Oversea Innovation Project Program (Inbound Program) between
School of Microelectronics, Tianjin University of China
and
Department of Control and Mechatronics Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
27th July – 9th August 2025
The Oversea Innovation Project Programme, a two-week program from the 27th of July until the 9th of August 2025, is a collaboration between the School of Microelectronics (SME), Tianjin University (TJU) of China, and the Department of Control and Mechatronics Engineering (CMED), Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). The program was participated by 19 undergraduate students from TJU and 11 undergraduate students from UTM. Activities of lectures, hands-on robotics assignments, research-sharing webinars, and cross-culture-sharing experiences were successfully executed in the program. The program was organized by CMED, UTM, and co-organized by SME, TJU. The program director from the UTM side is AP. Ir. Ts. Dr. Mohd Ridzuan bin Ahmad while from SME, TJU is Assoc. Prof. Yuefeng Hou. The advisor for the program is the Director of CMED (Prof. Ir. Dr. Hazlina binti Selamat). The program was officiated by the Assistant to Vice Chancelor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Rashid Husain during the opening ceremony on 28th of July 2025. This program teaches physical and design concepts in automatic tracking robot car systems. Students will apply electrical circuit design and programming to the car system. Intel 8051 is selected as the type of microcontroller, infrared detection or CMOS camera is used for tracking, and an infrared sensor or ultrasonic sensor is used for obstacle avoidance. The robot car system needs to be self-made. One-day research webinar was held during the program highlighting state-of-the-art research by six lecturers from FKE, UTM, and five lecturers from SME, TJU. This research webinar has opened up a potential collaboration between researchers from participating institutions and also provided research exposure for the student participants. The Oversea Innovation Project Program was a successful program between CMED, UTM, and SME, TJU. All objectives of the program were achieved. The participants from both institutions not only gained robotics knowledge and hands-on skills but also several other exposures such as Malaysian culture, state-of-the-art research sharing, and new friendships.
