ALOR GAJAH
fhatihah@nstp.com.my
UNIVERSITI Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) continues to make waves on the global stage by establishing a quadruple helix strategic cooperation in developing innovative applications and technology, thus producing quality graduates who are sought after by multinational industries.
UTeM’s Assistant Vice-Chancellor’s Office — Industry and Community Network (JIM) is among the departments responsible for boosting the university’s profile, leading it to develop a symbiotic relationship with not just local industries, but also global giants such as Infineon Technologies, Western Digital (WD), Samsung, Siemens, Konica Minolta and Honda Malaysia.
JIM Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Prof Ts Dr Goh Ong Sing, says the cooperation with the four parties which involves academia, industry, government and local community to further champion innovative efforts in line with the focus on Technical Education and Vocational Training (TVET) in UTeM.
He said the practice of a win-win approach is to bring into focus issues related to Industrial Revolution 4.0 and serve as a platform for the industries to increase their productivity through specialist consultation services and high-quality manpower.
“The standout factor for UTeM, compared to other universities, is the implementation of the ‘teaching factory’ concept which bridges education and training with the working world. For example, Samsung SDIEM sends its workers to attend professional courses via the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) to increase the quality of knowledge and professionalism for its engineering manpower.
“UTeM is also the only varsity in the country which has established an Industry Contribution Fund, Industry Special Awards and Roundtable Meetings.
“The Industry Contribution Fund for instance was created to provide students from the B40 group with monthly cost of living aid. The contributions come from industry corporate figures and was initiated by (Dr) Lee Cheong Chee, the former president and managing director of Infineon Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd he said.
Goh said the Industry Special Award is presented to outstanding graduates selected by the industry itself, in the form of awards such as the Samsung SDI Energy Industry Award, Infineon Excellence Award and Western Digital Achievement Award, while the roundtable meetings are held annually by gathering industry players and nongovernmental organisations. Among its resolutions include appointing qualified industry figures as Academic Panel Advisors or CEO@Faculty.
He said the university is fortunate enough to be chosen as the location of the world’s first Samsung Internet-of-Things (IoT) Academy, which costs almost RM1 million including infrastructure, hardware, software and training, with the cooperation of Samsung Electronics and recognition from the tech giant’s head- quarters in South Korea.
“As a result of such cooperation, UTeM and Samsung were presented with the Best Academia - Industry Cooperation Award 2015. This was a recognition and honour for the university for producing highly-skilled graduates and fulfilling the needs of the market,” he said.
He said this proves that UTeM’s Graduates’ Employability (GE) are in demand by industries, based on the Education Ministry’s Graduate Tracer Study (GTS) records, which showed that an average of 92 per cent of UTeM graduates were offered job opportunities after twelve months they graduated, over the last five years.