Ts Dr. Muzafar Zulkifli from Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering Technology (UniKL MICET) has made history as the youngest recipient of the Fellowship Award from the Plastic and Rubber Institute of Malaysia (PRIM), for his contributions and recognition.
He said, achieving the stellar feat also enables him to follow in the footsteps of his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) supervisor, Prof Dato Dr Azanam Shah Hashim by becoming the second scholar from UniKL to receive that national recognition, albeit at a much younger age.
“It (receiving the award) is an indescribable feeling, but at the core, it makes me feel proud to bring UniKL into a much wider circle in the industry,” he shared.
The award was conferred at the PRIM Diamond Jubilee Celebration Annual Dinner last Saturday (19th March 2022), which was also attended by prominent rubber and plastics industry players, academicians as well as relevant government bodies.
Dr. Muzafar has been the central PRIM committee member since 2008, Vice-President of PRIM (Plastics Chapter) from 2010 until 2019, program developer, manager and instructor for Diploma PRIM (DPRIM Plastics) from 2009 to 2014.
Following that, he also served on the PRIM Academic Framework Committee from 2009 to 2019.
A leader in the organisation of conferences, he spearheaded the National Symposium of Polymer Materials (NSPM) in 2007, 2013, 2018 in collaboration with UniKL and is currently involved in the International Symposium of Polymeric Materials 2022 (ISPM2022) with Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).
Recently, he has been elected as the Chair for TC3 (Plastics Products) for Malaysia starting from this year until 2024.
He was instrumental as part of the founding team member for the Graduateship of PRIM (GPRIM) and Professional Graduateship in Rubber Technology (PGRT) programme blueprint – a successful collaboration on training program between a university, industry and fully sponsored by a government agency, from 2014 to 2018.
During his involvement with PRIM, he founded the PRIM Melaka Student Chapter and served as the Program Coordinator for the first and second PRIM Student Chapter Carnivals in 2010 and 2012. He actively contributes to the PRIM newsletter, evening talks and publishing journal articles in his field of research.
For the record, PRIM was established to promote and enhance the practice of polymer science and technology through education, training, competency examinations and related activities to fulfil the professional needs of the members and the industry.
In order to appreciate the work and contribution given by members, different grades of memberships are designed to reflect the different levels of professional achievement of its members. The highest regard for a member is to be conferred as a fellow of the institute.
