CUCMS wins the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2016

Kalaiarasu said, “Always be nimble and fast to adapt to changing situations and be dynamic in making use of every opportunity that comes your way”.

Cyberjaya University College, the only institute of higher education to win the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2016 for the Education & Training Industry

Saturday, 27 August 2016 – Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences’ Bursar and COO, Mr. Kalaiarasu Malayandi was yesterday awarded the prestigious Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2016 by Enterprise Asia, a non-governmental organization promoting awareness in entrepreneurial values and success.

The award was presented by YB Dato' Seri Ong Ka Chuan, Minister of International Trade and Industry II at a gala dinner held yesterday in the Hotel Majestic, Kuala Lumpur. In attendance were over 100 dignitaries and business leaders. The awards dinner feted successful business leaders across 18 different industries.

A regional award for outstanding entrepreneurship, the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards is built on the vision of promoting entrepreneurial spirit, business innovation and leadership. As a regional award, the APEA will be able to group together leading entrepreneurs across the region, as a powerful voice for entrepreneurs with the crème-de-la-crème networking opportunity.

Over 1,200 top business leaders and entrepreneurs have been awarded the prestigious Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards since 2007 in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Hong Kong, India and China.

Among one of the youngest winner in this year’s award, Kalaiarasu has led the successful operational turnaround of Cyberjaya University College since the entry of the SMR Group into its board. The university’s business success over the past 2 years and its market expansion is among reasons for Enterprise Asia’s selection of Kalaiarasu as its winner for the Education & Training Industry.  Kalaiarasu also seats on the Board of the public listed SMR Group as it’s Executive Director.

The university is today a top tier (Tier 5 MQA) institution with over 3,500 students enrolled in more than 20 healthcare degree and postgraduate programmes including medicine, pharmacy, psychology, occupational safety and health, biomedical engineering and more.

When asked on the secret of his success, Kalaiarasu had this to say, “Always be nimble and fast to adapt to changing situations and be dynamic in making use of every opportunity that comes your way”.

“But in everything you do, never compromise on quality because educating the younger generation is at the heart if what we do as a university”, he added.

Graduating with a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Nottingham Trent, UK, Kalaiarasu first established himself working in several technology consultancies. He later obtained his Master’s in Business Administration from Victoria University. Melbourne, Australia.

Learning from his trusted mentor, Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. R. Palan, a famed Malaysian entrepreneur, corporate icon, speaker and philanthropist, Kalaiarasu later took up the role of Executive Director at SMR Group. The organization had built itself a name in the human resource development, training and consultancy business for over 30 years. His aim was to help SMR Group find its next growth catalyst and he quickly identified tertiary education as a suitable business extension for the Group.

He dedicated all his effort in this area and led a team in the successful acquisition of CUCMS by the end of 2013. The university had up to this point been in a financial distress having posted 2 years straight of losses and with mounting debts. However, since the change in leadership and with a new focused strategy on place, the university has achieved a 11% increase in productivity and revenue had grown by 19% while cost has been reduced by 24%.

Kalaiarasu sees the award as a validation of some of the key business decisions the university has made namely in seeking high productivity and efficiency through innovation IT solutions, investments in its education delivery methods and expansion into international markets by forging global partnerships.

In tandem with its student growth Cyberjaya University College will be moving to a new larger, purpose built campus by 2018. The new campus located just a stone’s throw away will almost double the existing student capacity and incorporate an innovative green-campus concept. This is to cater for the university’s new programmes currently on the pipeline.