By UOW Malaysia 

The University of Wollongong Malaysia (UOW Malaysia) marked a significant step in its journey toward environmental leadership with the soft launch of its Sustainability Living Lab (SLL) on 23^rd April 2025. This strategic initiative reflects UOW Malaysia’s commitment to embedding sustainability into every layer of campus life i.e education, research, operations, and community engagement. In addition, the event signalled the beginning of UOW Malaysia’s long-term commitment to transforming its campuses into collaborative hubs for real-world sustainability solutions.

Held in conjunction with the 6^th Engineering Research Symposium (EUReS) organized by School of Engineering. Ts. Dr. Nishata Royan A/P Rajendran Royan, the key champion of UOW Malaysia’s sustainability agenda, spearheaded the Sustainability Living Lab as the university’s first flagship initiative, supported by the School of Engineering to drive real-world, impactful solutions. The soft launch introduced the SLL as a real-world platform for students, academics, and partners to collaboratively pilot and test sustainable solutions. The event brought together leaders from academia, industry, government, and the community, showcasing UOW Malaysia’s quadruple helix approach to co-creating climate-resilient innovations. The SLL soft launched was witness by the presence of Srii Gunaseelan, Business Development Manager (Education) from the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (AUSTRADE) underscoring the international support and cross-border collaboration embedded in UOWM’s sustainability efforts and Ts. Norazlina Md Sani, RTTP, Lead of FutureTech at the Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology & Innovation (MRANTI), whose presence highlighted the importance of bridging research, innovation, and commercialization. MRANTI’s involvement reflects its ongoing mission to fast-track Malaysian innovations from lab to market and reinforces the potential of the UOW Malaysia Sustainability Living Lab to serve as a national testbed for scalable, impact-driven green technologies and sustainable engineering solutions.

As part of the soft launch, UOW Malaysia unveiled a small-scale prototype of a Rainwater Harvesting System, symbolizing the core principles of the Sustainability Living Lab. The prototype represents the first tangible step in realizing a campus-wide ecosystem for applied sustainability. “The Sustainability Living Lab is not just a project…it’s a mindset shift. Our campus becomes a living, evolving ecosystem where sustainability ambitions are tested, improved, and eventually expanded beyond our gates. Today is just the beginning.” said Professor Dr. Hiew Pang Leang, Vice-Chancellor of UOW Malaysia.

The SLL is designed as a quadruple helix platform, fostering collaboration across academia, industry, government, and community. A mock cheque presentation ceremony worth of RM100,000 celebrated the support of UOW Malaysia’s founding industry partners: Paramount Corporation Berhad, Evercomm, Thermamax Sdn Bhd, Signature Manufacturing Sdn Bhd and PMO Innovations where all instrumental in co-developing pilot projects and mentoring student innovators. Thermamax Sdn. Bhd. co-developing and co-funding the Passive Displacement Ventilation (PDV) Installation at UOW Malaysia’s Zing Hub. This initiative is being implemented on a 50-50 cost-sharing basis, with the goal of enhancing thermal comfort and reducing HVAC energy consumption. Evercomm providing the NXMap Carbon Accounting Software, to support Greenhouse Gas Inventory accounting and monitoring, data analytics, and sustainability reporting across campus operations and student research. Paramount Corporation Berhad supporting student-led Decarbonization Theme Projects while also offering Utropolis Marketplace as a real-world testing ground for sustainability solutions developed under the SLL framework. Signature Manufacturing Sdn Bhd creates pathways for students to gain industry exposure in automation technology and smart factory systems, fostering a sustainable Industry 4.0 ecosystem as well as talent development. PMO Innovations empowers SLL project team to turn visionary ideas into impactful, sustainability-driven innovations through its AI-enabled G.R.E.E.N. methodology to systematically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance organisational resilience, and accelerate the journey toward net-zero.

These partnerships reflect a strong industry-academia alliance focused on co-developing low-carbon solutions and scaling sustainability innovations within and beyond the university campus.

A thought-provoking panel forum titled “Sustainability in Action: The Role of Living Labs” featured experts from academia (UOW Malaysia), industry (Global Tunikara Sdn. Bhd.), government (MRANTI) and the community (The Sea Monkey Project). The session explored how living labs can accelerate innovation, embed sustainability into education, and foster inclusive societal change.

The event also featured key activities from the 6^th EUReS Symposium, including Capstone Project Innovation Pitching on decarbonization and engineering student exhibition of sustainable prototypes. UOW Malaysia acknowledged the Capstone Project Industry Advisors including NovaAir Industrial Gases, Square Cloud Asia, Babylon Vertical Farms, Intellogic Technology, Stets Malaysia, SWA Water Malaysia, and Renergist Sdn Bhd who are guiding students in developing practical, industry-relevant sustainability. Students from the Mechanical, Electrical, and Mechatronic Engineering programs presented their innovations, which integrate engineering principles with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each group has developed a working prototype addressing real-world challenges in decarbonization, including; A Smart Energy Recovery System from Plastic Waste (Group 1), contributing to sustainable construction and energy systems; A Smart Personal Wearable Air Conditioning System for Energy-Efficient Cooling (Group 2), tackling low-carbon solutions in HVAC; A Carbon-Negative Smart Vertical Farming System with Optimised Energy Consumption (Group 3), promoting sustainable agriculture; A Smart E-Forklift with Energy Recovery System for Low-Carbon Warehousing (Group 4), focused on sustainable logistics and a Self-Sustaining Greywater Recycling System (Group 5), addressing water management and circular economy principles. These initiatives collectively demonstrated how students are actively contributing to solving real-world sustainability challenges.

Also, the event was participated and witness by all their industrial partners and academic collaborators. UOW Malaysia acknowledged the presence, commitment and contribution from all our partners.

About the UOW Malaysia Sustainability Living Lab (SLL)

The SLL is an interdisciplinary platform that transforms UOW Malaysia’s campuses into experimental grounds for low-carbon solutions and circular innovation. Through student-led research, strategic partnerships, and curriculum integration, the Lab aims to scale practical outcomes across infrastructure, behaviour, and policy while serving as a model for other institutions and communities.

For more information, please visit https://www.uow.edu.my/sustainability/living-lab/