LEAVE A NEST GROUP CEO DR. YUKIHIRO MARU HIGHLIGHTS GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE MANUFACTURING AT UKM R&D COMMERCIALISATION FORUM
BANGI, 19 OCTOBER 2026 – Dr. Yukihiro Maru, Representative Director and Group CEO of Leave a Nest Group, participated as an invited panelist in a strategic forum addressing the critical pathways and bottlenecks in transitioning academic research to the marketplace.
The panel session, titled “Commercialisation of Research and Development (R&D) Outcomes in Public Universities: Challenges and the Way Forward,” was held at the Dewan Canselor Tun Abdul Razak (DECTAR), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Bangi. The high-profile session was moderated by YBhg. Prof. Dato’ Dr. Sufian Jusoh, Vice-Chancellor of UKM, bringing together an esteemed panel of experts, including Dato’ Norhalim Yunus (Adjunct Professor at UKM), John Radovan (MIT Open Learning), and Associate Professor Dr. Mohd. Yazid Bajuri (Director of MyB Innovation Sdn. Bhd.).
During the session, Dr. Maru outlined a paradigm shift for public universities aiming to bridge the gap between scientific breakthrough and industrial market viability. He shared that university R&D outcomes cover accessible intellectual property (IP) and viable startup opportunities that align with industry needs for affordable technology and streamlined transfer processes. To make university spin-offs highly attractive for corporate investments or M&A, Dr. Maru recommended forming startups with a unique leadership structure that explicitly bridges experienced professors with energetic young business talent. Furthermore, he emphasized that local universities to maintain a diverse scientific research portfolio across emerging tech themes like robotics and space, rather than narrowly following fleeting commercial trends.
Addressing the global positioning of local innovations, Dr. Maru highlighted that Malaysian public universities must overcome institutional identity challenges by actively collaborating with leading international institutions such as MIT and the University of Tokyo to co-create high-value IP. He cited cross-border partnerships as an effective path to bridge academic research with global market needs. To drive this transformation, Dr. Maru emphasized that ecosystem builders like Leave a Nest play a crucial role in nurturing an entrepreneurial mindset among university researchers by providing essential platforms, training programs, venture building initiatives, and seed funding to bridge gaps in business expertise and early-stage capital. He urged public higher education institutions to connect with global ecosystem builders and leverage proven international acceleration models in which Dr. Maru shared his experience of the University of Tokyo’s (ToDai) Entrepreneur Dojo. He proposed that collaborative localized initiatives could be coined as “UKM Entrepreneur Dojo” to systematically accelerate deep-tech startup creation.
“Leave a Nest was established with a core vision of advancing science and technology for global happiness,” Dr. Maru stated during the discussion. Leave a Nest Malaysia had established a formal collaboration with UKM starting with a MoU on 14th August 2022, venturing in various programmes including TECH PLANTER, Hyper Interdisciplinary Conference Malaysia, Add Venture Forum and NEST-Bio TeaCHAT.
For more news from Leave a Nest Malaysia; https://global.lne.st/offices/my .
Figure 1: Dr. Yukihiro Maru delivered his though and information during the session
Figure 2: Dr. Yukihiro Maru(centre) wiith YBhg. Prof. Dato’ Dr. Sufian Jusoh (first from the left), Dato’ Norhalim Yunus, John Radovan and Associate Professor Dr. Mohd. Yazid Bajuri.