29-04-2025
Living lab for green solutions
Norazlina (left), Prof Hiew (third from right) and Srii (right) with representatives of several companies during the Sustainability Living Lab soft launch at UOW Shah Alam campus. — AZLINA ABDULLAH/The Star
A PRIVATE university in Malaysia has created a research arm where students, academics and their collaborators can test ideas and collect data to advance planetary and human health.
University of Wollongong (UOW) Malaysia's Sustainability Living Lab (SLL) offers companies an opportunity to test and validate their green solutions in a real-world setting.
UOW Malaysia School of Engineering senior Nishata Royan Rajendran Royan, who is lead coordinator of SLL, said all studies and tests would be conducted by the university's faculty members, students and researchers.
'Supervision is provided by academic experts based on the project scope and is overseen by the SLL committee.
'For technical and environmental projects, the School of Engineering leads the process with active participation from students and lecturers to ensure academic quality and practical relevance.
'Depending on the nature of the project, industrial grants or consultancy fees may apply, and academic supervision or research assistance may be compensated accordingly.'
Nishata said this at the soft launch of SLL, in conjunction with UOW Malaysia's sixth Engineering Research Symposium.
Also present were Australian Trade and Investment Commission business development manager (education) Srii Gunaseelan, Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation lead of future tech Norazlina Md Sani and the university's vice-chancellor Prof Dr Hiew Pang Leang.
In attendance too were representatives of several companies testing or developing their systems with SLL.
Nishata said support offered by SLL included access to specialised software, technical know-how from academic staff, student research teams, facilities such as laboratories, prototyping equipment, testbeds and data analytics tools.
In line with its green theme, she said SLL was open to exploring pilot projects that aligned with the university's sustainability goals, such as rainwater harvesting systems, smart organic waste composting, energy-saving devices, circular economy, green composite material or low-risk environmental prototypes.
'Each proposal will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis,' she added.
In his speech, Prof Hiew called the SLL project a mindset shift.
'Our campus becomes a living, evolving ecosystem where sustainability ambitions are tested, improved and eventually expanded beyond our gates. Today is just the beginning,' he said.
On examples of ongoing projects between SLL and its current industry partners, Nishata cited a company that would be installing an air cooling system in the 24-hour study area at the university's Shah Alam campus.
Unlike conventional air-conditioning systems, the new system utilises natural convection to cool a space without relying on mechanical fans.
This initiative is being implemented on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis, with the goal of enhancing thermal comfort and reducing energy consumption.
Also on display at the event were innovations created by the School of Engineering final-year students.
These included a safety construction hat with a built-in cooling system, and a vertical farm with an automatic watering system that could also detect pests.
There was also a waste segregation system that could automatically sort out cardboard, plastic and aluminium cans, as well as a recyclable material made from a combination of rice husk and thermoplastic polymer.
