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FEATURE / ANGKASA-X
TAKING OFF ON THE RIGHT LAUNCH PAD Assoc Prof Dr Farzad Ismail, School of Aerospace Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) shares his thoughts on the importance of industry and academia working together on Malaysia’s space ecosystem. The LEO satellite project must be built on the right foundation. Industries and academia must work in tandem, he says.
my.iT: Please tell me about the School of Aerospace Engineering in USM – a brief background, how competitive the program is, some of your well-known alumni, etc. Dr Farzad: The School of Aerospace Engineering (SAE) in USM was founded in 1999. It is the only aerospace programme in the northern region of Malaysia. Currently, it has 40-plus staff of which half are lecturers. The fouryear undergraduate Aerospace Engineering programme at USM is accredited by the US-Washington Accord through the Board of Engineers Malaysia. There are more than 250 undergraduate and postgraduate students at SAE. The postgraduate education offers both MSc and PhD in research mode. The student population consists of 80% local students and 20% international students. Our undergraduate programme is highly competitive with about only 5-7% success rate for admission each year. Some of our well-known alumni includes Hong Yong Guan (B.Eng 2016), the co-founder of Poladrone; Shah Rizal Ahamad Sha (B.Eng 2007), UTC Aerospace System and Professor Ir Dr Kamarul Ariffin Ahmad (B. Eng 2001) who is now the Head of Department of Aerospace Engineering at UPM. my.iT: What is the mission of USM’s School of Aerospace Engineering? Dr Farzad: We aim to provide quality and innovative teaching and maintain accreditation for its degree programme; to achieve research excellence; to establish and enhance the collaboration with industries for education and research; to serve the society and country by providing the latest knowledge and technology. my.iT: How would you describe the partnership between USM and
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Angkasa-X? Why partnerships like these are important? Dr Farzad: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented global disruption. But the pandemic has sustainable online teaching and learning on a massive scale in both urban and rural areas. It is well known that there is a severe limitation of internet connectivity in the rural areas especially in Malaysia. Currently there is no outfit in Malaysia that can provide the required connectivity, at within a reasonable cost. Besides economic reasons, USM and Angkasa-X share a mutual goal in terms of social responsibility. It is about doing something that will have an impact on society. The idea of providing an affordable internet connectivity through satellite services to the poor transforming the economic and social well-being of the bottom billion population. USM and Angkasa-X strive to be the academic-industry partnership in Malaysia that will deliver the first constellation of Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) satellite services not only to Malaysia but also for the whole ASEAN region. This collaboration is likely a once- in-a-lifetime opportunity. my.iT: How do you see Malaysia’s space story developing in this decade? Dr Farzad: Currently the global space economy is worth USD400 billion (ESPI 2020 report) and is expected to be a multi-trilliondollar economy by 2040. If Malaysia can tap just 1% of this market, it will still be a multi-billion-dollar industry creating new sub- industries and job opportunities in country. A new horizon is on the cards and, together with Angkasa-X, USM Aerospace wants to be the key player in the Malaysian space ecosystem.
