Dr Ting (fourth left), flanked by Sutekno on his right) and Mustal with the winners of MciTeC’19 at ILP Miri yesterday.
MIRI: The Miri Industrial Training Institute (ILP) has added another feather to its cap after the successful patent of its ‘Arm Welder’ project; the first ILP product patented by the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO).
According to its director Mustal Makmud, the product was patented on Sept 15 and the production of arm welder will start in January next year.
“We will be selling this product at the state or national level beginning March 2020 and production will start from January 2020 while the marketing will be launched as early as November. We aim to produce about 1,000 units of the arm welder and sell them at around RM160 per unit. We will focus on selling it through online platform such as Lazada, Ali Baba and others.
“At this initial stage, 30 sets are being used internally for training at ILP and the product will be extended to all training providers involved in welding technology and industry players in welding,” he told reporters after the closing of the Creativity Innovation & Technology Competition 2019 (MciTeC’19) at ILP Miri yesterday.
Mustal added that the competition is not just about winning, but to see if the students’ products and ideas are capable of being featured nationally and internationally.
Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon who officiated at the closing ceremony congratulated ILP for their success and hopes to see the product being used throughout the world and uphold the name of ILP and the country as a whole.
“The theme for this competition which is ‘Towards Industrial Revolution 4.0’ is certainly appropriate and I am so proud to see ILP’s Arm Welder product being patented and knowing that the product has also won various awards internationally is such a great accomplishment.
“ILP is considered one of the best technical institutions in the country and ILP Miri has served well for the people of northern Sarawak. The more courses offered, the more trained Sarawakians personnel can be produced in order to meet our continuing economy growth in years to come,” he said.
Manpower Department (JTM) director Sutekno Ahmad Belon meanwhile said this year’s competition saw a change as it was also open to schools around Miri.
“This year’s edition is a continuation of the competition held in 2015 where it was only open to the ILP Miri students. But this year, ILP Miri took the proactive steps to promote this innovation competition to schools and institutions around Miri as a way to incorporate a culture of critical and constructive thinking, working creatively and innovatively and to open up opportunities to introduce innovation from Miri to the higher levels. I was informed that there has been an increase in participation from year to year. At the beginning of the competition in 2015, only 18 project submissions were recorded while in 2018, participation increased to 29 eligible project finalists, with 42 projects and 30 participants qualified for the final stage this morning (yesterday).”
Sutekno said, adding that ILP Miri is also offering various short courses from 5pm to 11pm, a new incentive to provide skills to the public.
Welder Hand Support project by the ILP Miri-Welding team won the first prize with Smart Key Finder project by ILP Miri-Telekom team in second place while Smoke Shielded Welder by ILP Miri-PPMG team was third.