KUCHING – In bridging the gap between technology and humanity, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus and NEUON Artificial Intelligence (NEUON AI) embarked on a dynamic partnership in 2022. This partnership has set the stage for a journey of pioneering collaboration.
Led by Professor Patrick Then, Head of the School of Information and Communication Technologies at Swinburne Sarawak, and with the expertise of Lecturers Dr Brian Loh and Ts Dr Lee Sue Han, the partnership has produced remarkable achievements in line with Swinburne’s Horizon 2025 Vision.
The Swinburne-NEUON partnership excelled in AI-driven plant biodiversity research, creating an automated plant species identification system that won top honours at international PlantClef Challenges. This achievement solidified their expertise and leadership in the field.
The project focused on cross-domain plant species identification, which bridges the gap between herbarium specimens and real-world field images. Also, in using NEUON AI’s invaluable computational resources, Swinburne was able to address the challenge of limited samples for crop disease classification. Both of these research outputs are widely recognised in academic circles and were accepted at the IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP) 2023 and the Asia Pacific Signal and Information Processing Association Annual Summit and Conference (APSIPA ASC) 2023.
The Swinburne-NUEON AI partnership also played a pivotal role in nurturing human talents. “Pursuing a master’s level research program at the Australian university, a NEUON AI employee did a research project that is a testament to the partnership’s success in human talent development,” Professor Then shared.
Dr Chai Kok Chin, Chief Executive Officer of NEUON AI, expressed his enthusiasm for the collaboration, emphasising its global impact.
“This partnership extends far beyond technology; it represents a shared vision of global transformation. Both institutions are leading the way toward a future that holds endless possibilities,” he said.
Professor Then concurred, remarking, “This partnership embodies a new university model, where our students get unparalleled qualifications that will position them to be leaders in a tech-driven world.”
Through its 2025 Strategic Plan, Swinburne Sarawak strives to continue with similar partnerships with tech industries to enrich the students’ real-world learning and to better equip them to be career-ready graduates while ensuring that every Swinburne partner gets a tech solution.
For more information on Swinburne Sarawak, visit its website, Facebook page (@swinburnesarawak), Instagram page (@swinburnesarawak), Twitter page (@Swinburne_Swk), TikTok page (@swinburnesarawak) or YouTube channel (Swinburne Sarawak).