat fickle minded - kejap itu, kejap ini and tak focus langsung. second, the industries are geared up towards manufacturing more than research. third, the society, to some extend, are somewhat conservative. they prefer to stay in their comfort zone (manufacturing, etc.) than R&D, which is more risky and costly. this is not to lower the enthusiasms or discourage ke ape, its more of a fact. at least, thats how i see it :p

nevertheless, there are some opportunities. most of them are tied and led by universities and not the industries, which i think is the opposite here in US. few months back, i did email to some faculties in some mesian U's. uhh believe me, they are all for helps and ideas from overseas students. anyway, what i think we should do is to actually contact those who are in the line of research back home. you can get the email addresses (at least) from the univ's website, since almost every main univ has its own link to their research program.

heh it hit me when i read, in one of the threads in engineering SIG i think, that when the new singaporean PM asked for opinions on the countried R&D, he receives hundreds of replies whereas in mesia, we are casting doubts and questions. imo, it al goes back to the old saying "ade hati semua jadi". while acknowledging the fact that we do need government's help, imo i dont think we should be waiting for it. as we all know, there are too much beaurocratic (ehh how the heck you spell that word? lol) bullcraps and frustrating politics, unfortunately :p

and heh, it also hit me when i read the news that USM and a local company designed and built a UAV. assuming that it is not one of those exagerated news by the media, i personally am amazed. heh, i am all for UAVs :p i just dont expect there are researches in the aeronautics industry :)

anyway, tuh laa my nickels and dimes :) peace out yo!

digimushu

20-09-2004, 11:43 PM

wow, UAVs?

Interesting...

gonjeng

20-09-2004, 11:56 PM

http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/archive.asp?y=2004&dt=0908&pub=utusan_malaysia&sec=muka%5Fhadapan&pg=mh_09.htm&arc=hive

there's the link :) if it doesnt work, you can go to utusan.com.my, go to their archives and search for uav :p

qedx

21-09-2004, 02:03 AM

isn't uavs basically remote controlled planes? what's the fuss about?

digimushu

21-09-2004, 03:39 AM

they could be,

But they could also be flying independently, tracking GPS points and avoiding obstacles with no remote pilots. Now, if M'sia can do that, people should start worrying about our potential cruise missiles.

gonjeng

21-09-2004, 12:30 PM

isn't uavs basically remote controlled planes? what's the fuss about?

whats the fuss??? yo, if it is merely one of the small remote controlled airplane, then its no big deal. but if it is a system with a couple of hundred thousand dollars of inertial nav. system, with some heat sensing or so-called 'camera' to capture the field of interest/sight... on top of that, the fault tolerance system and possibly a radio jammer. heh, you cant compare this with the kiddy RC plane :)

spy planes, ground troops support, weather lookup, etc are some of the application of UAVs. yeah it is anologous to RC planes but not comparable at all. depending on the application, the system can be really complicated, esp in its stability and control area :)

the US can say 'big deal' but for starters like malaysia, imho, its quite an impressive achievement. a journey of a thousand mile begins with a single step :) plus from the way i see it, there are some research fundings for this area of interest. as i said earlier, just have to look for it :)

el_empty

22-09-2004, 02:28 AM

now if only they provide electricity and running water to rural schools in sarawak...

digimushu

22-09-2004, 02:36 AM

hahahaha...
Good point...

masterof_none

22-09-2004, 04:20 AM

now if only they provide electricity and running water to rural schools in sarawak...

i do seriously think that this is important. but if we want to wait till everything is perfect before spending in research, then , we will never move on with our research. this thing need to run in parallel.
It's like, when you in the US, and you see congress spend billions of dollars on NASA, you lament, " I hope these homeless people in the street get proper benefits ".
Things are tackled in parallel, it would have been better. i think that's the key.

(But I agree if you say, stop spending on mega projects. Because while it may bring benefits in terms of tourism, the degree of artificial prettyness (is there such a word?), things would have been better if there are measures to reduce the development in Selangor area and distribute it to other states, such as Sarawak, sabah, pahang.etc).

el_empty

22-09-2004, 05:52 AM

haha syamsul it was just a lament

but if you think about it, the growth in basic necessities is not parallel at all with ultraprojects (ok i won't use megaprojects) like r&d. the gov pumps so much $ into all these development things, but the daily lives of the poor remains as they were a hundred years ago. and unless they do something about it NOW, it's just going to cost more and more to raise them to an adequate level in future.

besides, an investment in basic necessities and education, is investment for the future. our visionary msian politicians cannot visualize that.

gonjeng

22-09-2004, 08:21 AM

aiseh... since the thread is about research stuff and uav happen to be one of the recent news on it, thats why i kinda stressed on it. plus, from the past msgs in this thread, the discussion was on how to develop R&D back home. tp in the case on how the government 'should' be spending the money, that is another issue. to some extend, i agree that the 'underdevelop places' has to be develop and the ppl has to be educated. but ahh, as i said, this is a whole new issue :)

~peace out~

masterof_none

22-09-2004, 09:58 AM

el_empty

23-09-2004, 12:40 AM

chenchow

23-09-2004, 08:27 AM

Below is from The Star:-

THE Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry is on the lookout for students aspiring to become scientists and technocrats, Utusan Malaysia reported.

Quoting minister Datuk Dr Jamaluddin Mohd Jarjis, the paper said the ministry was formulating a plan to identify students who have the potential to excel in these areas.

For more information, go to:-
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/9/23/nation/8957387&sec=nation

digimushu

23-09-2004, 01:05 PM

8)
but this is not a "whole new issue." they *are* in fact very related. the general quality of education is a precursor to an R&D industry. it is education that generates R&D, not money or infrastructure. education is supposed to teach students to be inquisitive about our world, and how to systematize this pursuit.

a quick eyeball of all the R&D industry-intesive countries tells us that they place a great emphasis on education.
chicken and egg...

Yep, i agree. R&D is spurred on by education. As i have said in the engineering SIG, if our engineering education is dated (i.e. exam style all the time), we wont produce innovative minds, just mindless drones. R&D happens in the theory level for scientists but it happens at the application level for Engineers. If engineer don't learn to apply new theories, we definitely wont get good R&D.

el_empty

24-09-2004, 08:31 AM

UiTM students launch rocket 400m into the air

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/9/24/nation/8968206&sec=nation

chenchow

24-09-2004, 08:36 AM

el_empty, I was just about to post the news about the rocket launch when I saw you posted. It seems that it is their 2nd attempt and the first attempt was even more successful~! It was a collaboration with IIT too~! Kudos~!

Hopefully that this would be a beginning step for more Malaysians, in particular high school students and undergraduates to get more involved with research!

morpheous

24-09-2004, 12:50 PM

long absence morpheous been.caught morpheous's attention this thread is...

ministry of science,technology wants to seek/identify/lookout for aspiring students to be scientists and technocrats????

what happened to buying education qualifications(degrees,masters,phds) for these students..?why not sponsor them and make them "scientists and technocrats"?? and also bonded them too....

chenchow

25-09-2004, 01:40 PM

This is the latest initiative taken on R&D. University Malaya is setting up a special fund for R&D. Right now, UM is spending RM30 million on R&D, and is hoping to further increasing that amount in the near future. (Anyone has any figure about R&D done in other universities as comparison?)

http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/archive.asp?y=2004&dt=0924&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Dalam_Negeri&pg=dn_03.htm

Malaysia is ranked 24th in R&D expenditure in the world now.

gonjeng

25-09-2004, 01:57 PM

24th? heh, wow... surprising if you ask me :)
for other univ.? there are some going on with each U (UIA, USM, UTM, etc). if you go to their website and click on the research link, they'll show briefly on what they are working on... details? email straight to the person in charge :) from my exp, their response was very warm and fast :)

wyeoh

25-09-2004, 04:18 PM

Pardon my interruption, but it seems that the primary problem about research in Malaysia, or the braindrain, is simply the perception that the students abroad have of the academic institutions back home. This is unfortunately a vicious cycle; the students lose interest in research back home, the school gets less funding for doing research, and so on.

It is indeed good news that the schools are finally realizing that they need to do more aside from educating our youths in the structured environment of the classroom, but also venture out towards the unknown world of R&D. However, I do think that the professors back home seem to have the more important task at hand... which is to stimulate students' interest in exciting fields, either via sabaticals abroad to gain ideas and inspirations, or cooperation with industries of research schools in Singapore. I would hate to think that students studying in UM are less intelligent than those here. It would definitely be easier and more logical for the local schools to target their brightest minds before enlarging the net abroad.

In my honest opinion, Singapore would prove to be a very good model for this. It is suffering from the same disease that we are - a severe braindrain. However, it has stepped up its effort in the past decade or so, and are now holding international conference worthy of mention in top fields. Their professors are few, and the schools fewer. But they are making progress and are starting to spearhead research. They have also had cooperative research (co-PI-ing) with professors in the States.

This, I believe should be an immediate step. But, of course, these are my sole opinions, and I sure am not running the country. :) It is great that you guys are starting a great support group for Malaysians abroad.

Cheers!

chenchow

26-09-2004, 03:44 AM

I think what Malaysia is lacking at present is the close relationship between the industry and the tertiary institution. I believe that the authority is trying to bridge this gap and perhaps this is something that we as the younger generation could help to bridge.

On Singapore, I would say that it is also facing the problem of research, but it is trying its best to solve this problem too. One way that I know Singapore is trying to do is to get partnership with various research institutes and get high school students to spend 3 days in those institutes and spend time there. That could be an option that we could adopt in Malaysia.

Another aspect that we should deal with in Malaysia on this issue, would be to stimulate the students' interest, i.e. shifting the focus point. I know of many brilliant students in IPTA or IPTS. Many of them have done much better than me in high schools and my opinion is that the education that many of them are getting is a little too narrow. They learn a lot within the same concentration, i.e. if they are learning about Digital Signal Processing, they spend majority of their time in it, and not much on other aspect. This is something my friends in UTM relate to me. She was concentrating on DSP, and suddenly she got an internship in Intel. The job is in Semiconductor, and suddenly a sense of loss happens, because she was not ready to transfer her experience in what she has learned in DSP into this new field, and such does not have much motivation during the internship. She is one of the top students in UTM, with 4.00 GPA for many semesters. And from what I gather is that the general sentiment over there, is that research is not something undergrad does.

While I myself have no interest in research, I have seen many Malaysians here in Cornell getting involved in research and it is really eye-opening experience for them. So, I guess if we could spread the awareness and provide the resources, this is a good start to expand and help building up~!

This is something that I would propose, perhaps as a motivation to Malaysians who are doing research abroad, to try and look up the faculties in IPTA and IPTS who are doing research in their field, and perhaps, you can contact them and arrange to visit their labs when you are going back and maybe spend time to help build awareness among their students. Some Professors may actually invite you to go and talk to their students and help motivate them and you could be a fantastic resources.

wyeoh

26-09-2004, 06:37 AM

Many of them have done much better than me in high schools and my opinion is that the education that many of them are getting is a little too narrow.

This is pretty much the discussion of the educational systems of British vs. Americans. On one hand you get lots of depth and little breadth, and the other vice versa. I personally like the latter better, as I believe it provides the basic background and confidence to pursue further if one is interested.

This is something that I would propose, perhaps as a motivation to Malaysians who are doing research abroad, to try and look up the faculties in IPTA and IPTS who are doing research in their field, and perhaps, you can contact them and arrange to visit their labs when you are going back and maybe spend time to help build awareness among their students. Some Professors may actually invite you to go and talk to their students and help motivate them and you could be a fantastic resources.

Always the practical. :) I for one would definitely try this and contact local professors when I go home next to see what they are doing.

chenchow

26-09-2004, 08:16 AM

Thanks wyeoh for the support~! Hope that others would emulate you too~! If many Malaysians are doing that, I sincerely believe that we could help initiate a number of collaborations between IPTA & IPTS with established institutions abroad~!

bomoh

23-12-2005, 10:01 AM

The foundation of research should be motivated by curiosity. If curiosity is supplemented with money, scientific equipment, journals and opportunities , then, we will have scientists. R&D will eventually flourish.

Chenchow wrote
She was concentrating on DSP, and suddenly she got an internship in Intel. The job is in Semiconductor, and suddenly a sense of loss happens, because she was not ready to transfer her experience in what she has learned in DSP into this new field, and such does not have much motivation during the internship. She is one of the top students in UTM, with 4.00 GPA for many semesters. And from what I gather is that the general sentiment over there, is that research is not something undergrad does.
As far as I understand, a top undergraduate student doesn't necessary mean that he/she will be a good researcher. He/she might just have a good memory. I called it 'exam-smart'.

Dr_Tay

24-12-2005, 06:34 PM

homeofscience

06-01-2006, 02:44 PM

There are a few good R&D benchmark websites:

http://www.mdc.com.my/
http://www.technopreneurs.net.my/cms/
http://jtrend.msc-tdf.com.my/

Benchmarking and reverse engineering techniques are important to find new R&D ideas :)

digimushu

06-01-2006, 10:08 PM

It is an idealistic idea but needs pramagtism for it to work. Incentives and an incubation of these ideas with opportunities to patent without infringement of copyright is something that has to be dealt with first before such a thing can take place.

This may be more relevant to application oriented research than fundamental first-principles research. As of now, nearly all of R&D in M'sia is comprised of money-oriented applications research. In general, M'sia, which started off as a manufacturing and agricultural country, is losing out to China and it cannot compete in R&D with the measly budget and the poor remunerations provided to people who work in R&D.

ph7klw

08-07-2006, 11:36 PM

How much money does a person earn in a multinational company based in Malaysia doing R&D?

kampongbouy

29-08-2006, 01:51 AM

My 2 cents on the topic

1. A significant number of academics in universities in Malaysia were promoted not on merit but because of their connections. This cause a problem when it comes to making good decisions on research. Research is dominated by uncommited academics who are generally more involved in campus politics and for a not insignificant number, religion.

2. The process of recognizing or rewarding excellence exists only on paper. There is no review process, no pressure to publish and no consequence if you don't.

3. The general public understanding of science is very poor and can be easily fooled.

4. There is a general lack of leadership in terms of RND in Malaysia. In general, the country has no science policy or any real major goal or concrete plan. We have all the fluffy, lofty Industrial Plan etc., but look at the specifics and you might find that those documents contains a little bit more than reports on science and technology in business magazines.

5. The research management is poor. Accountants are making all the important decisions while scientists and engineer should be at the top of research institutions.

All in all, when the top is not right, it is difficult to move ahead. Some constructive suggestions:

1. Open up the research area with competitive policies:

a. let the best researcher/scientist get the top job regardless of race/religion/citizenship:open recruitment

b. establish competitive review process that is open, benchmark against practices in top universities

c. get rid of the dead wood accumulated in public universities:make them work harder or get them to retire earlier

2. invest in public education regarding science

a. TV report on research highlights

b. Have contact program for secondary school kids

c. make all public institutions/universities report in open seminars and face the public annually

3. Respect knowledge

a. when misniter go against scientists on technical matters, make sure minister suffer and not scientists.

b. reward good performance

c. use science and reason to illuminate disputes:and not emotions

4. have realistic expectations

a. we are not going to win the nobel prize anytime soon

b. don't expect miracles

Dr_Tay

29-08-2006, 02:10 AM

Whenever I hear the word research in Malaysia I think of all its pitfalls. One private university college encouraged me to do research through its brown bag seminar but it was never really very successful because it was always a rehash of my colleagues' postgraduate work.

Secondly, there wasn't any incentives given to the lecturers save that it would be published in the annual research journal that the college wanted to publish and did publish. It was sadly more a marketing and promotional gimmick for the institution than a show of intellectual prowess.

Third, most of my colleagues did their postgraduate programs from neigbouring private universities in the vicinity and one even acknowledged that she did not know her MBA very well and didn't understand what the professor from some defunct port uni in some Kampung, was really trying to lecture or impart. So really the research objective was flawed from the very start.

Fourth, there was never a real seriousness on the part of management to really do their own OEM research as what was more important was to offer the degrees to the students at a viable cost, easy to pass, cheap and fast. So the students were in essence being spoonfed with out of date material that was recycled when some fresh graduates were chosen to replace the expensive old hand lecturers. This was a problem that was pervasive in the IT department.

Fifth, with PE ratios of more than 300 you can imagine lecturers were suppose to buy their own loo rolls and help purchase apartments in some southern medical corridor near KLIA, stock options worth RM6 then and now less than RM1 and work more than 35 hours a week. Where in the world would you find time and resources to do research?