Inauguration of the building by the Minister of KPT
On 28 January 2022, Datuk Seri Dr. Noraini, the Minister of Higher Education completed the inauguration of the new building of the Institute of Marine Biotechnology (IMB), most of which is a research laboratory. This laboratory was completed on 8 November 2018 and will be operational in early 2021 in stages. A total of 11 laboratories in it and focus on the field of biotechnology research. Two laboratories here are under a collaborative research project between UMT and Ghent University, Belgium, namely the Bioinformatics Laboratory and another laboratory with the Ocean University of China under the Joint – Academic Center Marine Studies program.
Research collaborations in the seaweed genome project with research groups from Belgium, Italy, USA, Germany, Russia, Spain, Hungary, Netherlands, South Africa and China resulted in high-impact publications.
A series of online workshops have been created under the Marine Angiosperm Genome Initiative (MAGI) Project with research groups from Belgium, Italy, USA, German, Russia, Spain, Hungary, the Netherlands, South Africa and China that have produced high-impact publications.
UMT is involved in this consortium through four researchers from IMB, UMT namely Prof. Assoc. Ts. Dr. Muhd Danish Daniel as Project Leader from UMT and project members namely Prof. Dr. Yeong Yik Sung, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tan Min Pau and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wong Li Lian. UMT channeled a total of RM150K in research funds under the SRG grant scheme for this project.
Hatceri development of Artemia Live Food by the Artemia Translational Project Research Group
UMT is the first in Malaysia to explore the technique of culturing and producing Artemia cysts on a large scale using a tank system and this research is translated through the construction of an Artemia Hatchery on campus worth RM 1.6 Million under the Translational Research fund. This UMT initiative aims to penetrate the global Artemia market as well as promote Malaysia in the Aquaculture industry, and at the same time function as a university-community research knowledge transfer center as well as a university income generation project.
The construction of the Artemia hatchery is a strategic collaboration between UMT and Ghent University, Belgium and is fully supported by the world Artemia expert Professor Emeritus Dr. Patrick Sorgeloos. It will produce two types of Artemia products for sale, namely live and frozen Artemia used in the aquaculture industry. Congratulations to the outstanding UMT Artemia research group led by the Director of the Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Professor Dr. Yeong Yik Sung, for the opening of the Artemia Hatchery which officially operates today.
World Horse Shoe Crab Day
The Horse Shoe Crab Hatchery (Belangkas) UMT Kuala Kemaman (HBUKK) held a celebration of World Horse Shoe Crab Day 2022 at the HBUKK grounds on 20 August 2022 with the objective of introducing this facility as a community-based eco-tourism (CBT) location in Malaysia, especially in Terengganu. This program was inaugurated by YB Ustaz Ariffin bin Deraman, Chairman of the Committee. Tourism, Culture and Information Technology. UMT Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Prof. Dr Marinah Ariffin and the Director of UMT’s Institute of Marine Biotechnology were also present to give strong support to this noble effort of UMT. This program has been designed to raise awareness about the biology and ecology of the eel to the local community, including the importance of taking care of the environment, especially the beaches and rivers for the survival of the eel, as well as community activities that can add value to the family economy.
Program opening by YB Ustaz Ariffin bin Deraman, Chairman of the Tourism, Culture and Information Technology Committee, Terengganu.
TUST-UMT Joint Postgraduate Webinar 2022
Tianjin University of Science and Technology (TUST), China has been a UMT MoU partner since 2019 when this collaboration network was signed at TUST during the UMT delegation’s visit to TUST in 2019. Under this MoU agreement, various collaborative activities have been planned, including the organization of scientific programs such as webinars/seminars. Realizing the importance of postgraduate students’ ability to present their research findings and master the use of English in the presentation of scientific papers, TUST and UMT have held the TUST-UMT Joint Postgraduate Webinar 2022 program. The “TUST-UMT Joint Postgraduate Webinar 2022” program was held with theme “Marine Biological Resource Exploitation & Sustainable Utilization”, online using the Cisco Webex application. This program was held on 31 July 2022 which involved a presentation by a post-doctorate and five (5) postgraduate students, each from TUST and UMT. Topics presented include the biology of Artemia, the use of Artemia in microplastic studies, population studies, nutrition and fatty acid metabolism of Artemia and microbiology.
International Conference in Marine Biotechnology 2022
ICOMB 2022 was held on 3 and 4 October 2022 involving the organization of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), Ocean University of China (OUC) and Ghent University, Belgium (UGent). A total of 120 participants were involved from 8 countries (Malaysia, Belgium, Australia, Italy, Japan, China, Taiwan & Indonesia) and involved several Keynote Speakers and Plenary Speakers who were prominent in and outside the country such as Prof. Emeritus Dr. Patrick Sorgeloos (UGent), Prof. Dr. Yves Van de Peer (UGent), Prof. Dr. Andrew McMinn (University of Tasmania), Prof. Dr. Gianluca Sara (University of Palermo), Prof. Dr. Tatsuki Toda (Soka University), Prof. Dr. Wang Min (OUC), Prof. Dr. Elfahmi S.Si (ITB), Prof. Datuk Wira Dr. Raha binti Abdul Rahim (NIBM, Prof. Dato’ Dr. Nor Aieni binti Haji Mokhtar (UMT) and Prof. Dato’ Dr. Mohamad Isa bin Abdul Majid (USM). The objective of this conference is to strengthen the research collaboration network between UMT, UGent and OUC through joint organization of conferences, seminars and research workshops.
