UUM ONLINE: “Although UUM is a management university, we are not left behind in adapting the element of science in the field of management.

"This is a testament that a management university can also succeed in bringing about a very relevant innovation to the community, namely the manufacturing of hand sanitizer and personal protective equipment (PPE)," said the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dato' Dr. Ahmad Bashawir Abdul Ghani during a visit to the PPE and hand sanitizer production venue, recently.

He said UUM through its Innovation and Commercialisation Centre (ICC) had taken the initiative to produce PPEs and hand sanitizer to be donated to the frontline personnel who were serving in the front fighting to curb the Covid-19 outbreak.

According to him, the production of PPEs and germ disinfectant fluid became one of the university's corporate social responsibility (CSR) obligations to the outside community especially to those who had sacrificed much of their time and energy to ensure the safety of the public.

"I am proud of the research efforts led by UUM's Director of Food Security, Innovation and Development Research (FInDER), Dr. Risyawati  Mohamed Ismail who successfully produced germ disinfectant liquid or hand sanitizer of high quality.  The production of the hand sanitizer comes under the Function of Science project.

"It is estimated that a total of 2,000 bottles of hand sanitizers can be produced which will then be supplied not only to frontline personnel, but also to those in the B40 group who live near the UUM campus for free," he said.

In addition, he said, the PPEs sewn by UUM volunteers in cooperation with SCIMPA and the Co-Curriculum Centre for the use of healthcare personnel at Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital received praises for the quality of its stitching as well as meeting the standards.

He said, looking at the development of the innovation carried out by the lecturer, the UUM management expressed intention to commercialize the hand sanitizer to in the outside market in line with the government's intent to encourage the university to generate its own income.

“I believe that UUM has some great innovators who are highly innovative and qualified to produce such products for commercialization.

"As we generate income, we should not neglect UUM's responsibility towards the community that is to conduct high-impact research that will benefit the community," he said.