JOHOR BAHRU, 8 February: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) is among the five universities in the world that offers doctoral program in Engineering Education, at par with several outstanding universities around the world.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic & International), Professor Dr. Rose Alinda Alias said, UTM is the only university in Asia that offers such program which is sought after by engineering lecturers at universities, colleges, polytechnics and matriculation colleges.
According to her, among other universities that offer PhD program in Engineering Education are Purdue University, Virginia Tech University, Utah State University in the US and Aalborg University in Denmark.
The program, which started in 2007, has produced three graduates in 2011 after they have passed their viva-voce of the final thesis which was examined by internal and external examiners from within Malaysia and from overseas.
The external examiner involved in the assessment process of the three PhD graduates is Cooperative Learning Professor in Engineering Education Dr. Karl A. Smith who is an internationally renowned expert in engineering education from Purdue University.
With such positive development of the doctoral program, the Centre for Engineering Education (CEE) under the School of Graduate Studies, UTM which is coordinating the program, is taking a step forward by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Aalborg University, Denmark.
Aalborg University (AAU) is the only university in Europe that offers a doctoral program in Engineering Education.
The Memorandum of Understanding between AAU and UTM was signed by UTM Vice Chancellor Professor Dato’ Ir. Dr. Zaini Ujang and his counterpart Professor Finn Kjaersdam on 22 August 2011 in Denmark.
The exchange of the document is taking place today between the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic & International), Professor Dr. Rose Alinda Alias who is representing UTM and Professor Dr. Anette Kolmos who is representing AAU.
The MoU will become the basis for collaboration between UTM and AAU in several areas such as a Joint PhD program, research collaboration, joint supervision, joint publication and PhD student exchange.
Moreover, both institutions have agreed to organise a Joint PhD program in Engineering Education so that students who study at UTM under this program can be awarded a PhD degree by both UTM and AAU.
Prof. Dr. Anette Kolmos, who is also the Chair-holder of the UNESCO Chair in Problem-Based Learning in Engineering Education, is invited to present a public lecture entitled “The Current Status and Future Directions of Engineering Education Research in Europe”.
The content of the public lecture is centred around the development of research in engineering education, which is getting a lot of attention throughout the world, and also her experience in introducing this multi-disciplinary field of study in Europe when she was the President of the European Society of Engineering Education (SEFI) in 2009-2011.