Universiti Teknologi Petronas

Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
Motto Engineering Futures
Established 10 January 1997
Type Private
Chancellor YABhg Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad[1]
Vice-Chancellor YBhg Datuk (Ir) Dr. Abdul Rahim Haji Hashim[2]
Pro-Chancellors Tan Sri Sidek Hassan
YBhg Tan Sri Dato’ Shamsul Azhar Abbas[3]
Undergraduates 6000[4]
Postgraduates 1200[4]
Location Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
Campus 1000 acres (400 ha.) [5]
Colours Blue sapphire and Brass[6]
         
Nickname UTP
Affiliations ASAIHL
Website www.utp.edu.my

Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) is a Malaysian private university. It was established on 10 January 1997. The campus is built on a 400 hectare (1,000 acre) site strategically located at Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia. The university is a wholly owned subsidiary of PETRONAS, the national oil company of Malaysia.

UTP places strong emphasis on Research and Development as it strives to achieve the status of an internationally renowned Research University. The university conducts extensive research activities in collaboration with PETRONAS and other institutions and industries locally and abroad focusing on Enhanced Oil Recovery, Carbon Dioxide Management, Deepwater Technology, Nanotechnology, Green Technology, Biomedical Technology, Hybrid Energy Systems, Intelligent Cities and Sustainable Resources. This is evident when UTP was awarded a 5-star rating by Malaysian Research Assessment Instrument (MyRA) for its research, development and commercialisation efforts recently.[4]

In recent years, UTP is ranked in the top 200 in the 2014 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Ranking by subject for Chemical Engineering.[7] UTP is the only private university in Malaysia to be ranked in the top 200 for the 2014 QS Asia University Rankings[8] and ranked at 335 for the QS World University Rankings under Engineering and Technology Faculty.[4]

History

In 1997, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) was established in Perak, Malaysia when PETRONAS was invited by the Government of Malaysia to set up a university.[9][10] Setting up a university from scratch poses formidable challenges, and the first step was taken in December 1998 with the completion of the UTP academic master plan. This acted as the basis for the physical master plan studies and registration or accreditation of degree programmes. The process of master planning was completed in 2002 and the construction of the area under consideration was completed in August 2004.[11]

UTP has produced more than 10,000 graduates and currently has an enrolment of over 6,000 undergraduates and 1,200 postgraduates from more than 50 countries around the world. UTP complements its engineering and technology programmes with quality education in the areas of management and humanities, with the aim of producing well-rounded graduates exhibiting excellent leadership qualities and communication abilities.[4]

Campus

The university site is located one kilometre from the village of Tronoh, a former mining town in the Perak Tengah district of Perak, the largest state on the west coast of the peninsula. The 2 site lies within the commercial corridor between Kuala Lumpur and Penang, some 10 kilometres from the town of Batu Gajah and 25 kilometres from the city of Ipoh. Within 50 kilometres is the beach at Lumut and within 100 kilometres are the hills of the Cameron highlands.[11]

Academic Complex

The new academic complex was designed by Foster and Partners, and the first-phase construction was completed in 2004.[11] The design received an Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2007. The overall layout of the new academic complex is in the shape of a five-pointed star made up by five semicircles. The new academic complex was officially opened by the former chairman of PETRONAS and ITPSB Board, Y. Bhg. Tan Sri Azizan Zainul Abidin. Currently, almost all of the academic activities have been shifted to the new campus.A ‘star concept’ diagram, overlaying vision, site, programme and quality, was used as a template to zone various facilities and initiate the preliminary design,[11]

Sports complex

The university has a centralised sport facilities, commonly known as the sports complex. It consists of a swimming pool, several football fields, three futsal courts, three takraw courts, five basketball courts, five tennis courts, three volleyball courts, four squash courts, three badminton courts, a jogging track and a netball court.

In general, students participate actively in sports, with the most popular sports being football and volleyball.

Education

The foundation programmes are offered for students that enrol to UTP with SPM level or other equivalent levels to prepare them for degree programmes. Newly enrolled students with STPM level or other equivalent levels are exempted from the foundation programmes. Other newly enrolled diploma graduates are exempted from certain courses according to their academic performance and courses taken during their diploma programmes.

Currently, UTP offers two foundation programmes, five bachelor engineering degree programmes and three bachelor technology degree programmes.

Foundation programmes

The foundation programmes offered in UTP are engineering foundation programme and technology foundation programme. As the names suggest, the engineering foundation programme prepares the student programme for students to pursue their studies in technology degree programmes.

Undergraduate degree programmes

The engineering degree programmes take a total of four years to complete (including internship), while technology degree programmes take three and a half years. All engineering students are welcomed to enrol in Management minor starting academic year of 2009.

Postgraduate degree programmes

UTP also offers postgraduate degree programmes by research, and by coursework and dissertation.

Student industrial internship programme

UTP offers one of the longest industrial internship programmes in the country. The students are posted as interns for 28 weeks (approximately 7 months). The length of the internship duration allows students to engage in more significant work assignments and is widely thought as a major strength of the academic curriculum.

Clubs and societies

There are several clubs and societies inside the campus. The main student's organisation of UTP is the MPPUTP (Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar UTP) or SRCUTP (Student Representative Council of UTP). The main objective of the organisation is to represent the students in all aspects related, and this includes academic and career, welfare, entrepreneurship, promotion and publication, sports and recreation, public relations and so on. There is also a few international based clubs and societies such as SIFE and AIESEC in UTP.

Newsletters and Journalism Teams

There are currently 2 journalism teams are working on the campus newsletters, namely Heart of Tronoh (HOT), a monthly publication, and The Inspirer, which releases an issue once every semester.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://utp.edu.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58&Itemid=1910
  2. ↑ http://utp.edu.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=915&Itemid=1902
  3. ↑ http://utp.edu.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=100
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 http://utp.edu.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=3194
  5. ↑ http://utp.edu.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=962&Itemid=3196
  6. ↑ http://utp.edu.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=1907
  7. ↑ http://www.nst.com.my/node/53616
  8. ↑ http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/asian-university-rankings/2014#sorting=rank+region=+country=+faculty=+stars=false+search=universiti teknologi petronas (petronas)
  9. ↑ http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Community/2013/02/14/A-talent-crisis-looms-in-the-oil-and-gas-industry.aspx
  10. ↑ "History of UTP". UTP Website. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 http://www.akdn.org/AA54ECED-9B91-4436-A65B-F9618AB58E86/FinalDownload/DownloadId-CBBCE07A6CBF0EB9C274295D7629C22E/AA54ECED-9B91-4436-A65B-F9618AB58E86/architecture/pdf/3124_Mal.pdf

External links

Coordinates: 4°23′11″N 100°58′47″E / 4.38639°N 100.97972°E