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UMS aims to give students edge in
emplovability with industry collaboration
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By VESTA VANESSA
JSOL
KOTA KINABALU: Uni­
verslu
Malaysia
Sabah
(VMS) aims tp expand col­
laboration with industries to
give its students an edge in
employability.
Its vice chancellor Prof.
Mohd Hamn Abdullah said
such collaboration not only
helps the university's stu­
dents but also its academic
staff in their awareness of the
manpower and technological
needs of the industries.
He was speaking at the
signing of a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) be­
tween UMS and Adabi Con­
sumer Industries Sdn Bhd
(Adabi) at a hotel here on
Tuesday evening.
Prof. Mohd Hamn signed
the MOU on behalf of UMS
while Adabi was represented
by Adrian Yeoh Abdullah,
the president of the com­
pany.
The MOU signing was an
extension of the UMS-Adabi
collaboration which began in
2012 with a letter of intent
between the Food Science
and Nutrition Faculty of
UMS and Adani. Since then
the two parties have jointly
developed two local delica­
cies - the chicken in peanut
sauce and beef in peanut
sauce - which are now in the
market.
Memorandum of Under­
standing between Universiti
Malaysia Sabah (VMS) and
Adabi Consumer Industries
Sdn Bhd (ADABI) hopes
more new products are pro­
duced for domestic and in­
ternational markets.
"UMS through the Faculty
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Prof. Harun (3rd left) and Adrian (2nd right) signing the MOU on Tuesday evening. of Food Science and Nu­
trition will continue the co­
operation that had started
from the Letter of Intent in
2012," said Prof. Mohd
Hamn. "We hope to develop
more new products for the
domestic and international
markets."
The MOU covers areas of
teaching and learning, In­
dustry training for students
of the Faculty of Food Sci­
ence and Nutrition, research
and development, industrial
training for academic staff as
well as having Adabi rep­
resentative sitting in the fac­
ulty's Industry Advisory
.
Panel.
Hamn said UMS is pleased
to be working with Adabi
which has been a leader ofthe
food industry for 31 years,
and is known for having an
entirely local workforce.
UMS's Food Science and
Nutrition degree takes four
years to complete. During the
studies, students are required
to develop new food products
from locally sourced raw ma­
terials, and draw up a busi­
ness plan to market the prod-
uct.
"The experience that Ad­
abi possesses is useful in
preparing our students in
their car~r."
Meanwhile, Adabi's Adri­
an Yeoh Roslan said he
hoped the 5-year MOU will
see more programmes that
will enhance the students'
R&D capabilities and con­
tribute to the process of hu­
man capital development.
The job market is compet­
itive and Adabi hopes that the
cooperation with UMS will
produce graduates who are
competent in theory as well
as the practical aspects of
food technology.
"We look at this more from
the standpoint of our cor­
porate social responsibility
rather than business and prof­
its. We want to share our
knowledge especially in di­
etary food preparation and
quality products," he said,
adding that the food products
that came out of the
UMS-Adabi collaboration
are well received in the mar­
ket, especially during the fes­
tive season.