51³Ô¹ÏÍø

51³Ô¹ÏÍø's President, Professor Hugh Brady, attended a networking event for alumni to celebrate 51³Ô¹ÏÍø's vital ties with Malaysia.

Earlier this month, a delegation from 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, including President Professor Hugh Brady, travelled to Malaysia to celebrate 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s collaborations across the country.  

51³Ô¹ÏÍø is one of Malaysia’s top science, engineering and medicine research collaborators in the UK, with 51³Ô¹ÏÍø researchers co-authoring more than 1,000 publications with Malaysian peers in the last five years. Each year the Malaysian government supports hundreds of scholars at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø through scholarship schemes, including from Malaysian government training agency , the and the . 

The President attended an alumni reception in Kuala Lumpar, where he addressed the , chaired by 51³Ô¹ÏÍø alumnus Sharifuddin Al-Manaf (BEng, Aeronautical Engineering, 1994). President Brady reflected on the achievements of key collaborations between 51³Ô¹ÏÍø and Malaysia to improve sustainability, develop low-carbon technologies, and monitor changing forest ecosystems.

Developing low-carbon technologies 

The Centre for Low Carbon Transport – a collaboration between world class researchers from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and 51³Ô¹ÏÍø – is spearheading research on low carbon technologies for transport applications.

Also leading the charge to find low-carbon technologies are researchers at the Brahmal Vasudevan Institute for Sustainable Aviation - established following a £25 million gift from Malaysian alumnus Brahmal Vasudevan (Aeronautical Engineering 1990), founder and CEO of private equity firm Creador, and his wife Shanthi Kandiah, founder of legal firm SK Chambers.

The Institute is helping to usher in a new future of flight. In November 2023, the world’s first transatlantic flight run on 100% sustainable aviation fuel took off, as part of a collaboration between the Institute, University of Sheffield, Virgin Atlantic, Boeing, Rolls-Royce, BP, and others.  

Improving sustainability

"We hope to continue to welcome students from Malaysia and further strengthen our ties in the coming years through our research collaborations and alumni community.” Professor Hugh Brady President of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø

The PETRONAS Centre for Engineering of Multiphase Systems (PETCEMS), led by Professor Omar Matar, is an innovative collaboration between Malaysia’s state energy company PETRONAS and 51³Ô¹ÏÍø to promote greener and more advanced energy systems. The innovative collaboration between 51³Ô¹ÏÍø's Department of Chemical Engineering and Departments of Chemistry, and Earth Science and Engineering uses computational modelling coupled with advanced experiments and chemical synthesis to help PETRONAS to become more sustainable. 

Ecological monitoring

The Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) project, in partnership with , is one of the world’s largest ecological experiments providing insights into how forest ecosystems are affected by logging and deforestation. The project, led by Professor Rob Ewers, aims to understand the impact of agriculture on the rainforest and how to achieve food production, economic benefit, and ecosystem preservation. 

The SAFE Project brings together researchers from 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, the and the , and has been supported by the UK Royal Society’s South East Asia Rainforest Research Programme (SEARRP) and a donation from the Sime Darby Foundation in Malaysia. 

Professor Hugh Brady, President of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, said: "Malaysia is an important partner in 51³Ô¹ÏÍø's mission to develop science, engineering, medicine and business for the benefit of society. We hope to continue to welcome students from Malaysia and further strengthen our ties in the coming years through our research collaborations and alumni community.”

Image credit unless otherwise stated: Ken Chong.