MUST-MIT Collaboration

The collaborative programme between MUST Ehsan Foundation and MIT was initiated in 1995. The main goal of the programme is to provide qualified Malaysians in particular, and Asians in general, with the opportunity to obtain world class degrees in technological fields of importance to the socio-economic development of Malaysia and the region. The programme prepares graduates for careers in industry, government, and/or academia.

The establishment of MUST, with the assistance of MIT, serves the interests of the country by enabling an allocation of resources to educational programmes of national importance as well as attracting prospective candidates from the Asian region to advance their education in Malaysia and supporting the aim of making Malaysia the "Centre of Educational Excellence" in the region.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was established in 1865, in Massachusetts, United States of America as a coeducational, privately endowed research university with a mission to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship with national and global relevance.

MIT is world renowned for its excellence in teaching and research in science, engineering, information technology, economics and management. Its programmes are focused on real-world problems and issues that affect the world economy and MIT develops the necessary skills and expertise in its graduates to address these issues . MIT has proven tremendously successful in producing entrepreneurial leadership in technology. Leaders in industry and government worldwide routinely draw on the expertise of MIT faculty. For example, a Bank of Boston report in 1997 indicated that MIT graduates successfully transferred their knowledge into businesses by setting up more than 4,000 firms that generated significant income to the US economy and created more than 1.1 million jobs worldwide.

MIT instills an attitude of analytical thinking, problem solving, creativity, innovation and team building to its graduates, the qualities that MUST aims to emulate for its students.

MIT provided guidance and assistance to MUST in the following areas.

Establishment of graduate-level academic programmes

Academic programmes at the Masters level have been initiated in selected areas consistent with national goals and resources. Currently there are seven academic programmes offered by MUST i.e. MSc in Information Technology, MSc in Biotechnology, MSc in Transportation and Logistics, MSc in Materials Science and Engineering, MSc in Construction Engineering and Management, MSc in Systems Engineering, and MSc in Energy & Environement. The programmes are based on MIT's course structure, materials and facilities that can be accessed by MUST academic staff and students..

Additional graduate level programmes at the Masters level and PhD programmes will be offered by MUST within the next few years. In subsequent phases, MUST will establish a School of Science, a Division of Social Sciences and Humanities, and a School of Management. Short courses and executive seminars also are being developed and will be offered at MUST.

MUST and MIT faculty collaborated in both teaching and research and establishing requirements of these advanced degrees. MUST academic programmes will attract the most talented and select students not only locally but also regionally and educate them with an orientation towards research and development.

Research Collaboration

Faculty to faculty research collaborations between MUST and MIT were established. Listed below were some of the research projects:

• Web Services for New Business Applications in Telecommunications
  Faculty involved:
  Associate Prof. Nor Adnan of MUST
  Prof. John Williams of MIT
  
  
• Transportation in Malaysia
  Faculty involved:
  Assoc. Prof . C.H. Leong and S.M. Leong of MUST
  Prof. Joseph M. Sussman of MIT
  
  
• Intelligent Information Integration
  Faculty involved:
  Assoc Prof. Nor Adnan and Assoc Prof. Sellapan of MUST
  Prof. Stuart Madnick of MIT
  
  
• Support of MITSIMLab in Application in Malaysia
  Faculty involved:
  Prof Zanuldin Ahmad and Mark Schofield of MUST
  Prof. Moshe Ben-Akiva of MIT
  
  
• Carrier Networks: Integrated Service Planning
  Faculty involved:
  Dr. Niranjan Krishnan of MUST
  Prof. Cynthia Barnhart of MIT
  
  
• Developing a Transportation Telematics and Telemedicine Architecture to Reduce Highway Deaths in Malaysia
  Faculty involved:
  Assoc Prof. C.H. Leong of MUST
  Dr. Joseph F. Coughlin of MIT
  
  
• Bioprocess Improvement Through Transcriptional Analysis of Cellular Response
  Faculty involved:
  Assoc. Prof. Jennifer Harikrishna and Assoc. Prof. Lim Saw Hoon of MUST
  Professor Charles L. Cooney of MIT
  
  

Outreach Seminar Series

MUST regularly hosted Outreach Seminars to promote awareness of academic and research programmes available at MUST to relevant industry and the public at large.

Invited speakers included faculty from MIT and researchers from other international organizations. More information on the seminars which have been held are available here.

Development of a research agenda

The research agenda at MUST is determined by a tripartite collaboration between MUST Ehsan Foundation, the government and industry. Research addresses key issues of significance to the country's economic future.

MIT has a long tradition of working on practical problems affecting society and the economy, and in recent years has become a leader in developing collaborative partnerships with industry and government. These partnerships and the research activities have resulted in the creation of jobs, companies and even new industries, based on new technologies. They are part of the country's innovation system -- a strategic alliance among industry, universities, government and labor -- that develops new knowledge and technologies, educates a highly skilled work force to apply these new technologies, and produces the next generation of researchers to carry on the process of discovery and development. This system turns out a continuous stream of new products and services, which in turn advance their economy and quality of life.

Based on these strengths, MIT guided MUST on how to build strong partnerships with industry and the government. The MUST-MIT collaborative effort focused on jointly developing long-term, large-scale research projects and will continue to seek support from industry and government to fund projects in critical areas such as biotechnology, information technology, transportation and logistics, construction, materials science, energy and environment .

Institutional Development

• Infrastructure
  
  MIT provided an assessment of Information Technology needs (space, hardware, and software) for MUST's academic, research, and administrative functions.

  MUST used MIT's Stellar system as its course management system. The Stellar system was developed by the Academic Media Production Services Unit at MIT and provides course administrators and instructors with a simple, hierarchical means of organizing course-related content and selectively exposing it to students. Conceptually speaking, Stellar provides a simple way for non-technical individuals to create and maintain simple course websites, based around a common theme.
  
  

• Library
  
  The MIT Library provided a documentation service to the MUST library with regard to reference material needed by students to complete their academic programmes. The MIT librarians also provided hands-on training to the MUST librarian.
  
  
• Administration
  
  MIT was fully involved in the selection and appointment of MUST faculty, staff and in other HR related matters such as benefits, health and safety, and staff training and development.
  
  
• Financial Management
  
  MIT assisted MUST in its financial and accounting matters including budgeting, research contracts, accounting, academic accounting, student fellowships and loans and MUST investments (gifts and endowments).
  
  

Latest Developments

The Collaborative Program between MIT and MUST-Ehsan Foundation For Assistance in the Establishment of the Malaysia University of Science and Technology (MUST) ended on November 30, 2004 . Since then, MUST has functioned on its own without MIT's involvement.