SIBU: A total of 262 graduates received their scrolls in their respective fields of study during the 3rd Convocation of University College of Technology Sarawak (UCTS) held at a hotel here yesterday.
The convocation ceremony was graced by Head of State Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud.
In his speech Vice-Chancellor of UCTS, Professor Datuk Dr Khairuddin Abdul Hamid said UCTS established in 2013 is a new breed of technological-based university in the country.
He added that it was established with a very clear vision to become a global technical university providing world-class educational programmes and learning environment to nurture creative and entrepreneurial leaders of the future.
“Located in Sibu Town and in the heart of Borneo, UCTS offers a broad range of professional and industry-linked academic programmes that are relevant to the unique requirements of Sarawak’s plan of development.
“Hence, we are proud to be recognised as the only “home-grown’ Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) university in Sarawak with the aim to produce educated and highly skilled manpower for the new and emerging industries, especially those related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0).
“In the past, TVET was not given much emphasis compared to the mainstream academic education system. “But this is changing, especially with the current initiative by the government to set up the TVET Empowerment Committee to enhance the level and standard of TVET in Malaysia.
“Therefore, UCTS is ready to play an important role here in Sarawak and beyond. “This year, UCTS is celebrating its 5th anniversary as a young and dynamic university here in Sarawak. “Initially, UCTS started with four schools and offering only six academic programmes of which two are at foundation level and four at undergraduate level.
“Now, we have six schools offering 22 programmes, including two PhD programmes, five Master’s programmes, 13 Bachelor’s programmes and two Foundation programmes,” he explained.
According to Khairuddin, a new Bachelor’s programme in Wood Product Processing and two Master’s programmes by coursework, namely Master of Project Management and Master of Architecture were offered last month.
“Our programmes to be offered next year include Bachelor in Technology Management, Bachelor in Creative Media, Bachelor in Industrial Design and Bachelor in Industrial Chemistry,” he said.
Khairuddin said UCTS also prides itself as the only university in this region being awarded with the prestigious platinum ratings in Green Building Index (GBI) for its campus design in promoting sustainability in the built environment and energy utilisation. “UCTS modern design and the strategic location within the enclosure of the rainforest and nature will also provide a conducive learning environment for its students.
“With financial support from the Sarawak State Government, UCTS has invested heavily on teaching-learning facilities, especially state-of-the-art laboratories, ICT infrastructure and services, and research facilities.
“The campus physical infrastructure has expanded to cater for the growing needs of the academic programmes and campus activities.
“For example, we have completed the construction of the multi-storey car park and the Islamic Centre in April this year. Currently, the construction of two student hostel blocks is in progress and should be ready by April next year,” he said.
