JOHOR BAHRU, 1 March 2018 – Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has improved its ranking in QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018 after leaping 37 places to 53 in the Engineering and Technology.

The result was released by Quacquarelly Symonds (QS) today.

This year, more than 4,500 institutions have been evaluated in 48 Subjects and five Broad Subject Areas, making the QS Subject Rankings 2018 the most comprehensive of its kind.

In 2018, UTM has been ranked in four out of five broad subjects which are Engineering & Technology; Arts and Humanities; Natural Sciences; and Social Sciences and Management.

There are 14 subjects ranked in total and five subjects ranked in the Top 100 – Architecture/ Built Environment; Engineering (Chemical); Engineering (Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing); Engineering (Electric & Electronic); and Engineering (Civil & Structural).

Other subjects also show very good improvement, which can be summarised as follows:

This significant performance is largely attributed to the strong commitment by UTM faculty members to provide the best support in facilitating students’ learning experience, while harnessing potential talent among students to strive for excellence.

UTM is also set to engage in more impactful research collaborations that can ultimately lead to improved performance through joint publications and increased citations.

At the same time, UTM will continue its efforts in enhancing research collaborations with partners across the globe, especially in areas of mutual interests.

This would help UTM researchers to leap forward and stay relevant and visible among peers at the global level.

UTM would like to congratulate and thank all staff and students who contributed and put effort into this achievement.

KUALA LUMPUR, 24 February 2018 – Three teams named “HEALTH SIGHT”, “JOY” and “RBC” from Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FKE) were successfully shortlisted into the Imagine Cup National Final 2018.

Among 12 teams from different local and private universities in Malaysia, they managed to be the top six teams in the semi national final and shortlisted into the national final of Imagine Cup Malaysia 2018.

Imagine Cup Semi National Final 2018 was held in Microsoft Malaysia Office, Menara 3 Petronas, Kuala Lumpur, today.

Imagine Cup is a global competition that empowers the next generation of computer science students to team up and use their creativity, passion and knowledge of technology to create applications that shape how we live, work and play.

The champion of the Imagine Cup National Final 2018 will be representing Malaysia to compete with other champions from multiple countries in Asia.

The team called “HEALTH SIGHT” consists of 3 students, who are Lim Ji Chen, Chin Linn Kern, Chin Hung Vui. Under the guidance of Dr Eileen Su Lee Ming, they successfully developed an intelligent surveillance system that is able to understand and predict activities and movements of the patient to prevent unwanted incident using deep learning technology.

“JOY” team won the judges over as well by coming out with an elderly companion robot which is able to reduce the loneliness of the elderly as well as assist the nurses in the elderly care centre. The team members are Tan Pei Seng, Lee Chee Heng and Goh Kai Woon and supervised Dr Yeong Che Fai.

This project also has collaboration with Dr Lim Geng Yan, CEO of Jasper Lodge Elderly Care Centre.

“bbCare”, which is a portable IoT fatal monitoring system, was successfully developed by “RBC” team.

It is a machine learning based fatal monitoring patch which is small, lightweight, comfortable and convenient to use. This project is developed by Cheah Weng Soon, Lee Kong Yong and Tew Ken Sam. The team is supervised by Dr Yeong Che Fai also and with Dr Mohd Amri Bin Md Yunus.

Assoc Prof Dr Norhayati Abdullah was conferred the Top 50 Most Impactful Leaders in Water & Water Management (A Global Listing) award during the World CSR Day event held at the Taj Lands End Hotel in Mumbai, India recently.

The World CSR Day is the largest rendezvous of CSR Leaders gathering 1200 professionals from 133 countries.

The conference aims to provide like-minded leaders a common platform to enhance knowledge, network and engage in meaningful discourse and discussions.

Norhayati was nominated for the award by a team of independent juries representing the water and water management expertise from all over the world.

The conferment of award was ceremoniously done at the end of the 4^thWorld Water Leadership Congress & Awards 2018 in which Norhayati delivered a presentation entitled “Wastewater Management: The Future Instincts”.

Norhayati whom active involvement in water programs and activities began during her undergraduate years at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) from 1998-2002, later develops her passion in wastewater treatment processes and engineering during her Master studies at the Newcastle University, England in 2003-2004.

Among her mentors were the late Professor George Kenneth Anderson, whom she consulted for her final year Master dissertation on the assessment of the treatment of acetaminophen-contaminated brewery wastewater by using an anaerobic packed-bed reactor.

Norhayati obtained her PhD in Biosciences from the Faculty of Biosciences and Medical Engineering (then Faculty of Biosciences and Bioengineering) following a collaborative work on aerobic granulation for the treatment of palm oil mill effluent between UTM and Newcastle University, England in 2012 from which she received the UTM Best Postgraduate Award.

Desperately looking for something to spice up her stultifying PhD routines, she volunteered as the Steering Committee for the Asia Pacific Region under the auspices of the International Water Association (IWA) for two terms between 2010-2014 before being appointed as Chair, from 2014-2016.

Her active participation during her engagement as the young water professional led to her being appointed as the Board of Director and Fellow of the association known for its global membership and world-class events that bring the latest science, technology and best practice to the water sector at large.

Also receiving the Top 50 Most Impactful Leaders in Water & Water Management (A Global Listing) 2018 award for Malaysia was Datuk Ir Abd Kadir Mohd Din, President of The Malaysian Water Association (MWA).

The previous award recipients include prominent names in the water sector such as HE Dr Mahmoud Abu Zeid, President of Arab Water Council Egypt and Samantha Yates, Secretary General of the Global Water Leaders Group.

Her Majesty Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tuanku Raja Zarith Sofiah Binti Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah, Permaisuri Johor and the Chancellor of UTM has kindly grace Saturday Night Lecture series organised by CASIS, Centre for Advanced Studies on Islam, Science and Civilisation, a centre of excellence in UTM, in collaboration with Yayasan Raja Zarith Sofiah, Yayasan Ta’dib and HAKIM which was organised on 10 February 2018 at UTM Kuala Lumpur.

Saturday Night Lecture series started almost 30 years ago at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC), founded and directed by YM Tan Sri Prof. Dr. Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, a world renowned Malay thinker and reformer. The Lecture was his deliberation of the great ideas contained in many of his books which were read by contemporary Muslim scholars all over the world. The lecture series at ISTAC was abruptly suspended in 2002 due to certain unfortunate circumstances and it was only resumed in 2012 when Tan Sri al-Attas was appointed as distinguished visiting professor of CASIS UTM. He then delivered the lecture series for a period of 3 years.

Saturday Night Lecture series is about honouring a great scholar of Islam. It is a celebration of knowledge and scholarship. Saturday Night Lecture series reflects the culture of knowledge that is lacking in many parts of the Muslim World. It brings people together, from all walks of life, not only for the sake of personal quest for beneficial knowledge but also to find answers  and solutions to the contemporary problems facing the ummah.

Saturday Night Lecture series will be recorded in history, perhaps, as the longest lecture series ever held in the Malay World, which has received tremendous support from various interested and learned parties; its audience includes academics, diplomats, politicians, administrators, public servants, professionals, educators activists and students alike regardless of age.

The lectures discuss fundamental elements constituting the worldview of Islam, epistemic frameworks, the civilisational challenges confronting the ummah internally and externally, and provide intellectual means and solutions on how to address them.

Kuala Lumpur, 7 February 2018 –  UTM Kuala Lumpur received a courtesy visit from Mr. Michael Quinlan, Cultural Affairs Officer and Ms. Fiona Teo, Education USA Coordinator from the Embassy of the United States of America.

Their meeting with UTMKL is to raise awareness and understanding on higher education in the U.S. They intend to provide information for interested students on all aspects about American tertiary education, such as the most appropriate schools to study, academic life in America, and grants and scholarships for Malaysian students. They are also looking for other education institutions to establish partnership and cooperation.

Their discussion with UTM also touched on the involvement of women in STEM and to celebrate the upcoming event, International Women Day, in March. They are planning to hold a program by bringing known figures from the U.S. to give a talk and to have a dialogue session with the local panelists. Mr. Quinlan hopes to see outstanding female UTM staff to participate in the program this year.

UTM will also invite Education USA to give a talk to students and staff on opportunities to study in the U.S. For visiting scholars, financial assistance will be given. UTM is also looking forward to having an opportunity to invite H.E. US Ambassador to UTM for knowledge sharing session.

It is hoped that the short visit will lead to a close and strong collaboration between the Embassy of USA and UTM in the future

JOHOR BAHRU, 19 February 2018 – TOLKIDZ team from the Faculty of Management, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) was among  the Top four finalist in the Sustainability award category of the Bangkok Business Challenge 2018.

The team brought back USD 1500 as reward to be the top four finalist in the Sustainability Award among 16 teams.

The only team from Malaysia, the TOLKIDZ  team comprised of Prof. Dr. Zainab Khalifah (advisor), Logaiswari Indiran (Team Leader), Hishan S. Sanil and Liew Foong Ching.

The team was chosen as one of the 16 semi-finalist to compete in the Bangkok Business Challenge (BBC).

BBC is the only global intercollegiate post-graduate start-up competition to encourage students across the globe to become more entrepreneurial. The event was taken place in Bangkok, Thailand from 8th to 10th February 2018.

For 2018, the Bangkok Business Challenge has seen a historical number of applicants,112 postgraduate teams representing 52 institutions, from 16 countries across 4 continents.

The financial support from the Faculty of Management and flight sponsored from Air Asia to TOLKIDZ has greatly assisted the team to gain invaluable knowledge and experience during the competition.

The competition has taught the TOLKIDZ team that powerful planning processes provide the essential elements for business success through product value proposition, material management, lean operations, waste reduction and working capital optimization.

Besides, it is a highly competitive and consolidated competition, and provide a real-time network insight. Sasin BBC 2018 is an experience with extravagant hospitality and an eye opener in business plan management.

KUALA LUMPUR, 14 fEBRUARY 2018 – UTM International Kuala Lumpur had organized a cooking demonstration program called “UTM Chef : Cook Like an International Pro” with a special traditional dish made by our Sudanese Ph.D student, Madam Intisar Ibrahim  Ridwan.  Intisar is currently the Vice President of the International Student Society (ISS) in Kuala Lumpur. Around 20 international students and staffs had joined the program.

In this program, she made a dish known as Khunafah a traditional dessert made with cheese pastry soaked in sweet, sugar-based syrup. A very tasty and popular in Middle East.  She also made a special Sudanese Salat Aswad or Eggplant Salad wrapped with bread and served with special Rosalle Juice.  She was assisted by two Sudanese students Mdm Zeinab and Mr. Elsadig during the demonstration.

Everybody loved the dishes and juice served and hope that this program will continuously be organized from time to time so that they can share their traditional dish and culture with other students.

JOHOR BAHRU, 13 Februari 2018 – Seramai 25 orang peserta yang terdiri dari wakil program Perancangan Bandar dan Wilayah, Fakulti Alam Bina UTM (7 pelajar dan 1 pensyarah pengiring) dan Faculty of Architecture and Planning (FAP), National University of Civil Engineering (NUCE) dari Hanoi, Vietnam (15 pelajar dan 2 pensyarah pengiring) telah telah menyertai program UTM Summer School – Malaysia Heritage Walks & Town Trails 2018. Program UTM Summer School anjuran Fakulti Alam Bina UTM (FAB UTM) melalui Jabatan Perancangan Bandar dan Wilayah (JPBW) ini merupakan edisi kali ke-5 bersama pihak NUCE dan yang pertama selepas Perjanjian Persefahaman (MoU) ditandatangani pada Oktober 2017 antara kedua-dua institusi pengajian.

Program ini diketuai oleh Dr. Noor Aimran Samsudin, Pensyarah Kanan Jabatan Perancangan Bandar dan Wilayah UTM selaku pengarah program. Matlamat utama program ini adalah untuk memperkenalkan usaha pemeliharaan bandar dari perspektif bidang perancangan bandar selain memupuk perasaan kecintaan terhadap nilai warisan tempatan dalam konteks alam bina melalui lawatan teknikal ke beberapa bandar warisan dan tapak bersejarah terpilih seperti Bandar Maharani Bandar Diraja dan Tapak Warisan Dunia UNESCO Bandaraya Melaka Bersejarah selain ke Putrajaya dan Kuala Lumpur.

Sebuah slot perkongsian kuliah turut dianjurkan pada hari pertama program yang disampaikan oleh pengarah program, Dr. Noor Aimran Samsudin berkaitan kepentingan pemeliharaan identiti bandar warisan tempatan manakala Dr. Lee Yoke Lai dari Jabatan Senibina Landskap berkongsi mengenai identiti landskap budaya Malaysia dan sumbangannya terhadap karektor setempat. Delegasi Vietnam yang diketuai oleh Dr. Nguyen Cao Lanh, Timbalan Presiden FAP NUCE telah disambut kehadirannya ke UTM oleh Prof. Madya Dr. Mohamad Rafee Majid, Timbalan Dekan (Penyelidikan, Inovasi, Komersialisasi dan Jaringan).

Aktiviti seperti ini telah berjaya membantu merealisasikan Bidang Tumpuan ke-7 dalam Pelan Global UTM 2012-2020 iaitu “Memperkasakan jenama UTM di peringkat global”. Program UTM Summer School yang bermula pada 31 Januari sehingga 5 Februari 2017 ini turut diisi dengan penganjuran bengkel mini yang menekankan akan pentingnya pengukuhan identiti bandar warisan dengan citra tempatan. Peserta dikehendaki untuk mengenalpasti komponen dan elemen reka bentuk bandar yang menyumbang ke arah pembentukan identiti tempatan.

Hari-1, Khamis (1 Februari 2018) : Sesi kuliah dan bertolak ke Muar

Hari-2, Jumaat (2 Februari 2018) : Menyelusuri Sungai Muar

Pada sebelah pagi, peserta dibawa menyelusuri Sungai Muar menaiki bot dari Jeti Tanjung Emas. Dengan menyelusuri sungai, peserta berpeluang melihat keindahan Bandar Diraja dari sudut visual dan pemandangan yang berbeza. Bandar Maharani yang mula dibuka sejak tahun 1887 semasa zaman pemerintahan Sultan Abu Bakar berkembang pesat selari mengikut tebing sungai sehingga muara Sungai Muar. Pada hari ini kewujudan bangunan warisan yang masih terpelihara seperti istana, masjid, pejabat daerah, mahkamah, balai polis dan deretan bangunan rumah kedai tradisional menghidupkan persekitaran bandar tersebut sebagai sebuah Bandar Diraja di Johor. Peserta berpeluang menyelusuri sejarah Kesultanan Johor dan hubungkaitnya dengan sejarah kegemilangan Melaka. Seterusnya, lawatan diteruskan lagi ke Melaka Bandaraya Bersejarah. Ketika di Melaka, peserta dibawa menyelusuri laluan jejak warisan yang ditetapkan oleh penganjur. Permulaan perjalanan dimulakan dengan memberi pendedahan kepada sejarah Bandaraya Melaka. Peserta didedahkan dengan sejarah kewujudan Kota Melaka (A‟ Famosa) yang pernah menjadi pusat pentadbiran kepada sebuah kerajaan maritim terunggul di sebelah Timur bermula zaman Kesultanan Melayu Melaka sebelum ditawan oleh Portugis, Belanda dan British. Perjalanan diteruskan lagi ke Muzium Istana Kesultanan Melayu Melaka bagi memberi

pendedahan tentang sejarah permulaan Melaka pada zaman dahulu dan pengetahuan berhubung institusi Kesultanan Melayu Melaka. Selain itu, peserta dapat menerokai dan melihat paparan koleksi pakaian tradisional, aksesori perhiasan dan peralatan senjata yang digunakan pada zaman dahulu. Setelah selesai menerokai muzium tersebut, pelajar dibawa ke Bukit St. Paul bagi melihat Gereja St. Paul dengan lebih jelas. Di sini, peserta didedahkan dengan pelbagai pengetahuan yang melibatkan pembentukan sejarah daripada para pensyarah. Pada sebelah malam pula, peserta diraikan dalam sebuah jamuan di Restoran Muara Sungai Duyung.

Hari-3 Sabtu (3 Februari 2018) : Tapak Warisan Dunia Melaka UNESCO Melaka

Pada hari ke-3 terdapat beberapa muzium yang dilawati peserta iaitu Muzium Negeri, Muzium Etnografi dan Muzium Senibina. Kawasan deretan bangunan rumah kedai tradisional turut diterokai keunikkan senibinanya khususnya di sekitar Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock dan Jalan Jonker. Peserta diperkenalkan dengan kepelbagaian warisan nyata (tangible) dan tidak nyata (intangible) yang berkait rapat dengan Outstanding Universal Values (OUV) yang terkandung di tapak UNESCO tersebut termasuklah melihat kehidupan masyarakat tempatan di Kg. Ketek dan Kg. Morten. Pada sebelah malam peserta turut dibawa menyelusuri Sungai Melaka melihat keindahan lampu hiasan yang menerangi pesisir sungai dan deretan rumah kedai dan perkampungan tradisional, Kampung Morten.

Hari Ke-4, Ahad (4 Februari 2018) – Putrajaya dan Kuala Lumpur

Setelah melawat di sekitar Putrajaya, peserta dibawa ke tempat penginapan yang telah disediakan. Setelah itu, para peserta dibawa ke Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) dengan menaiki pengangkutan awam. Di sini, mereka diberi peluang untuk merasai pengalaman menggunakan Transit Aliran Ringan (LRT) yang menjadi salah satu kemudahan pengangkutan moden ibu negara. Setelah sampai di KLCC, para peserta diberi peluang untuk menonton pertunjukan air pancut berirama di hadapan KLCC yang menjadi tempat ikonik. Para peserta dapat melihat dan merasasi suasana aktiviti yang dilakukan oleh warga Kuala Lumpur pada waktu malam hari. Pada pukul 11 malam, para peserta dibawa pulang dengan menaiki LRT dan berjalan kaki ke tempat penginapan.

Hari Ke-5, Isnin (5 Februari 2018) : Pembentangan akhir

Pada hari terakhir, peserta diminta membuat pembentangan mengenai identiti dan perbezaan di setiap tapak lawatan yang peserta telah lewati iaitu di Muar, Melaka, Putrajaya, dan Kuala Lumpur. Setiap peserta dibahagikan kepada 4 kumpulan dan 1 kumpulan terbahagi kepada 5 ke 6 peserta. Kumpulan 1 telah menerangkan mengenai perbezaan antara setiap tapak lawatan, kumpulan 2 menerangkan apa itu identiti di setiap tapak lawatan, manakala kumpulan 3 membentangkan mengenai keunikan makanan di Malaysia dan identiti di Muar, dan kumpulan terakhir menerangkan mengenai pelbagai jenis senibina dan identiti. Setiap kumpulan berjaya melakarkan pelbagai jenis senibina yang terdapat di setiap tempat mereka lawati. Pada akhir pembentangan, setiap pensyarah telah memberi komen yang positif kepada setiap pembentangan peserta. Wang saguhati turut diberikan kepada peserta hasil kutipan „denda‟ yang dikenakan kepada setiap peserta yang menggunakan bahasa ibunda masing-masing semasa berkomunikasi dalam program ini bagi menggalakkan penggunaan bahasa Inggeris. Majlis penutup dan sesi penyampaian sijil kepada peserta telah diadakan selepas selesai pembentangan. Selesai penyerahan sijil, peserta dibawa melawat ke sekitar Masjid Jamek. Pihak pengurusan masjid telah sudi menerangkan sejarah pembinaan masjid tersebut. Peserta juga dibawa melawat sekitar masjid dan merasai suasana di dalam masjid dan juga di masjid ini mempunyai pelbagai Al-quran terjemahan dan ini membolehkan pelancong memahami isi kandungan Al-quran tersebut. Selepas itu, peserta dibawa ke Pasar Seni dan seterusnya ke Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad-Dataran Merdeka. Pelbagai perisitwa penting berkaitan sejarah kemerdekaan negara telah dikongsikan kepada peserta di kawasan tersebut. Selesai lawatan, semua peserta telah berangkat pulang dengan menghantar delegasi Vietnam ke KLIA2 pada sebelah petang sebelum kembali pulang ke kampus UTM JB.