KUALA LUMPUR, May 11, 2017 – Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) is offering self-contained accommodations that are complete, comfortable, modern and comply to international standards.

The complex, built on an area of 26.4 acres in the campus near Jalan Maktab, near here named Residensi UTMKL comprises four towers for between 11 and 22 floors.

The complex contains 500 rooms and will be professionally managed by Royal Widad Hotel, The Regency and Dormani Halmark, all of whom have extensive experience in the hospitality industry in the country.

Rooms will be managed as a hotel and three-star service appartments to provide comfort and convenience of fully equipped accommodations for tenants.

Residensi UTMKL contains a seven-storey podium and four towers for accommodation. Tower 1 is the highest tower with 22 floors containing 150 units of two-bedroom accommodations.

Meanwhile, the 13-storey Tower 2 consists of 50 units of three-bedroom accommodation units, followed by Tower 3, an 11-storey tower containing 118 studio units, and Tower 4, a 14-storey tower containing 182 studio units.

In addition, Residensi UTMKL features a 10-lane bowling hall, a multipurpose hall that can accommodate up to 500 guests, a swimming pool, 60 business lots of retail space taking up 39,860 square meters, and features 719 parking lots.

Construction of the complex is in line with the Ministry of Higher Education’s intent to promote the Public Universities (UA) to generate their own income to reduce dependence on the government.

Construction of the complex and its location near the centre of the city is expected to attract more students from home and abroad to study in various fields in UTM.

Residensi UTMKL’s construction costs amounted to RM171.5 million obtained through a loan from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), which amounted to RM180 million.
The idea of its construction was sparked by former UTM Vice-Chancellor, Dato ‘Seri. Ir. Dr. Zaini Ujang in 2009 and received the support of the Board of Directors and the Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Finance.

Residensi UTMKL’s construction was managed “in-house” in its entirety – contract documents, procurement, contract deals, appointment of contractors, financial management, project management administration; all using UTM’s own expertise.

This move allowed UTM to save RM4 million in consultation fees alone.

To date, as much as 85 percent of the retail space has already been booked by confirmed tenants, among them UTMSPACE, EliteBowl, fast food outlets Burger King, Pizza Hut and Subway, 99Speedmart retailers, department stores my.News.com and Gloria Jean’s Coffee.

Residensi UTMKL was built by contractors Ahmad Zaki Sdn Bhd (AZSB) beginning in July 2013 and was completed on May 7, 2017 and presented by its Chairman Datuk Prof. A Rahman @ Omar Abdullah to UTM Vice-Chancellor Prof. Datuk Ir. Dr. Wahid Omar in the presentation ceremony today.

Also present were Chairman of the Board of Directors of UTM, Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali and AZRB Group Managing Director Dato ‘Sri Haji Wan Zaki Haji Wan Muda.

KUALA LUMPUR, 11 May 2017 – Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) celebrates its industrial partners, corporate affiliates as well as alumni in a special academia-industry dinner reception in recognition of their continuous support and contribution to the university.

Collaboration between academia and industry is indeed significant not only for the sake of continuous excellence for higher education, but most importantly to produce graduates who are industry relevant and ready to face challenges of the future.

This is where the need to expose graduates to the realities of the working environment becomes more intense to produce graduates with high employability skills. UTM emphasizes 3 major aspects for UTM branding in Academia–Industry collaboration. First, to come up with strategic approaches through dynamic transformation to ensure UTM remains relevant and competitive. Second, the continuous drive to develop unique entrepreneurial mindsets among the UTM community to create value that would bring impact for the good of the nation. Third, to improve the university’s image at the international level through smart partnerships with global partners in a strategic approach.

The collaborative and innovative partnerships that UTM has established with industry partners and corporate organisations have resulted in good synergy to transform the talent and capacity of its graduates while at the same time improve collaborative and sustainable quadruple helix models between industry, governments, academia and civil society.

For example, The Johor Strategic Innovation Institute IISJ-UTM is the best example in highlighting the R&D of UTM more effectively for the benefit of surrounding communities.

Industries also benefit tremendously through commercialization and licensing of R&D products.

At the same time, industries provide scholarships to enhance student development such as the RM 30 million from AMBANK, RM 5million contribution received from Johor Port Berhad, and RM 3million from KISWIRE.

Our students are also highly involved in many entrepreneurial programmes and projects under the UTM Technology Entrepreneurship Center (UTM-TEC), and innovation programs under the Centre for Student Innovation (CSI).

Many such programmes are in existence in UTM to enhance Academia-Industry collaboration such as the 2u2i program which is a new Bachelor program in the Faculty of Computing on Data Engineering, where students have 2 years on-campus learning experience and another 2 years in the industry. At the same time, the Jukebox under the Global Mobility program exposes students to our partner Universities in Japan, Taiwan, Germany, United States and Brazil.

To maintain and keep pace with technological developments, which are seen as very close to the industry, UTM received cooperation by industries offering placements to students. This is where skill development and higher Graduate Employability rate are achieved. Currently, every year, 80% or more of UTM graduates are employed 6 months after graduation.

The recent UTM Career Carnival 2017, that was held on 18-19 April 2017 involved 56 companies (40 multinational, 4 international and 12 locals). During the Career Carnival, graduate employability sponsors include Country Garden & Schlumberger.

Many collaborations with industries exists in UTM. Among others include Ericsson 5G centre, Johor Port Marine Centre, Azman Hashim International Business School, and Proton Lab. These engagements are synergized through MOUs and MOAs, which contribute to UTM’s progress in various fields which ultimately lead to nation building.

Collaborations with dedicated Alumni also reinforce synergy and strengthen contributions in pertinent areas from alumni to the University. UTM alumni are its major assets, as they can contribute in promoting good branding, networking, sharing of expertise and experiences, and also training of UTM students.

UTM sees the significance of giving recognition while acknowledging the contribution of all all industry partners and corporate organisations in driving the progress of UTM.

This Academia-Industry Appreciation Night is one way in which UTM pays tribute to the excellent support and contribution of its industry partners for capacity development and talent building of UTM students as well as staff.

UTM architecture students once again are in the limelight when they won three of the four awards at the prestigious PAM Ferruni Ceramiche Award 2017  and one out of two PAM Inovar Awards.

The three UTM B.Sc Architecture students are Muhammad Aizat bin Anuar and Ho Wen Han from 2SBEA who each won RM10,000 and Lim Chun Yen 3 SBEA who won RM5,000.

Ooi Soon Theng, from UTM’s M.Arch program won a total of RM15,000 from the PAM Inovar Award. They were among hundreds of applicants from all LAM accredited schools of architecture in Malaysia.

Congratulations to all award winners!

Heartiest congratulations to Dr Hafiz Dzarfan Othman for winning the Asian Invention Award at the 28th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2017

JOHOR BAHRU, 11 May 2017 – Malaysia Aerospace Industry Association (MAIA) held its Seminar and Southern Engagement at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Senate Hall, today.

The program was the fourth of the series conducted by MAIA to meet with aerospace players around the country, with the first three in the central region (twice) and the northern region (once).

About fourty participants representing eighteen players in the region attended.

The theme of the program was Industrial Revolution 4.0, and three speakers gave their presentations, namely  the President of MAIA and CEO of Strand Aerospace Malaysia Sdn Bhd Naguib Mohd Nor, Head of the Department of Aeronautical, Automotive and Ocean Engineering, UTM Assoc Prof Ir Dr Shuhaimi Mansor and CEO of Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Centre (AMIC) Razman Rajab.

UTM Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research and Innovation), Prof Dr Ahmad Fauzi Ismail, had a short meeting with Naguib and his team at his office, and then dropped by to meet with the participants at the end of the program.

After lunch the participants visited Aerolab to look at the facilities available here and be briefed of the research and consultancy work done by the UTM Aeronautical Engineering Group.

JOHOR BAHRU, 15 May 2017 – Dr. Abdul Halim Abdullah, a senior lecturer of Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia was invited as a keynote speaker at two international conferences in two cities in Indonesia.

The first conference was the 5^th South East Asia Development Research International Conference (5^th SEA-DR) which was held in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia from 3 to 4 May 2017.

Besides Dr. Abdul Halim who is also a Research Manager of Education Faculty UTM, other speakers were Prof. Dr. Kees Hoogland from Mathematics Curriculum Research and Development SLO Netherland, Dr. Wanty Widjaja from Deakin University Australia, Prof. Dr. H. Ahmad Fauzan from Universitas Negeri Padang and Prof. Dr. Sutarto Hadi  from Lambung Mangkurat University.

The conference was organized by Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Faculty of Education Lambung Mangkurat University with the theme “Developing Competitiveness through Innovation and Creativity Teaching and Learning”.

Dr. Abdul Halim delivered his keynote on innovative teaching and learning practices in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) generally and Faculty of Education UTM specifically in developing graduate competitiveness and creativity.

The second conference attended by Dr Abdul Halim was the International Seminar on Mathematics Education 2017 (Intersection’17) which was held in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia on 6^th May 2017.

This event managed to attract 1000 participants. Aside from local students, the attendees were foreign students from various countries, such as Thailand, Poland, Madagascar and Papua New Guinea.

The conference was organised by Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Muhammadiyah Makassar (UNISMUH).

Other keynote speakers were Prof. Dr. Kees Hoogland (Mathematics Curriculum Research and Development SLO Netherland), Assoc. Dr. Wanty Widjaja (Senior Lecturer in School Of Education, Deakin University Australia), Prof. Dr. Irwan Akib (Professor in UNISMUH Makassar) Dr. Wahyudi (Director, SEAMEO Regional Center QITEP in Mathematics, Indonesia), and Dr. Thanya Kadroon (Senior lecturer in Faculty of Education Suratthani Rajabhat University, Thailand).

The aim of the conference was to create a platform towards sharing current practices related to mathematics literacy as a solution for those who have difficulties to understand mathematics.

With the theme of Shaping Creative Generation through a Culture of Mathematics Literacy, Dr. Abdul Halim Abdullah delivered his keynote on 21^st Century Mathematics Teaching and Learning Approaches to Enhance Students’ Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS). It is hoped that Dr. Abdul Halim’s participation in this conference can further strengthen cooperation between UTM and UNISMUH.

Kuala Lumpur, 17 May, 2017 – The national’s leading ocean energy workshop comes to Kuala Lumpur  for the 3^rd National Workshop & Training Courses on Ocean Energy in conjunction with World Ocean Week celebration. This Workshop is the third series of unique meetings that bring all ocean energy researchers from allied fields together.

A record number of more than 300 registrants, a 100 percent increase in number of participants from 2015 and 2016, featuring more than 12 speakers. The scope of the workshop includes various types of ocean energy, economic and in particular on the ‘Legal Framework for Ocean Thermal Energy-Driven Development in Malaysia’.

OCEAN ENERGY Workshop 2017 highlights included:

Opening Keynote by Dato’ Sri Ir. Dr. Zaini Ujang, Secretary General, Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA), MALAYSIA who will address critical issues pertaining to Malaysia’s Prospects for Renewable Energy Development in Malaysia.

A special address by the High Court Jugde, the Honourable Datuk John Louis O’Hara, who will be discussing on the need for the the establishment of a better all-embracing and all-inclusive legal framework towards Ocean Thermal Energy Development (OTED) in Malaysia.

A leading voice in interdisciplinary and holistic solution towards sustainable society, Prof Dato’Ir Dr A Bakar Jaafar, UTM OTEC Director, who will explore how we can make a difference in advancing OTEC development in Malaysia.

A panel of discussants including Mr. Shakib bin Ahmad Shakir (NSC),  Prof  Dr Wan Izatul Asma Wan Talaat (UMT), Sr. Dr Azahari Bin Mohamed (JUPEM), co-moderated by the esteemed Emeritus Prof Datuk Dr. Shad Saleem Faruqi and Prof Dato’ Ir Dr A Bakar Jaafar (UTM OTEC) exploring the issues on Legal and Policy Framework for Ocean Energy. Mr Laurent Albert (DCNS) to share DCNS experience on OTEC 10 MW commercial offshore plant development in the Martinique island.

A historical handing over ceremony of OTEC Layang-Layang Pre-Feasibility Studies for Pioneer OTEC Plant in Malaysia supported by the Malaysia’s offset authority, Technology Depository Agency Bhd (TDA), Royal Malaysian Navy, Defence Industry Division, Ministry of Defence, and Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA) will also be carry out during the event.

Kuala Lumpur, 17 May 2017 : A memorandum of agreement was today signed for collaborative research and partnership between Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT) through the Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Center (DPPC) with Disaster Prevention Education Center (DPEC), National Cheng Kung University Taiwan (NCKU). According to Professor Datin Dr Rubiyah Yusof, Dean of MJIIT, the MoA should enrich the academic and research expertise in various disaster-related studies leveraging on its disaster risk management framework and collegial partnership among national and international collaborators. In the signing, NCKU was represented by Professor Dr Chjeng-Lun Shieh, Director of DPEC.

The MoA was signed during the International Symposium on Disaster Risk Management 2017 which was attended by representatives from University of Tsukuba, Japan; National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan; University of Yamaguchi, Japan and University Gadjah Mada, Indonesia at Dewan Seminar, Menara Razak UTM Kuala Lumpur.

About 100 participants representing various government sectors including MJIIT’s local stakeholders attended the symposium, which focuses on Capacity Building in Disaster Risk Management through Training, Research and Field Practices. The local presence comprises of representatives from National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA), Civil Defense Force (APM), Ministry of Education, Public Work Department (JKR), Malaysia Meteorological Department, Minerals and Geoscience Department (JMG), Fire and Rescue Department, NAHRIM, other Federal- and State government agencies related to disaster management, local government agencies, non-governmental organizations and funding agencies including JICA. 

YBhg Datuk Seri Ir Dr Zaini Ujang, Secretary General, Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA) in his keynote address encouraged all participants to actively participate in public engagement initiatives to protect the environment particularly the rivers that are highly subjected to natural disaster such as monsoonal flood, as part and parcel to environmental sustainability solutions. In addition, Tuan Haji Norhafifi Haji Ismail, Director of Policy Planning and Coordination, Malaysian Civil Defence Force (APM) in his keynote speech addressed the importance of capacity development in Disaster Risk Management for Building Disaster Resilience based on several case studies in Malaysia and the ASEAN countries.

The symposium featured two specialized sessions namely the Role of Science and Technology for Strengthening Disaster Risk Management and a Focus-Group Session on Identifying Regional Capacity Building Needs in Disaster Risk Management.

12 out of 28 EU Ambassadors were in UTM to foster and enhance links in academic relations, research collaborations and staff and students’ exchange.

There were active engagements and exchanges in question-and-answer session between UTM students,staff and the Excellencies to share experiences and insights on various issues of interest in social, academic and research matters. The Excellencies shared various opportunities available in different universities in their countries in research and academic engagements that can intensify and further strengthen relations between Malaysia and EU nations.

Further contacts can be made after this visit with the attaches of EU to discuss potential opportunities available in research engagements and fundings between UTM and EU universities.

KUALA LUMPUR, 20th May 2017 – Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nadicorp Holdings Sdn. Bhd. Tan Sri Dr Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh was invited to share his experience in a workshop entitled Building An Excellent Organization with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) business entity representatives.

The program attended by members of the UTM business arms, such as UTM Space, Unitechnology Sdn Bhd and UTM Holdings was to promote effective entrepreneurial and innovative mindsets and culture through effective communication between entities.

Chairman of the UTM Board of Directors, Tan Sri Halim Ali in his welcoming remarks said, the presence Tan Sri Dr Mohd Nadzmi marks the significant role that corporate representatives can play in creating the right synergy and engagement with academic institutions such as UTM.

“UTM always values the insights and experiences shared by corporate partners on pertinent issues in the implementation, running and managing of business enterprises, especially in the current economic scenario.

“In an increasingly competitive environment, it is essential for us to keep abreast of current corporate practices that are effective and impactful to bring about positive outcomes,” he said.

Vice Chancellor Professor Datuk Ir Dr Wahid Omar and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Development) Professor Dr Azlan Abdul Rahman were present at the event which took placed at Menara Razak, UTM Kuala Lumpur campus, today.

Tan Sri Halim said, universities around the world and also in Malaysia are now emphasizing the importance of being financially sustainable even in a public-run entity such as UTM.

“With the wealth of scholarly outputs, assets and services rendered within a university ecosystem, we need to ensure that all these can be monetized to bring sufficient returns for us to operate in a more strategic and sustainable manner.

“I strongly believe that UTM has the right ecosystem, resources and capacity to enhance its business entities to thrive and become more vibrant to reach greater heights,” he said.

25 May 2017 – Congratulations to Danial Liew Yu Chuan, Master (Civil Eng UTM) and Mohd Fadhli Abd Rashid, PhD (Civil Eng UTM), for being the recipient of the prestigious Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Scholarship 2017/2018. The Scholarship Award Giving ceremony took place at the Istana Negara yesterday.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V conferred the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Scholarship (BYDPA) 2017 to 12 students of higher institutions of learning and who will further their studies at the Masters and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) level.

The scholarships, introduced by the Government in 2006 through the Public Service Department, are given to academically outstanding Malaysian citizens who have produced creative and innovative works and have secured a seat in leading universities in the country or abroad. All the recipients of the scholarship will further their studies in the field of science and technology at local and foreign universities.

JOHOR BAHRU, 28 May 2017 – Head Department of Educational Foundations and Social Science, Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Dr Mahani Mokhtar was invited to deliver a keynote at the “Language Learning and Teaching Today 2017” conference organised by the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education.

The conference was held on 23 May 2017 and it was one of the events to commemorate the university’s 10th anniversary celebration.

This annual conference is aimed at exploring crucial issues of teaching and learning English language for the sustainable development of the community in the 21st century.

The conference particularly featured talks and discussions on service teaching approach, teaching practices of academic English, promotions of intercultural communicative competence, and teaching techniques of English for Specific Purposes in the context of higher education.

Three other invited speakers were academicians from other universities in Vietnam who presented their most significant research related to the themes of the conference. The title of Dr Mahani’s presentation was “Enhancing 21st century skills among TESL graduates in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) through Service Learning program”.

As one of the facilitators for UTM NALI Service Learning approach in UTM, the presentation gave the opportunity for Dr Mahani to share insights on how Service Learning is implemented at Faculty of Education and the advantages of it in terms of developing and nurturing 21st century skills among TESL students.

After the presentation, Dr Mahani received positive feedback from conference participants who wanted to know more about how Service Learning is adopted as a teaching and learning approach at universities since it is a new concept in Vietnam. Ultimately, the presentation was a further initiative in promoting NALI outside UTM and Malaysia.