By Nurul Haziqah Abdul Halim
Pix Ra’ai Osman

BANGI, 9 Dec 2013 – Iranians are the second largest community of international students in The National University of Malaysia (UKM), with almost 300 doing their PhDs, 100 studying for their Masters with another 20 doing their post-doctoral studies plus 3 lecturers.

Deputy Dean (Research and Internationalisation) of the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment (FKAB), Prof Dr Salina Abdul Samad opening of the 5^th Iranian Elite Talks held here recently said UKM has always tried to make its campus environment more comfortable and convenient to its foreign students as they are far from home and support of their families.

Representing the Vice Chancellor, Prof Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin, Prof Salina said such events allow students from across Malaysia to stay in touch and to feel more at ease in their respective universities.

Three of the lecturers presented papers on topics related to their researches. A lecturer from Department of Electrical, Electronics and Systems Engineering, FKAB, Dr Edmond Zahedi presented ‘Short Reflections on Education and Research in Two Distant Eras’, Senior lecturer at Solar Energy Research Institute (ANGKASA) Dr. Nilofar Asim, spoke of her research scope on ‘Investigation of More Environmental Friendly Materials for Passive Cooling Application Based on Geopolymer’ and Dr Mostafa Ghasemi, a post-doctoral Fello at UKM’s Fuel Cell Institute on Towards Commercialisation of Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC).

Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammad Jalal Firouznia attended the talk organised by the Iranian Student Association of UKM.