KUCHING: A total of 385 students from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus where 362 including four from the Melbourne campus received their parchment at its graduation ceremony yesterday.
Three doctoral degrees were conferred on Dr Alexander Funk Gun Leong, Dr Steven Wong Tung Yew and Dr Yeu Yee Lee. Sarawak campus has produced 29 PhD graduates since 2012. Held at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK), the event was attended by Chief Minister of Sarawak and Pro Chancellor of Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Abang Johari Tun Openg, State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Haji Mohammad Morshidi Abdul Ghani, Presiding Officer and Swinburne University’s Chancellor Graham Goldsmith, and Swinburne University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Linda Kristjanson.
The awards to the graduates were presented by the Chief Minister, witnessed by Goldsmith. The Faculty of Business, Design and Arts saw 171 undergraduate students graduated from the Bachelor of Business in Accounting, Accounting and Finance, Finance, Human Resource Management, International Business, Management, and Marketing programmes. Ten graduated from the Bachelor of Design in Multimedia Design and Graphic Design programmes.
Meanwhile,157 graduated from the Faculty of Engineering, Competing and Science. 112 received their awards in Bachelor of Engineering with Honors in Civil, Electrical and Electronics, Mechanical, Robotics and Mechatronics, and Chemical programmes, as well as double degree in Bachelor of Engineering ( Civil with Honours) / Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical with Honours)/Bachelor of Business.
For the Bachelor of Information and Communication Technology and Bachelor of Computer Science, 19 and 15 students graduated from the programmes respectively, while 11 graduated from the Bachelor of Science (Biotechnology). Rounding up the number of graduates are 31 postgraduates students from the Master of Business Administration (International), Master of Construction Management, Master of Engineering (Research), and Master of Science (Research) programmes.
Also graduating were the second cohort of civil servants from the State Human Resource Unit, Chief Minister’s Department, who graduated from the Master of Human Resource Management programme. In addition, the Master programme also witnessed four students from the Melbourne campus obtaining their awards from the Master of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Master of Business Administration, and Master of Social Investment and Philanthropy programmes.
The graduates comprise 313 Malaysian students and students from all over the world namely Australia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Yemen, Zimbabwe and Zambia. For the first time in its graduation history, two students, namely one each from Jordan and the Philippines took part in the Sarawak ceremony.
Valedictorian Melissa Ann Liew on behalf of all the graduates remarked that their university journey has been a life changing experience, where the lecturers’ dedication, teamwork spirit of their course mates and family support had shaped their values and priorities, and brought them to where they are today.
Also among these proud graduates are students with special needs, graphic design graduates Joan Dannielle Hong Wan-Jing, and Information and Communication Technology students Anand Mohan Puthuppully. Born with Benign Hypermobility Syndrome and Eagle Syndrome, Hong’s conditions cause her daily pain and intense headache that not only hinder her thinking abilities but also affect her ability to write and draw.
To overcome those challenges, Hong tries to reduce her overall workload by taking fewer units per semester so she could prevent major burnout. Hong hopes to become a designer and artist who is able to highlight invisible illness and disabilities such as her own conditions.
