SIBU: A new academic programme related to the needs of industry in Sarawak will be introduced by University of Technology Sarawak (UTS).
UTS vice-chancellor, Prof Datuk Dr Khairuddin Abdul Hamid, said the programme would be tailored to the requirements of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 and also in keeping to new generation trends.
“I will give you one example, we are now proposing a new programme called mobile game development. This is because we see that the young generation are much involved with E-sports or games, that becomes an industry by itself,” he said during an exclusive interview with New Sarawak Tribune on Thursday (March 3).
He said through the programme, UTS will forge collaborations with industry players.
“There will be industrial panels, advisors, so we have people from the association of e-sports Sarawak and industry such as those providing the machine, software and we are also engaging young people to understand what actually is their thinking towards this e-sports.
“My another big plan is to make UTS an e-sports hub for Sarawak actually. We have been organising e-sports competitions regularly for the last couple of years and we have invited many people not just in Sarawak but also nationally. So we hope one day UTS can become a famous centre for e-sports for Sarawak,” he said.
Khairuddin said if the plan was approved, UTS hoped to offer it in September, making it the first in Malaysia to do so.
“So,we are looking at programmes that are not just ordinary, not just conventional, but to look at the future in line with the agenda of the state and also the country,” he said.
Another big plan is to increase student population, from almost 2000 students at the moment to 4000 students by end of 2024.
“The reason is there’s no point having a grand university, a full fledged university, if we don’t provide opportunity for our children, young children to continue to study in UTS,” he stressed.
He said the next planning for UTS was the to improve the infrastructure, the facilities and more importantly, the campus lifestyle environment for students.
“I believe that campus is a second home for our students to call home away from home, because they spend a lot of time, about three or four years, in university. So, it is our duty to provide a conducive, safe, and of course an exciting campus life in UTS.
“And we are very fortunate because the government has been providing us with support in terms of capital expenditure to have new facilities. For instance, we just had our hostel, sports complex and also new academic block and hopefully by the end of this year, our grand hall will be ready with a capacity for 4000 people.
“So, hopefully next the following year, we can have our 7th UTS convocation ceremony in our grand hall on campus,” he said.
Having said all these Khairuddin readily concedes there are hurdles which need to be overcome, among them being to groom or to train staff, both academic and non academic.
“Majority of them are very young staff and for many of them,UTS is their first employer. They have no experience, they have no track record. And many of them don’t understand how universities should operate.
“But I’m very lucky because even though they are new, they are young, they are very committed, hardworking, and we can work as a team.
“So my job is how to transform this pool of human resource into a group of people who are going to take over the management of the university and to bring it to another level,” he pointed out.
He said the good thing about having young people and new people is that they can form a new culture, new corporate culture, new style of management and that the university was open to any ideas compared to more established universities.
Another challenge is to promote the university as well as Sibu, he said.
“But now I see more people from outside Sibu, outside Sarawak coming to UTS and there are also people from Sabah. We have a lot of students and staff from Sabah and we are now getting students and staff from West Malaysia and also international students and staff, so this shows that we have been to a certain extent successful in promoting Sibu and UTS,” he added.
