KDU Penang and global technology provider National Instruments (NI) Penang today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to pursue joint development of academic-industry research opportunities in Penang. As part of this partnership, KDU Penang also unveiled its new LabVIEW Academy laboratory equipped with NI Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (ELVIS) II devices.
The LabVIEW Academy was built with KDU Penang investing in the NI ELVIS II hardware, while NI contributed and supported the project with software and services such as licenses, training and technical support. KDU PG has a LabVIEW lab which is equipped with 10 computers and 10 NI ELVIS II workstations which accommodates up to 20 students.
Representing KDU Penang at the signing of the MoU was Principal and Chief Executive Officer Dr Chong Beng Keok, while NI was represented by Mr Chandran Nair, Managing Director of NI South East Asia.
Commenting on the partnership, Dr Chong said, “KDU Penang has always emphasised the importance of strong industry linkages by providing industry-relevant teaching and learning facilities with a strong focus on skills development. Our aim is to groom more LabVIEW-trained and LabVIEW-certified developers and engineers to meet growing industry demand for such skills. This partnership with NI will offer our students practical, hands-on experience with instruments that electronics professionals commonly use on the job.”
Explaining the significance of the initiative, KDU Engineering Department Head, Dr Yeap Gik Hong, said, “The field of electronics is developing at such a fast rate. Students need to gain engineering intuition on how to build and then measure, characterise, and troubleshoot the performance of analog and digital electronics. NI LabVIEW is a graphical programming language designed for engineers and scientists to develop test, control, and measurement applications. The LabVIEW Academy programme uses a blended learning model that combines face-to-face teaching with engaging content and hands-on lab exercises. This model prepares students for the demands of industry and higher education in engineering. It also provides a platform for innovation in science and technology that will benefit KDU students and prospective engineers in this area.”
As part of the KDU Penang-NI collaboration, a NI Centre of Excellence (COE) is also in the pipeline to be set up at KDU College to champion research and development programmes. This initiative will encourage real-world industry experiences as well as promote internship and job opportunities with NI Penang, other multinational companies and small-medium enterprises requiring NI product knowledge.