UTM goes global
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) is steering its course towards placing its brand name on the global academic map. Under the helm of its Vice Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Ir. Dr. Zaini bin Ujang, the university is planning to achieve a global university status by placing itself among the top 50 universities in the world by 2020.
Its new direction will focus on innovative and entrepreneurial aspects in both academic programmes and the operation of the university. With its new tagline innovative * entrepreneurial * global the university is gearing towards placing itself as an excellent and distinct knowledge institution through the implementation of the UTM 2012-2020 Global Plan which was introduced by the Vice Chancellor.
“UTM and several universities in Malaysia, particularly research based universities, are currently at the globalisation stage, and this means that our role is no longer limited to internal and local factors. UTM’s role should be more proactive and transformative, not only in producing quality and global human capital, but also capable of providing the foundation to lead innovation in various fields, and stimulate the spirit of entrepreneurship and involvement in the global network,” said Professor Dato’ Zaini.
He added that UTM has “to practise a comprehensive open-door policy in an effort to attract excellent human capital including non-Malaysian citizens”.
UTM is a prominent university among its peers, having the most postgraduate enrolments in the fields of technology and engineering. It also has the highest number of international students among the public universities in Malaysia. Currently, the university has more than 4,400 international students and about 84 per cent of them are postgraduates. It plans to increase the number of international students to 5,000 by 2020 with 70 per cent postgraduate students dominating the population in the university.
“We are specialists in engineering and information technology. For students in the Middle East, UTM can offer the skills they need to move their countries forward. They have the options to go to the US, UK, Australia, and even Canada, but in Malaysia, particularly at UTM, they have the opportunity to learn about the transient stage of a developing nation that is advancing to a developed nation. If these students go to study in a developed country, they will not be able to understand the whole paradigm shift. ” said Professor Dato’ Zaini.
Best in its class
UTM has successfully generated about 158 patents in 2011 and was rated excellent among higher institutions in Malaysia in terms of generating intellectual property. In 2007, UTM received the Intellectual Property Award from the Malaysian government, and it continued to receive the same award for three consecutive years. In 2011, the university successfully garnered the award for the individual category.
Being one of the most prestigious universities in Malaysia, UTM now has about 1,026 staff with PhD qualifications, while 396 academic staff and nine non-academic staff are pursuing their PhD. As for its academic staff from abroad, UTM plans to increase the number from 154 to 200 in 2012, and the focus will be placed on international citizens in “various strategic areas relevant to postgraduate programmes”. According to Professor Dato’ Zaini, the university is targeting to hire European and Japanese citizens in 2012 and 2013.
“We need diversity and fusion, not only in areas of expertise and networking, but also in terms of citizenship, ethnic groups, socio-cultural background, all of which could underscore UTM’s universality.
“Through highly educated faculty members with PhD, with wide networking, global and proactive mindset and high performance, it would thus be easier to accomplish better planned research activities and postgraduate studies, fulfilling quality criteria at par with renowned world universities,” said Professor Dato’ Zaini.
In addition, UTM is also active in collaborations with local and international universities and industries through Memoranda of Understanding and Memoranda of Agreement. In 2011, the university signed about 225 memoranda which include strategic partnerships with renowned universities such as Imperial College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Oxford, Harvard, Cambridge, and institutions from Tokyo, Kyoto and others. In 2011, the university has also received research grants and endowments amounting to RM103 million and RM31.9 million, respectively.
Besides the world-class universities, UTM is also proactive in partnering with universities in the Middle East such as the Qatar University and the Al-Madinah University in Saudi Arabia.
“We have few research projects with Qatar University. We would like to expand that and to have its students to spend time at UTM for attachment during the summer holiday. I am also leading the consultancy group in Al-Madinah University to help it develop its engineering, science-related, and information technology faculties,” said Professor Dato’ Zaini.
UTM statistics also show a shorter length of PhD studies as compared to other local public universities and other international universities, even MIT. In 2011, 70 per cent of the university’s PhD students completed their studies within three to four years.
“At UTM, we have a programme called Graduate-on-Time (GOT) to ensure these PhD students graduate within three years. This also makes UTM a preferred institution for foreign students who would like to graduate in a shorter time. With GOT, we have a mechanism which monitors the progress of the students.
“We are also looking forward to using the Japanese university models to reduce the average duration of PhD studies to three years,” said Professor Dato’ Zaini.
[caption id="attachment_2881" align="alignleft" width="300"] Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Vice Chancellor Professor Dato’ Ir. Dr. Zaini bin Ujang[/caption] Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) is steering its course towards placing its brand name on the global academic map. Under the helm of its Vice Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Ir. Dr. Zaini bin Ujang, the university is planning to achieve a global university status by placing itself among the top 50 universities in the world by 2020. Its new direction will focus on innovative and entrepreneurial aspects in both academic programmes and the operation of the university. With its new tagline innovative * entrepreneurial *...
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) is steering its course towards placing its brand name on the global academic map. Under the helm of its Vice Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Ir. Dr. Zaini bin Ujang, the university is planning to achieve a global university status by placing itself among the top 50 universities in the world by 2020.
Its new direction will focus on innovative and entrepreneurial aspects in both academic programmes and the operation of the university. With its new tagline innovative * entrepreneurial * global the university is gearing towards placing itself as an excellent and distinct knowledge institution through the implementation of the UTM 2012-2020 Global Plan which was introduced by the Vice Chancellor.
“UTM and several universities in Malaysia, particularly research based universities, are currently at the globalisation stage, and this means that our role is no longer limited to internal and local factors. UTM’s role should be more proactive and transformative, not only in producing quality and global human capital, but also capable of providing the foundation to lead innovation in various fields, and stimulate the spirit of entrepreneurship and involvement in the global network,” said Professor Dato’ Zaini.
He added that UTM has “to practise a comprehensive open-door policy in an effort to attract excellent human capital including non-Malaysian citizens”.
UTM is a prominent university among its peers, having the most postgraduate enrolments in the fields of technology and engineering. It also has the highest number of international students among the public universities in Malaysia. Currently, the university has more than 4,400 international students and about 84 per cent of them are postgraduates. It plans to increase the number of international students to 5,000 by 2020 with 70 per cent postgraduate students dominating the population in the university.
“We are specialists in engineering and information technology. For students in the Middle East, UTM can offer the skills they need to move their countries forward. They have the options to go to the US, UK, Australia, and even Canada, but in Malaysia, particularly at UTM, they have the opportunity to learn about the transient stage of a developing nation that is advancing to a developed nation. If these students go to study in a developed country, they will not be able to understand the whole paradigm shift. ” said Professor Dato’ Zaini.
Best in its class
UTM has successfully generated about 158 patents in 2011 and was rated excellent among higher institutions in Malaysia in terms of generating intellectual property. In 2007, UTM received the Intellectual Property Award from the Malaysian government, and it continued to receive the same award for three consecutive years. In 2011, the university successfully garnered the award for the individual category.
Being one of the most prestigious universities in Malaysia, UTM now has about 1,026 staff with PhD qualifications, while 396 academic staff and nine non-academic staff are pursuing their PhD. As for its academic staff from abroad, UTM plans to increase the number from 154 to 200 in 2012, and the focus will be placed on international citizens in “various strategic areas relevant to postgraduate programmes”. According to Professor Dato’ Zaini, the university is targeting to hire European and Japanese citizens in 2012 and 2013.
“We need diversity and fusion, not only in areas of expertise and networking, but also in terms of citizenship, ethnic groups, socio-cultural background, all of which could underscore UTM’s universality.
“Through highly educated faculty members with PhD, with wide networking, global and proactive mindset and high performance, it would thus be easier to accomplish better planned research activities and postgraduate studies, fulfilling quality criteria at par with renowned world universities,” said Professor Dato’ Zaini.
In addition, UTM is also active in collaborations with local and international universities and industries through Memoranda of Understanding and Memoranda of Agreement. In 2011, the university signed about 225 memoranda which include strategic partnerships with renowned universities such as Imperial College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Oxford, Harvard, Cambridge, and institutions from Tokyo, Kyoto and others. In 2011, the university has also received research grants and endowments amounting to RM103 million and RM31.9 million, respectively.
Besides the world-class universities, UTM is also proactive in partnering with universities in the Middle East such as the Qatar University and the Al-Madinah University in Saudi Arabia.
“We have few research projects with Qatar University. We would like to expand that and to have its students to spend time at UTM for attachment during the summer holiday. I am also leading the consultancy group in Al-Madinah University to help it develop its engineering, science-related, and information technology faculties,” said Professor Dato’ Zaini.
UTM statistics also show a shorter length of PhD studies as compared to other local public universities and other international universities, even MIT. In 2011, 70 per cent of the university’s PhD students completed their studies within three to four years.
“At UTM, we have a programme called Graduate-on-Time (GOT) to ensure these PhD students graduate within three years. This also makes UTM a preferred institution for foreign students who would like to graduate in a shorter time. With GOT, we have a mechanism which monitors the progress of the students.
“We are also looking forward to using the Japanese university models to reduce the average duration of PhD studies to three years,” said Professor Dato’ Zaini.
