USM ACADEMIA WINS ROTARY RESEARCH GOLD MEDAL AWARDS
KUALA LUMPUR, 13 Apr 2012: Two outstanding researchers from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) received prestigious recognition when they were awarded the 7th Rotary Research Gold Medal Awards in a special ceremony held in a hotel here today.
Both the recipients, Prof. Abdul Latif Ahmad, the Research Dean of Fundamental Science Platform, and Prof. Fun Hoong Kun, a famous crystallographer from the School of Physics, received their gold medals from His Royal Highness Sultan of Selangor Darul Ehsan cum Royal Patron of Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur DiRaja, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Alhaj.
Latif and Fun, who were among the 11 winners listed, were selected for excellence in original research and significant contributions to the development of the country in their respective areas of expertise, namely Environmental Science and Physics respectively.
Latif, when interviewed, said that the award is deemed as a recognition of his unyielding efforts in research related to environmental science, particularly wastewater treatment and membrane technology.
He added that the recognition is also part of a personal achievement that he never expected, besides being a form of reward for all the hard work he has put in for more than 20 years in education and research.
“More importantly, this award is to be shared with all, especially my fellow researchers, staff and students who have contributed greatly in the research and forms the backbone of our successes thus far,'' he said.
He added that this award would continue to spur him to work even harder in carrying out researches that not only develop the academic world, but also beneficial to mankind.
Latif has also made USM proud at the national and international stage, and to-date he has received over 40 awards including the Prince Sultan Abdul Aziz International Prize for Water 2006 by Saudi Arabia, the Khwarizmi International Award 2007 by the Iranian Research Organisation for Science and Technology, the Malaysian Excellent Scientist Award 2004, the Malaysian Toray Science Foundation Science & Technology Award 2008 and others.
He has also published more than 200 articles in various high impact factor international refereed journals.
Meanwhile, Fun said, he would certainly have fond memories of this recognition after being involved in the academic world for almost 40 years since 1974.
There are many things that have been achieved during that period of time but it does not mean he will stop trying to continue to be successful especially in enhancing the development of research in the field of his endeavour.
“Of course we want many things in life but with what I have achieved so far, I am quite satisfied and did not expect to reach the level as it is today,'' he said.
Fun is well known in the field of crystallography and was recognized as the most productive scientist in Malaysia, as reported in the "Science and Technology Knowledge Productivity in Malaysia Bibliometric Study 2003.”
He was also listed as the 11th most cited crystallographer in the world in the field of structure solution in terms of entries as indicated in the "Cambridge Structural Database" based at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
He has to-date an outstanding individual publication achievement with 2,091 publications in various journals with impact factors.
In the same ceremony, Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, who was listed as one of the “100 Faces of Malaysian Heroes 2009”, and Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah Fook Ling, the Founder and Chairman of Sunway Group, were also recognized as recipients of the Honorary Research Gold Medal award for their contributions to the country’s research and development as well as leadership and excellence in the fields of their endeavour.
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