10th Meeting of the ERASMUS+ Project SKYBELT in USM

NIBONG TEBAL 7 January 2023 – The School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia hosted the 10th Meeting of the Erasmus+ Project SKYBELT from 7th to 9th January 2023. SKYBELT is an Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) project, funded by the European Union, titled “Enhancement of engineering skills of students of all levels for application of evidence based sustainable renewable energy solutions in the built environment/SKYBELT”. The consortium consists of universities from Europe and Asia led by Università Telematica eCampus, Italy, with members from University of Northumbria, UK, University of Cukurova, Turkey, Beijing University of Technology, China, Lanzhou Jiatong University, China, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Naresuan University, Thailand and Chiang Mai University, Thailand. The project concentrates on three pillars; enhancement of modules at Bachelor and Master level and improvement of skills development of PhD students, familiarisation of academic, technical and administrative staff of partner universities with best practice at EU level and cooperation with industry stakeholders.

The Dean of the School of Mechanical Engineering, Associate Professor Dr. Jamaluddin Bin Abdullah delivered the opening remarks for the meeting which was also attended by the Director of SERC, Professor Dr. Mohd Azmier Ahmad. The meeting was led by Associate Professor Dr. Mohamad Yusof Bin Idroas, the coordinator for SKYBELT USM and supported by Professor Dr. Mohd Azmier Ahmad, Dr. Teoh Yew Heng and Mr. Muhamad Azman Miskam as the project members. During the meeting, all members of the consortium held discussions on progress of the project. The members also visited the Advanced Renewable Energy Research Laboratory at the SERC and were introduced to the Renewable
Energy System equipment funded by the Erasmus+ CBHE grant which is used in the teaching of undergraduate courses. An industry and academic seminar were also held in conjunction with the 10th SKYBELT Meeting. The academic seminar featured Prof. Zainal Alimuddin Zainal Alauddin and Dr. Khaled Ali Al-Attab in sharing of the overview of Renewable Energy Research at Bio-Energy Laboratory USM. Besides, the presentation from CGSS was delivered by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Sayuti and Dr. Ng Theam Foo. In addition, the industry seminar featured Dr. Horizon Gitano, the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Focus Applied Technologies Sdn. Bhd. and Mr. Shaun Lim Kean Lai, Founder of Gen Plus Technologies Sdn. Bhd. Furthermore, the program includes few series of seminars by European professors to undergraduate students from School of Mechanical Engineering, USM At the end of the meeting, the members of the consortium thanked and congratulated the School of Mechanical Engineering for a successful meeting of the 10th SKYBELT meeting in USM. The consortium expressed hope for continued strong collaboration with partner countries in teaching and research on topics related to renewable energy solutions.

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