EXCELLENT ACHIEVEMENT: From left, Vice Chancellor Innovation Award team members Flora Bungan Balang, Latifah Loh Abdullah, associate professor Dr Mohd Ibrahim Safawi Mohd Zain and Harun Maksom receiving their award from Morshidi. Also seen are Yahaya Basimin, Hatta and Mohamad Kadim. — Photo by Chimmon Upon
KOTA SAMARAHAN: A total of 259 staff of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) had a proud moment when their outstanding services were recognised yesterday.
Out of the number, 179 received Excellent Service Award while the rest received Loyal Service Award.
Among those present at the grand ‘Unimas Excellence Award Ceremony 2013’ were vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi, State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani, State Federal Secretary Datuk Yahaya Basimin, Unimas board of directors chairman Datu Dr Hatta Solhi, deputy vice-chancellor (academic and international) professor Dr Fatimah Abang, deputy vice-chancellor (research and innovation) Professor Dr Peter Songan, deputy vice-chancellor (students affairs and alumni) Professor Mohd Fadzil Abdul Rahman and acting registrar Abu Bakar Ibrahim.
Various awards were also given to individuals excelling in teaching, research, administration as well as innovation.
Among them were Outstanding Online Course Award, Best Researcher Award, Young Researcher Award and International Research and Development Exhibition Award.
In his welcoming speech, Mohamad Kadim said: “These awards are given in recognition of our staff effort and excellent service. The Unimas Excellence Award is a yearly event since it was first held in 2006.”
Starting 2009, he said the university had introduced several new awards to recognise contributions by staff in management and academic divisions.
In 2011, he said they introduced the Vice-Chancellor Innovation Award to recognise those who had succeeded in creating change and creativity to improve efficiency.
“For 2014, we will widen the excellence recognition scope by introducing and improving the various award categories to encourage the culture of work excellence and innovation for the betterment of the university and for all,” he said.
During the ceremony, Morshidi Ghani was also invited to launch the Unimas StreeView that was created to facilitate the search for campus locations in the university.
It is based on open source software, and is a virtual tour project similar to Google Street View.
This application was developed collaboratively by three faculties — Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology (FCSIT), Faculty of Cognitive Science and Human Development (FCSHD) and Faculty of Applied and Creative Arts (Faca).