CEBU, Oct 17 – The Centre for Engineering Education (CEE), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) continues to strengthen its position as a regional reference centre in engineering education through the successful delivery of the Outcome-Based Engineering Education (OBEE) National Training Series together with CIEE under the National Engineering Education Development (NEED) Program in the Philippines.
The OBEE training is one of the six components of the NEED Program launched by Batangas State University, The National Engineering University (The NEU), through its Center for Innovation in Engineering Education (CIEE). The program aims to build the capacity of engineering deans and program chairs across the Philippines to implement effective Outcome-Based Education (OBE) frameworks in line with international accreditation standards and quality assurance practices.
To date, three batches of the OBEE National Training Series have been successfully conducted. The first batch was held at Manila Prince Hotel, Manila City, from 9 to 11 December 2024, marking the start of the national initiative to advance the quality of engineering education in the Philippines. The second batch followed at Kingsford Hotel, Metro Manila, from 2 to 5 June 2025, involving more than 40 public higher education institutions across the Luzon region. The third batch, conducted in September 2025, further consolidated the program’s outcomes, reaching an even wider audience of engineering educators and administrators committed to continuous quality improvement in their institutions. In total more than 200 deans and program chairs have been trained.
Throughout these three batches, Dr. Nurzal Effiyana Ghazali, Director of UTM CEE, and Prof. Ir. Dr. Shahrin Mohammad, Professor of Engineering Education at UTM, have served as one of the trainers and resource experts, delivering modules co-developed with Batangas State University’s CIEE. Their involvement has been instrumental in aligning OBEE practices in the Philippines with global standards under the Washington Accord, strengthening Malaysia’s and UTM’s visibility as leaders in engineering education reform across Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This partnership demonstrates how CEE’s expertise and frameworks have become a benchmark for quality engineering education training, not only in Malaysia but also internationally.
The OBEE initiative exemplifies how strategic collaboration between UTM CEE and CIEE, Batangas State University contributes to regional educational transformation. By embedding international accreditation principles, the training equips participants to roll out institutional OBEE strategies and strengthen engineering education systems across the Philippines.
According to Dr. Nurzal Effiyana Ghazali, “This collaboration reflects how shared learning and co-development of training modules can create regional impact. The OBEE framework developed jointly by CEE and CIEE serves as a model for sustainable capacity-building in engineering education.”
The success of this ongoing partnership underscores UTM’s growing influence in shaping engineering education excellence across ASEAN, positioning the Centre for Engineering Education as a trusted reference hub for research, training, and innovation in Engineering Education.
