Aimed at strengthening the company’s commitment to being the Best Life Solution Company, a South Korean firm’s Malaysia branch has teamed up with Universiti Malaya (UM) to continue research into developing and providing life-changing solutions beyond care. This is the firm’s first-ever international research and development (R&D) facility outside South Korea.
Through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed for an Academic-Industrial collaboration between the two parties, the state-of-the-art R&D centre will be located in UM, with multiple labs to carry out water and sleep quality research.
The company aims to tap into the tech talent of professors and students in the Engineering and Science faculties to reach greater heights in its technological innovations. With this R&D centre, the firm can carry out more in-depth research on how to improve its products, with Malaysians in mind. In addition, this partnership will also see internships, consultations, sponsorships, the establishment of laboratories and more.
The Managing Director of the firm’s Malaysia branch stated that this is their first-ever R&D facility outside of South Korea. He added that through the new R&D centre, strategically located in Malaysia, the company will be able to zoom in and focus on producing top-notch home appliances specially curated for Malaysians.
Through this MOU, the company also aims to promote cross-functional understanding between the two parties such as job and internship opportunities for UM graduates as well as the exchange of knowledge between industry experts from South Korea and Malaysia.
The firm’s first R&D centre was established back in 1993 and is housed in Seoul National University Research Park in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the largest R&D centres in the world, equipped with 182 cutting-edge devices and equipment. The facility has also been certified by the Water Quality Association (WQA) in America as a Recognised Testing Laboratory focused on running efficiency and safety tests.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development) of Universiti Malaya stated that all the institution’s students and professors are excited to have the R&D facility set up in UM and are looking forward to this exciting opportunity to share and exchange knowledge with industry experts from South Korea.
The move is in line with UM’s mission to advance knowledge and learning through quality research and education for the nation and to achieve this, UM is intensifying its efforts to enhance the university’s visibility through internationalisation, collaboration and partnerships with strategic industries and stakeholders.
Recent research found that the sleep tech devices market is will grow at a 14.5% CAGR between 2020 and 2030, the global sleep tech devices market revenue is set to reach US$ 49.9 billion by 2030 from US$ 12.8 billion in 2020.
This growth is largely the result of the growing prevalence of sleep disorders, including insomnia, narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, and parasomnias, around the world. These issues pose a threat to personal safety, school and work performance, relationships, thinking, and mental health and lead to increased body weight, diabetes as well as cardiovascular diseases.
Wearable devices are witnessing greater demand as they have embedded microsensors that continuously track people’s physiological behaviour. The usage of these devices will grow the fastest for the management of sleep apnea, which, as per RT Magazine, has a global incidence of more than 900 million individuals.
Meanwhile, other research found that the global water quality monitoring equipment market is evaluated at US$4.28 billion for the year 2019 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.21% reaching a market size of US$ 5.72 billion by the year 2026.
A major factor fuelling the growth of the water quality monitoring equipment market is the global demand for industrial wastewater treatment solutions. Moreover, the rising global scarcity of fresh water is pushing both public and private sectors to invest heavily in water management systems, thus, fuelling the demand for water quality monitoring equipment. In addition, stringent regulations regarding wastewater treatment also propel the growth of the water quality monitoring equipment market.
