Efforts to highlight Islamic scholars are a constructive move in developing a nation’s intellectual wealth.

“Our nation’s intellectual wealth must be supported by efforts to drive scholars and increase their confidence.

“Leaders who fear intellectuals and stifle intellectual development will eventually cause the nation’s decline.

“Stable governments and advanced nations always choose to associate with intellectuals and provide them with a friendly political environment,” he said at the launch of the book titled Knowledge, Language, Thought and the Civilisation of Islam: Essays in Honor of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia International Campus on February 23^rd, 2010.

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The publication of this book is a noble effort by UTM and its writers and deserves a compliment as it will ensure the brilliant thoughts of Professor Dr. Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas will continue to flourish for generations to come,” Raja Nazrin further added.

It is a compilation of 22 articles from international scholars on al-Attas’ thoughts on a variety of topics. Published by UTM Press, the hardcover is priced at RM108 while the paperback edition costs RM80.

Raja Nazrin praised al-Attas’ belief that an Islamic approach must first be developed from within and allowed to flourish instead of forcing it upon society.

He also commended al-Attas’ politically neutral stance to avoid his thoughts being used to gain political power.

“Syed Naquib defines independence as having different levels, with political independence being the first stage. A higher independence begins with the freedom of the mind to think and act based on one’s principles and a nation’s values.

“He says governments should not be too quick to label scholars as opposition politicians whenever there is a conflict of views between a scholar and the government of the day,” said Raja Nazrin.

UTM made another record-breaking achievement in the field of Research and Development (R&D) after winning 57 awards including 5 main categories at the Malaysian Technology Expo organised  by the Malaysian Association Research Scientists (MARS) held at the Putra World Trade Centre on 4 – 6 February 2010.

The Vice Chancellor Prof. Dato’ Ir. Dr. Zaini Ujang in a statement said all 52 products contested won at least a medal thus making UTM the institution with the most award won in the exposition including the main award and 10 gold medals.

According to him the 5 main awards were won by Professor Dr. Abdul Halim Mohd Yatim whom won Best of the Best award, Prof. Dr.  Alias Abd Rahman, Associate Prof. Dr. Abd Hafidz Omar and Dr. Norasikin Othman winning The Best Award each and Associate Prof. Dr Sevia Mahdaliza Idrus who won a special award rewarded by Poland.

The awards were presented by the President of MARS who is also the Director of the Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Datuk Dr. Daud Mohamad in a gala dinner to commemorate the expo’s participants.

Zaini also added that Prof. Dr. Abdul Halim who is also the Dean of the Faculty of Bioengineering and Health Sciences won the Best of the Best award through his research entitled ‘An Interface Between Ultracapacitor Energy Storage to Alternative Energy Resource’.

“This product is able to integrate alternative energy resources such as photovoltaic fuel cells and wind power which are usually unstable and is unable to react quickly with the required load.

“This device acts as a second energy source that is capable of combining alternative energy with a more stable power source using a ultracapacitor and not battery,” he said.

“The good side of this device is that it has more power in a lighter weight and small in size.

“Compared to the conventional batteries, this product is 10 times lighter and smaller making it more versatile for marketing,” he said.

UTM was ranked 89^th place in the Web Ranking of World Institutional Repositories making it the only Malaysian University to reach the top 400 in the list as announced on January 27^th, 2010.

The Web Ranking of World repositories  is conducted twice a year by the Cybermetrics Lab, a research group belonging to the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), the largest public research body in Spain.

The research was conducted by a quantitative analysis of the Internet and Web contents especially those related to the processes of generation and scholarly communication of scientific knowledge.

However the UTM ranking actually dropped from 48 points July last year to 41 points this year.

According to the Director of Corporate Affairs, Professor Dr. Azlan Abdul Rahman,  it is crucial for researchers and lecturers to write and deposit their latest findings and research materials consistently to support the UTM open access policy.

“Aside from enriching the contents and access of UTM Institutional Repository, the increase of the materials deposited can also enhance the rankings and ratings of UTM.  It is hoped that the top management could enforce a ‘self-deposit’ policy more intensively,” he said.