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9November2021
Four ways to revive interest in Maths

World Bank research suggests that better mathematics results raise the national output and incomes. For example, semiconductor technology, biotechnology, medical instrumentation systems, and digital image processing are mathematical concepts. Mr. Raman Raguraman, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Technology (FECT), AIMST University, has suggested four ways to revive interest among children to learn mathematics to have a challenging career individually, in turn, boost the country's prosperity. His write-up on ‘Four ways to revive interest in Maths’ got featured in NST’s ‘Letters to the Editor’ column on 9 November 2021. Click HERE to read.

3November2021
AIMST UNIVERSITY RANKED ON THE QS ASIA UNIVERSITY RANKINGS

AIMST UNIVERSITY RANKED ON THE QS ASIA UNIVERSITIES RANKINGS

Our combined effort got us ranked for the first time on the QS Asia Universities Rankings. Hence, we shall strive to be among the best universities and aim for world ranking in the future. We would like to congratulate and thank you for your excellent effort and contribution towards this achievement. Well done!!

Discover the top universities in Asia with the QS Asia University rankings 2022 at HERE

1November2021
Not Ready to tighten Fiscal Belt

The recently announced 2022 Budget comes as Malaysia emerges from the ravages of Covid-19. The government has decided to spend on wage subsidies, aid for stricken small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), and tax breaks for businesses. Expenditure for social safety nets tears at the seams of public finances. Ultra-low interest rates and the increase in the debt ceiling to 65 percent of the gross domestic product have made extra public sector spending possible. Thus, according to Professor Datuk Dr. John Antony Xavier, the Vice-Chancellor & Chief Executive of AIMST University, the latest budget is expansionary. It signals that Malaysia is not yet ready to tighten its fiscal belt. Read more regarding this in an article titled ‘Not ready to tighten fiscal belt,’ featured in the columnist section of NST on 1 November 2021 by clicking HERE.

1November2021
Laughter, exercise help stressed-out Doctors

Associate Professor Dr. Patrick Tan, Director of Clinical Skills Centre (CSC) Faculty of Medicine AIMST University, has come with ways doctors can mitigate challenges before and during the Covid-19 pandemic in an article titled 'Laughter, exercise help stressed-out doctors.' According to Dr. Patrick, the challenges have caused disruptions to medical practice and have added physical and mental challenges making doctors' lives harder. The article got featured in the 'Letters to the Editor' column of NST on 1 November 2021. Click HERE to read.

1November2021
AIMST University is proud to be part of the Noble Venture

The National Vaccine Development Roadmap (PPVN) and Malaysian Genome and Vaccine Institute (MGVI) was launched by YAB Dato' Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Prime Minister of Malaysia on 1 November 2021 at the Malaysian Genome Institute (MGI) in Bangi. USM-AIMST University & MOSTI will jointly work on the "Development of Mucosal/Oral/Subunit Vaccines against Traveller's Diarrhoea/Cholera, Tuberculosis and COVID-19." These projects will be funded by MOSTI – Strategic Research Fund (SFR), amounting to RM10.5 million. AIMST University is proud to be part of the noble venture in developing the vaccine for cholera that will undergo first-in-human trial and vaccine for Covid-19 & its variant and tuberculosis. We congratulate all the researchers involved in the project. Click HERE  to read more on this development.

25October2021
A Great leader makes employees feel Important

There is no permanent style of management to achieve excellence, as strategies set today may not be relevant tomorrow. Hence, it has to be renewed and changed whenever it is necessary. Associate Professor Dr. Leela Anthony, Deputy Dean at the Faculty of Medicine AIMST University, has shared ways to make employees feel important and to gain their continuous cooperation. The article, ‘A great leader makes employees feel important,’ got featured in the ‘Letters to the Editor’ column of NST on 25 October 2021. Click HERE to read.

21October2021
Fulfilling ESG agenda will ensure prosperity of Companies

Environmental, social, and (corporate) governance, or ESG agenda, is essential for companies anticipating external investments, promising talents, and being exemplary corporate citizens. Furthermore, spending on ESG should be viewed as a long-term investment. In line with this, Professor Datuk Dr. John Antony Xavier, the Vice-Chancellor & Chief Executive of AIMST University, has come up with strategies for companies to engage in ESG without being accused of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort. The article, ‘Fulfilling ESG agenda will ensure prosperity of companies’ got featured in the columnist section of NST on 21 October 2021. Click HERE  to read.

20October2021
WORLD TOP 2% SCIENTISTS AWARD

Two members from AIMST University’s Faculty of Pharmacy (FOP) were ranked among the top 2% of scientists in the World by Stanford University from the United States. Stanford University has recently released (Version 3; Published on 20 October 2021) a list that represents the top 2 percent of the most-cited scientists in various disciplines. Scientists are classified into 22 scientific fields and 176 sub-fields. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above.

Stanford University created a publicly available database of over 100,000 top scientists that provides standardised information on citations, h-index, co-authorship adjusted hm-index, citations to papers in different authorship positions and a composite indicator.

The FOP members, Prof. Dr. V. Ravichandran and Assoc. Prof. Dr. S. Parasuraman, have secured the world's top 2% scientists of a single year for the last two years, 2019 and 2020, continuously in the list published by Stanford University world top 2% scientists. In addition, Prof. Dr. V. Ravichandran has also continuously placed in Malaysia's top 1000 scientist position according to the AD scientific index in 2019 and 2020.

Prof. Dr. V. Ravichandran has published 125 research articles and 25 review articles in international and national journals and has over 4400 citations, h-index 31, i10-index 64 (Google Scholar), and over 2460 citations h-index 24 (Scopus). His research interests include the fields of computer-aided drug designing and synthesis and biological evaluation of medicinal compounds.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. S. Parasuraman published more than 70 research articles in international and national journals and has over 4000 citations.  His research interests include the fields of experimental pharmacology and toxicology.  He is also the Editor in Chief of Journal of Young Pharmacists.

AIMST University staff and students congratulate both of them for their remarkable achievements and wish them success in their future endeavours.

K.Jayachandran

19October2021
School Canteens vital source of Healthy Meals

As children are back in school, it may be a favourable time to look at the crucial role canteens play in promoting health and inculcating healthy eating habits among them. Associate Professor Dr. Jegarajan Pillay, Deputy Dean at the Faculty of Dentistry, AIMST University, has proposed five ways canteens can promote children's health in a write-up titled 'School canteens vital source of healthy meals.’ The write-up got featured in the ‘Letters to the Editor’ column of NST on 19 October 2021. Click HERE  to read.

12October2021
Five Strategies to deal with skin problems due to Masking

Skin issues and other discomforts are not reasons not to wear a face mask nor follow the standard operating procedures. Ensuing this, Dr. Mariette D'Souza, Senior Associate Professor at the Dermatology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, AIMST University, has listed five strategies to deal with skin problems due to masking. Read more about it in a write-up featured in the 'Letters to the Editor' section of NST on 12 October 2021. Click HERE  to read.

5October2021
Strategies to survive in a turbulent World

Associate Professor Dr. Leela Anthony, Deputy Dean at the Faculty of Medicine AIMST University, has outlined four strategies for organisations to survive in today's turbulent world. The strategies will allow managers to keep up with new developments, ensuring sustainability and obtaining success. Read more on the strategies in a write-up titled 'Strategies to survive in a turbulent world.’ The write-up got featured in the columnist section of NST on 5 October 2021. Click HERE to read.

5October2021
Four Strategies to Improve the Country’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

Professor Datuk Dr. John Antony Xavier, the Vice-Chancellor & Chief Executive of AIMST University, has proposed four strategies to improve the country's Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). Through TVET, youths have the educational advantages to contribute to Malaysia's industrial success, especially in Industry 4.0. The enlightening article, 'Attitudes to TVET die hard in Malaysia', got featured in the columnist section of NST on 5 October 2021:  

Attitudes to TVET Die Hard in Malaysia

Many developed countries owe their industrial triumph to their outstanding system of technical and vocational education and training, or TVET. In Germany and Switzerland, for example, TVET is considered equivalent, or even superior, to academic education. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a group of mostly rich countries, reported in 2017 that 59 per cent of 16 to 18 year olds did apprenticeships in Switzerland and 41 per cent in Germany. It is, therefore, timely, more so in the era of Industry 4.0, that we entice our youth to TVET. That way, we can give our youth the educational advantages to contribute to Malaysia's industrial success. For its part, the government has provided generous allocations for technical education under its five-year development plans. It established early this year the National TVET Council to coordinate the country's 1,300 public and private TVET institutions. While the institutional platform is massive, and opportunities enormous, attitudes die hard in Malaysia. The public still reveres universities as a route to gain societal esteem, employability and prosperity. TVET has long suffered from the misplaced disdain that it is more appropriate for those who are not good enough for university education. Nothing could be further from the truth. TVET is indispensable for reskilling and upskilling. It is a place for one to gain skills in entrepreneurship and Industry 4.0 technologies, such as AI (artificial intelligence) and automation, Internet-of-things, cloud-computing and analytics. And it will surely alleviate the state of digital readiness of our youth (aged 15 to 24) and reduce the 12 per cent unemployment among them. Only 22 per cent of our workforce has tertiary education. The rest has, at best, a secondary-school education. TVET offers the latter a chance to increase their salaries through enhancing their skills in construction, engineering, mechanics, and technology. In Germany, for example, technical and skilled workers earn as much as professionals. That should move society towards a "parity of esteem" between academic and vocational education. And it will further the government's agenda to raise the nation's competitiveness and wages while reducing the country's reliance on foreign labour. With more than 200,000 unemployed graduates, the wage premium for university education has dampened. This augurs well for TVET even as the demand for skills grows stronger. How can technical education be improved? Here are four strategies. FIRST, to equip students with marketable skills, TVET curriculums would require a vigorous shake-up to cover technical knowledge and behavioural skills. The skills taught should suit the requirements of the industry. Such an exercise should be developed with the industry. The Future of Jobs Report 2020 of the World Economic Forum highlights that workers would also need to be equipped with the soft skills of entrepreneurship, critical thinking, problem-solving and interpersonal skills. Even as the curriculums are revised, the qualifications of instructors should correspondingly be upgraded. SECOND, to cast off the ingrained bias against it, TVET should be better promoted to parents and students in schools. I remember, at school, I had had to do woodwork and other industrial-oriented work. A clear policy on employment would go a long way to reorient young minds, as well as those of parents, of the value of vocational education. THIRD, universities too should develop more competency-based courses where the curriculums integrate academic work with skills training for industries. They could also offer credit exemptions for their degree programmes to those with technical diplomas. That way, students will be assured that technical training can still help earn a university education. FOURTH, students of TVET should aim to become T-shaped workers. They should be specialised in one technical discipline while having a broader understanding of, and even better, being adept at other related skills. We must recognise that not every youth will be inclined to pursue a purely academic education. And if Malaysia wants to go long on skills as other advanced countries, then there should be no let-up on TVET whatever the mores of society.