By Saiful Bahri Kamaruddin
Pix Saiful Bahri Kamaruddin

Kuala Lumpur, 10 September 2015 – UKM, through the Institute of Ethnic Studies, will assess the social-environmental impact of production of sustainable aviation jet fuel with leading aircraft manufacturer The Airbus Group.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between UKM and The Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Centre (AMIC) as part of the  research and technology collaboration in the cultivation of offshore tropical Macro-Algae for production of the jet fuel.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Prof Dato’ Dr Mazlin Mokhtar represented UKM at the signing ceremony, held at the International Greentech Eco Products Exhibition and Conference, here today.

Three other universities; University of Malaya (UM), University Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) and Nottingham University Malaysia campus also inked MoUs with AMIC for that combined effort.

AMIC chief executive officer Shamsul Kamar Abu Samah said he hoped that the MoU would lead to project realisation, with a promise of accomplishment to the Airbus Group by 2017.

“The collaboration was in line with AMIC’s commitment to sustainable aviation and would act as a catalyst for the development of sustainable bio-jet fuel in Malaysia,” he said.

The Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) said in a statement UKM is to study the social impact brought about by the production.

“UKM, through the Institute of Ethnic Studies, will assess the social-environmental impact of rolling out and development of this industry in Malaysia,” it said.

UM will be utilising its expertise, which includes macro-algae and ocean environment, in fuel processing and conversion.

According to MIGHT UMT is to focus on design, engineering and the deployment of offshore cultivation system for tropical macro-algae while Nottingham University will focus on design and modeling of techno-economics and assessment scenario.

Research projects will be spearheaded by founding lead members, namely the Airbus Group, Rolls-Royce and CTRM (Composites Technology Research Malaysia), a local company specialising in composites and aerospace industry.

Earlier this year UKM, along with the Airbus Group and the German-Malaysian Institute (GMI)  entered into an agreement with AMIC on an innovative project that uses Virtual Reality for training in the  aerospace manufacturing programme.