pdf FIRST TO OFFER GERMAN MODELLED ENGINEERING PROGRAMME Popular

Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) is, again, at the forefront when it comes to offering high quality engineering undergraduate programme – with the latest modelled after Germany’s tertiary curriculum – said the Minister of Higher Education, Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, at the official opening of the UniversityIndustry Forum 2010 recently. “The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) sealed between UMP and Germany’s Hochschule Karlsruhe Technic Und Wirtschaft (HsKA) Karlsruhe University of Applied Science, will be both an aspiration as well as a foundation in drawing up UMP’s 2011-2015 Strategic Planning,” said Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled. “Furthermore, the university’s MoUs with IBM Malaysia Bhd and HeiTech Padu Bhd have boosted the number of Computer Science & Software Engineering graduates with knowledge and skills in System Z, which in turn, has helped reduce the country’s dependency on foreign technocrats,” the minister added. “The importance of establishing an impactful collaboration between universities and industries has been highlighted on many occasions by the Ministry of Higher Education, and especially emphasized in the National Higher Education Strategic Planning. Universities which fail to fulfil this particular Key Performance Index will have a lot of explaining to do. At the signing ceremony, Vice-Chancellor Professor Dato’ Dr Daing Nasir Ibrahim sealed his signature for UMP, whilst HsKA was represented by its President, Professor Dr Karl-Heinz Meisel; and the German-Malaysian Institute by its Managing Director, Yusoff Mohd Sahir. Present to witness the signing ceremony were UMP’s Board of Directors’ Chairman, Dato’ Mohd Hilmey Mohd Taib; and the Federal Republic of German Ambassador, Dr Guenter Gruber. The same ceremony also saw two more MoUs signed with UMP – Managing Director Ramanathan Sathiamutty signed on behalf IBM Malaysia; while Senior VicePresident of Corporate Services Ahmad Abdul Ghani on behalf of HeiTech Padu. According to Ramanathan, a strong university-industry relationship will ultimately produce a creative and competitive graduate – one who has honed capabilities of applying the technology acquired in the university to meet industrial demands. “To develop this intended close tie, HeiTech Padu, will do its share to provide facilities like network services, training programmes and internships, to both students and lecturers alike,” said Ahmad. “The university, in turn, has welcomed our IT specialists to become guest lecturers at UMP. Through this promising collaboration, HeiTech Padu foresees qualified and skilled UMP graduates being absorbed into our employment programme,” he added. This year’s University-Industry Forum, themed “Managing Performance for Productive University-Industry Collaborations”, was held on May 27 at the MS Garden Hotel in Kuantan, Pahang. “This University-Industry Forum is truly timely. The World Competitiveness Yearbook 2010, published recently by The Institute for Management Development, revealed that Malaysia’s competitive ranking has soared to No. 9, compared to 18th a year ago,” said Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled. Meanwhile, in his keynote address at the forum, Professor Dato’ Dr. Daing Nasir said the university has taken the initiative to explore new dimensions in the universityindustry relationship in its pursuit to fulfil various industrial requirements.