TOMSY-MARE and MARE Meeting in Report in Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia (6 November 2022 – 10 November 2022).
A special TOMSY-MARE Symposium: Roundtable Discussion was conducted among the invited panelists from university and industries, on the topic of “The role of higher education and industry-academia collaboration for capital development”. The three panelists invited were Mr. Mirza Iryawan Hamza, the Director of Hidrokinetik Technologies Sdn. Bhd., Dr. Hii Yii Siang, the General Manager from Pakar Scieno TW Sdn. Bhd., and Professor Dr. Adi Maimun Abdul Malik from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The discussion revolved around the mutual benefits and the needs of both industry and academic institutions.
Figure 1: Roundtable discussion on “The role of higher education and industry-academia collaboration for capital development”.
Besides that, TOMSY-MARE Symposium Special Session was also conducted with the theme: Enhancing Learning in Higher Education through Advancement in Marine Science Research. There were 6 presentations from MARE partners:
1. Dr. Anton Shkaruba, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonia.
2. Dr. Hee Min Teh, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia.
3. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Daniele La Rosa, University of Catania, Italy.
4. Dr. Vincenzo Maccarrone, Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology, Italy.
5. Dr. Shamila Azman, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia.
6. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pietron Scandura, University of Catania, Italy.
Figure 2: Presentation by Dr Hee Min Teh on Immersive Learning of an Engineering Design Course through a Real-Life Problem-based Project.
Figure 3: Presentation by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Daniele La Rosa on Spatial Planning to Address Ecosystem Services Trade-offs in Coastal Areas.
MARE meeting was held after the TOMSY Conference and was attended by 35 members from University of Bremen, University of Catania, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology National Resource Center, Ho Chi Minh City University of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam Maritime University, Can Tho University, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu and Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS.
The meeting was led by Prof. Dr. Mohd Fadzil Mohd Akhir, the Director for Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS) and organized by Faculty of Science and Marine Environment (FSSM), UMT. It started with a report on the financial and administrative issues, highlighted by Dr. Igor Novopashenny from the University of Bremen. It was then followed by a sharing session on the final version of e-learning platforms from the partner universities. Ir. Haizatul Hafizah Hussain represented UTP MARE group in the presentation of the e-learning used for MARE courses (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Ir. Haizatul represents UTP on the final version of e-learning for subjects related to MARE.
Dr. Siti Nur Fathiyah Jamaludin from UTP (Figure 5) presented on the establishment of sectoral collaborative platform with Institut Geologi Malaysia (IGM). During the session, UTP has invited Dr. Nor Bakhiah Baharim, the Technical Chairman of the Coastal and Marine Geology Working Group from IGM to share their role and functions for MARE partners to explore potential future collaboration.
Figure 5: Dr. Fathiyah (UTP) and Dr. Nor Bakhiah (IGM) presenting on the MARE-IGM collaboration.
All MARE partners were brought to visit INOS Gallery and Hatchery at AKUATROP UMT after the presentation. We were exposed to the live monitoring system for wind and current in the South China Sea area. This monitoring system has been developed and maintained by INOS. At AKUATROP, we were shown the fishes, crabs, corals, seahorses and other marine animals’ living mechanisms (Figure 6).
Figure 6: MARE participants during the briefing about crab at AKUATROP UMT.
We also had the opportunity to visit the Kuala Terengganu River estuary and toured around the river estuary using UMT speedboats in the evening. During the tour, we learned about river contamination monitoring from the UMT experts. This is followed by a visit to the UMT research vessel (RV Discovery) (Figure 7).
Figure 7: MARE partner from UTP and UniKL in front of UMT research vessel in Terengganu River Estuary.
During the night, all MARE participants for the project meeting attended dinner at Duyung Marina and Resort which is located along the estuary system (Figure 8).
Figure 8: All MARE participants during the dinner.
