Did you know that the pen drive was invented by a Malaysian?

The device to store data has become an essential item since 2001. Now, the company behind the invention has opened a branch in Malaysia to develop the local industries in the pen drive’s supply chain.

Phison Electronics Corp, a Taiwanese company founded by Sekinchan-born Pua Khein Seng, introduced the world’s first single-chip USB flash drive or the pen drive which contributed revenue of more than US$1bil to the company in 2010.

Pua started Phison with four other partners after graduating from Taiwan’s National Chiao Tung University in electrical and control engineering at a young age of 26. The meaning of the company’s name is “a group of people united”, which summarises Phison’s values of teamwork and collaboration.

This teamwork continues with the opening of the Phisontech Centre in Bayan Lepas, Penang, where local small-to-medium enterprises have joined Phison’s value chain to design and manufacture finished flash memory products.

The centre aims to develop local engineering talent to produce USB flash drives that are fully researched, designed and made in Malaysia.

Phison is playing an important role in the Electrical & Electronics ecosystem, which is a major contributor to Malaysia’s gross domestic product. Pua is an example that Malaysians can be innovative and globally competitive.

If you are interested to join Phison, please visit http://www.phison.com/English. Aspiring industrial designers may also apply to the Creative Product Development Programme under the Malaysia Investment Development Authority, which is supported by PhisonTech, Pensonic, FusionWave, EMTEC and Cari.com.