Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Vincent Woon Kok Sin from the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering has received an MASA Policy Development Programme (MPDP 2.0) research grant of RM 10,000, for his research on COVID-19’s impact on Malaysia’s carbon neutrality.  

Dr. Tan Jian Ding from the School of Electrical Engineering and Artificial Intelligence will also participate in this project.

This year, 27 research proposals were selected out of 254 from 29 local and private universities and institutions nationwide in research focus areas of climate change, food security, health system resiliency and preparedness for future crises, recovering learning loss, business acceleration, affordable housing and social protection.

Entitled AI-Predictive Analytics of COVID-19 Impact and Socioeconomic Analysis on Malaysia's Carbon Neutrality for Mitigation Solutions Resiliency, Dr Vincent Woon's proposal aims to investigate the effectiveness of current Malaysia's climate change policies and mitigation plans in achieving the enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions of 45% carbon intensity reduction by 2030, compared to the 2005 level and the carbon neutrality target by 2050, under the influence of COVID-19 impact. A policy brief will be produced to provide evidence-based insights and climate-resilient recommendations to promote business acceleration and improve Malaysia's existing and future climate-related acts/policies by incorporating COVID-19 impact for better response and preparedness to achieve carbon neutrality.

Established in Jan 2019, Institut Masa Depan Malaysia (MASA) is an independent think tank that brings together experts in government and academia to provide quality research, policy recommendations, and analysis on the full range of public policy issues guided by shared prosperity values. 

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Award Ceremony for Recipients of MASA Policy Development Programme (MPDP 2.0) 

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Certificate of the MPDP 2.0 Research Grant

Ts. Dr. Vincent Woon is an Associate Professor and Head of the PhD Programme at XMUM New Energy Science and Engineering Department. With a passion for sustainability, his research focuses on carbon footprint analysis, life cycle assessment, solid waste recycling, green township and building development, as well as AI-predictive analytics and optimization in climate change. Since joining XMUM in 2019, he has received several international awards, including the Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSI) for Scholars Program and YSEALI Academic Seminar Fellowship by the U.S. Department of State, CrossCulture Programme Fellowship by the German Federal Foreign Office, UNFCCC-GIR-CASTT Fellowship from U.N. Climate Change and GIR Korea, and First Prize of the Japanese Award for Outstanding Research on Development by the Global Development Network.