APU’s New Collaboration Grants Students Opportunities to Work With Industry Giants in the Property and Construction Sector

APU has widened their horizons by integrating with the property and construction sector in this new collaboration. Read more here.

Published 24 May 2022

APU’s New Collaboration Grants Students Opportunities to Work With Industry Giants in the Property and Construction Sector - Feature-Image

Congratulations to Asia Pacific University (APU) for hitting another milestone, this time with Malaysia PropTech Association (MPA) after signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to help the advancement of technology solutions for Malaysian technology start-ups in the property and construction sector.

The historic moment witnessed MPA President Dr. Daniele Gambero and Chief Innovation & Enterprise Officer Prof. Ir. Ts. Dr. Vinesh Thiruchelvam signing the MoA during the MPA Annual General Meeting (AGM) dinner in Kuala Lumpur. Through the MoA, APU will receive a royalty-free, irrevocable, non-transferable, non-exclusive licence to use MPA’s Foreground Intellectual Property for teaching and research on joint industry research projects.

More than 80 Proptech companies and officials from the Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI), Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), and Small and Medium Enterprise Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp. Malaysia) attended the event, where they will benefit through matching, mentoring, connections and onboarding from the MoA.

In essence, the collaboration is aimed to prepare digital talents to work on real-world projects from a sector that’s growing rapidly. Other highlights of the MoA include:

MPA’s involvement on APU’s Industry Advisory Panel (IAP).
The APU Sandbox team will also have an opportunity to learn from the MPA member start-ups in venture building areas.
APU students will now be linked with industry-led projects which can be worked on as final year projects, Post-Graduate dissertations or working at MPA registered members/partners.

To boot, MPA will facilitate industry study visits for APU undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as mutual visits by staff members to improve learning experiences, professional development and curriculum development.

According to Dr. Daniele, the Malaysian tech startups who are also MPA members are looking forward to contributing industry insights and workshops to APU students.

“In today's fast-changing world, the ability to adapt is a prerequisite for success, and MPA members are eager to collaborate with APU to open students' minds to it and prepare them for the future. Every aspect and layer of our work, learn, and play lives is infiltrated by technology,” Dr Daniele explained. He added that new digitalised solutions must be developed through deep and thorough understanding of the field in order to be successful.

To boot, the MoA also allows APU to partner with Malaysian tech startups to infuse technology into the property and construction sector, at the same time enabling APU talents to work directly with the industry.

“We are proud and excited to be collaborating with MPA on this historic event. Technological innovation and entrepreneurship DNA have the potential to alter the face and trajectory of a country's tech start-ups,” said Prof. Ir. Ts. Dr. Vinesh. He concluded that the partnership has the credibility to provide incredible opportunities, particularly in the property and construction sector from the involvement of technology.