UM inaugurates Macao Centre for Research and Development in Advanced Materials

The University of Macau (UM) today (27 July) held a plaque unveiling ceremony for the Macao Centre for Research and Development in Advanced Materials. The centre, established with funding from the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) of Macao, has set up three research directions, namely new energy materials, environmental protection materials, and healthcare materials, with the goal of promoting the development of the advanced material industry in Macao and enhancing productivity in scientific research and technology in the city and across the country.

Yonghua Song, rector of UM, said in his speech that the centre is the second platform for the commercialisation of industry-academia research results in Macao established by the university, after the Macao Centre for Research and Development in Chinese Medicine. The centre will facilitate the commercialisation of new technologies, new materials, and new products, and help establish a new industrial system in Macao. In recent years, UM has positioned itself as a university rooted in Macao and is committed to taking part in the development of the Greater Bay Area, integrating into national development, and increasing its degree of internationalisation. The university has been proactive and innovative and has recruited many professionals, making great progress in various fields, including materials science. He expressed hope that the centre will align with the SAR government’s development layout, capitalise on UM’s research strengths in materials science, fully leverage the policy room of the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, so as to support the development of an international innovation and technology hub in the Greater Bay Area, promote the development of advanced materials industry and research, and contribute to the promotion of economic diversification of the SAR.

Ip Kuai Lam, member of the Administrative Committee of the FDCT, remarked that the establishment of the centre is a joint effort between FDCT and UM, adding that it is also a milestone in the innovative development of the materials industry in the Macao SAR. The centre will make full use of the mature research environment of UM’s Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering (IAPME) to promote the commercialisation of existing research results, establish links with local and foreign enterprises and social capital, and in particular, empower the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin. The centre aims to become a high-level, high-performance, and high-quality innovation platform that integrates applied research, commercialisation of research results, and industrial services and aligns with the SAR government’s development strategy of economic diversification, so as to support the SAR government’s strategy to commercialise technology results, as well as Macao’s economic and social development.

With its strong research team and advanced R&D platform, the centre will promote the commercialisation of excellent research results at UM to produce new technologies, new products, and new materials, building a new industrial pillar and cultivating innovative high-tech professionals for Macao.

Guests attending the plaque unveiling ceremony also included Chan Kong On, senior manager of the FDCT; Jiang Fengyi, fellow of Nanchang University; Zhang Yue, fellow of the University of Science and Technology Beijing; Cai Ronggen, fellow of Ningbo University; Zhang Hao, president of Himed Medical Group; Ge Wei and Xu Jian, vice rectors of UM; Zhang Xuanjun, acting dean of UM’s Faculty of Health Science; Tang Zikang, director of the IAPME; Wang Chunming, interim director of UM’s Research Services and Knowledge Transfer Office; and Leung Kai Chun, secretary-general of the University Council of UM.