Stevens Institute Of Technology Honours M'sain Pm''s Wife

From Hafizah Kamaruddin NEW JERSEY, March 3 (Bernama) -- Stevens Institute of Technology, a premier private co-educational university focused on research and entrepreneurship and committed to exploring the frontiers of engineering, science, and management, Friday bestowed its highest award on Rosmah Mansor, wife of the Malaysian prime minister. The university's president, Dr Nariman Farvardin, presented the "Distinguished Service Medal" to Rosmah in recognition of her public service, especially in the areas of empowering women and gender equality, and the important role she plays in enforcing early education among Malaysians. He said that Rosmah also plays an active role in non-governmental organisations, such as Children's Hope, Malaysian Nature Society, Malaysian Aids Council and the Heart Foundation. She also played an important role in establishing the Permata Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Programme, which has established more than 600 Permata childcare centres around Malaysia, besides passionately talking publicly on the need to preserve the natural heritage of the country for the future generations, he said at a function held at the university in Hoboken, here. Dr Farvardin said the university bestowed the award only on those who have made a significant impact in the welfare of society. Rosmah, who was at the university to attend an evening with more than 200 Malaysian students, said in her speech that the award is very meaningful because Stevens is noted for its distinctive educational research and commercialisation programmes. Stevens is recognised as one of the more successful American universities in bringing technology to the market, she said. Rosmah said the university is currently collaborating with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM-Malaysia National University) to share its expertise in the creation of wealth from research innovations through entrepreneurship. "Many Malaysian universities have emulated Stevens' model of launching start-up companies as a means of technology transfer and are currently actively conducting online entrepreneurship with UKM's first-year students," she said. Rosmah said universities must play a leading role in developing innovative systems to build human capital in a holistic way, encompassing the acquisition of knowledge, particularly in science and technology, values and skills including entrepreneurial capabilities. At the function, 30 young talents of Permata Seni - dance, choir and music - put up of a colourful and energetic cultural performance which received encouraging response from the guests. -- BERNAMA