JOHOR BAHRU, 24 October 2015 – Menteri Besar of Johor, Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Management degree, while the President of Imperial College London, Professor Dr. Alice Gast was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Engineering degree in conjunction with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) 55th Convocation Ceremony held from 24 to 26 October 2015.
Yang Amat Berhormat Dato’ Mohamed Khaled bin Nordin was awarded the honorary degree for his significant contribution in elevating the nation’s institution of higher learning to an exceptional high standing, while Professor Alice Gast was honoured in recognition of her outstanding academic leadership and contribution to research in Engineering and Science.
Dato’ Mohamed Khaled in his acceptance speech states that the best universities are those that devote their efforts and contributions for altruistic reasons towards the well-being of mankind. Thus, universities should pursue solutions to global problems in addition to becoming agents of wealth creation.
Professor Alice Gast concurs with this view. In her acceptance speech she pointed out that global research universities have a central role in helping humanity address global challenges by making discoveries, educating leaders and developing innovations that benefit society. She also highlighted the importance of partnerships between institutions as no university can realise the full benefits of its work by itself. Academic excellence in fact is enhanced by collaboration with external partners. Thus, the cooperation between UTM and Imperial College London, particularly in low carbon technologies can lead to significant impact, benefiting the entire world.
Both received their degrees from the UTM Chancellor, Her Royal Highness (HRH) Raja Zarith Sofia Sultan Idris Shah at the first session held at Dewan Sultan Iskandar Johor Bahru campus.
A total of 5,543 graduates will be conferred their respective degrees and diplomas throughout the 3-day event with 406 international graduates from 30 countries with Iran recording the highest number of graduating students (105) followed by Indonesia (70) and Nigeria (45).
This grand ceremony also saw a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical-Electronics) graduate, Muhammad Yassin Mohd Yusof Noor and Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Industry) graduate, Foo Shi Hao receiving the Royal Education Award (Jaya Cemerlang Medal).
The Chancellor’s Award was given to a Doctor of Philosophy (Chemical Engineering) graduate, Liew Peng Yen, PhD (Engineering) graduate, Danial Jahed Armaghani, Bachelor of Management (Marketing) graduate, Shakir Muhammad Shukor and Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) graduate, Liew Kim Fa.
The UTM 55th Convocation ceremony also witnessed the conferment of the youngest PhD graduate in Malaysia as attested by the Malaysia Book of Records, Dr. Mundzir Abdullah who graduated with his Doctor of Philosophy from the Faculty of Science at the age of 23 years and 5 months.
Meanwhile 655 graduates from UTM joint collaborations programmes also received their diplomas at the convocation.
