KUALA LUMPUR: An invention by a team of researchers from the Malaysian Nuclear Agency won the grand prize at the Seoul International Invention Fair (SIIF) 2020.
The team, comprising Sofian Ibrahim, Khairiah Badri, Chantara Thevy Ratnam and Noor Hasni Ali, bagged the grand prize for their invention — “Hybrid Radiation and Peroxide Prevulcanized Natural Rubber Latex”.
Besides the grand prize, Malaysia also won 19 gold, 11 silver and eight bronze medals at the fair, which was held from Dec 1 to 4, said Malaysian Association of Research Scientists (MARS) president Dr Muhd Noor Muhd Yunus.
The researchers involved were from Sirim Berhad, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten), Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) and University College Sedaya International (UCSI).
Despite the world still struggling with the Covid-19 pandemic, researchers in the country are still active in producing various innovations for universal benefit, Dr Muhd Noor said.
“It is no surprise that the Korean Invention Promotion Association still appoints MARS as the only association given the trust to bring innovations from Malaysia to compete in SIIF every year, ” he said.
Innovations submitted for entry to the contest went through strict screening, and had won the gold medal in local competitions, he said. — Bernama