Diversity of Culture @ The International Week 2008


Skudai, 27th March 2008: The International Postgraduate Students Society (IPSS) in collaboration with The Students Representative Council (MPM) of UTM organized the International Week 2008 at the Dataran Agora; a program specially designed to promote ethnic and cultural diversity.

Graciously officiated by Y.Bhg. Tan Sri Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zulkifli bin Tan Sri Mohd. Ghazali, Vice-Chancellor of UTM yesterday at the Dewan Sultan Iskandar, the merry opening ceremony is filled with exhilarating performances from 19 participating countries. Also present were Prof. Ir. Dr. Siti Hamisah Tapsir, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and international), Prof. Dr. Alias Mohd Yusuf, Dean of International Affairs, International Academias, Deans and other distinguished guests.

The performances featured among others were dramatization of Iraq wedding ceremony, “Poco-Poco” dance by students from Indonesia, Arabic Sword dance by students from Saudi Arabia, musical performances from Malaysia Kazakhstan and China, and international fashion show.

Impressed with the first-of-its kind programme, Tan Sri Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zulkifli in his opening speech said it is timely to have all the international community along with the local students to organize such programme that promotes integration among students of various backgrounds and culture, which also serves to foster better understanding about different cultural experiences.

In line with UTM’s aspiration in moving towards internationalization, he said, “UTM is doing its best to ensure that the needs and expectations of international students are met and this has been translated into providing better services and world class academic programmes”, adding that the management is also trying hard to ensure a pleasant and memorable stay among the internationals here.

He complimented the committee members for putting their heart and soul to the success of the programme, thus hoped that future similar events will be better in terms of participation and activities.

The culmination of the ceremony is the presentation of award by Tan Sri Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zulkifli to winners of the most creative booths. Syria won the first place, followed by Iran, the second most creative booth winner and Libya, taking the third place.

Apart from the entertainment and bazaar that exhibits merchandise and souvenirs from over 19 countries, namely Cameroon, China, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Somalia and Yemen, the 4-day programme that starts on the 26th and ends on 20th March also includes sports carnival among the participants.

The response has been overwhelming from all students and participants that not only they benefit the knowledge on various cultural practices and tradition, but also helps them to establish new friendships and strengthen inter-cultural relations with those of different origin.

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UTM Architecture Student Top Winner of Just Jerusalem Global Competition

Skudai, 23rd March: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s (UTM) architecture student has been declared top prize winner in the Just Jerusalem Competition, an international competition organized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

The result was announced at MIT on March 21st and released simultaneously on the competition official website. Just Jerusalem was an open global competition attempted at seeking ideas and proposals that addressed different aspects of urban life in a futurist Jerusalem. The news was announced by the Vice Chancellor, Tan Sri Datuk Ir. Dr. Mohd Zulkifli bin Tan Sri Mohd Ghazali, in his officially address during the 40th Convocation held at UTM Skudai campus today.

Initially a total of 1,150 people from 85 countries registered for the competition. Eventually only 125 eligible proposals were accepted by the organizer which later undergone review by world-class panel of jury convened at MIT. Among the nine-member jury were Suha Ozkan and Herman Hertzberger, both a well-known scholars and architects.

Chan Wai Lai, a senior architecture student decided to take up the competition as her final year Design Thesis project at beginning of the academic session. She hoped and aspired to see Jerusalem as city of peace through the idea of sharing. In her project abstract, she elaborated,

“Without raising awareness of the need for sharing, energies devoted to constructing iconic architecture or designing beautiful buildings do not make sense. To achieve new and true peace, we must solve the problems of man, not of buildings, facilities or land division -- because all these problems come from man alone.”

As an expression of hope for future Jerusalem she adopted “Children’s Village for Jerusalem" as the title for her competition entry. It is in the children that she hoped the future community of peace would be nurtured and raised out of a built environment that she have designed, and hopefully in the end the proposed dwelling environment would help to address social equality and harmony among citizenry of Jerusalem.

As top winner she will be given the opportunity to spend up to an academic semester in residence at MIT as Jerusalem Visionary Fellow, with all expenses paid, including travel, housing, and stipend. It is estimated that a total amount USD50,000 been allocated for her appointment as visionary fellow.

As visionary fellow she will engage in interdisciplinary discussion about the implementation of the ideas. Throughout her stay at MIT, she will be participating in university seminars and workshops with faculty and invited dignitaries to work towards the implementation of their design ideas.

The Design Thesis is a two-semester long final year design project, a core course in architecture degree programme. Like other students of her peer, Ms. Chan Wai Lai is expected to submit the project to Department of Architecture at end of this semester as part fulfillment of the degree requirements.

She undertook the competition design project under the tutelage of a supervisory panel consisting of Abdul Halim Hussien, Ar. Marzuki Mahadi, and headed by Professor Dr. Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi.

Head of Architecture Department, Assoc. Prof. Dr Syed Ahmad Iskandar Syed Ariffin highlighted that for the past few years UTM have witnessed architecture students winning handful number of national and international awards.

The awards are in many ways a form of recognition of architecture degree programme at UTM and to the highly dedicated and caliber academic staff and students. The community of staff and students at Department of Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment is proud to be able to once again raise national and UTM flags at international stage.

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UTM cipta alat kesan banjir - UTUSAN

JOHOR BAHRU 25 Mac – Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) berjaya mencipta Sistem Amaran Banjir Fotoniks (SABF) bagi mengesan bencana alam itu dengan lebih pantas.

Ketua Pusat Teknologi Fotoniks Fakulti Kejuruteraan Elektrik UTM, Prof. Dr. Abu Bakar Mohammad berkata, SABF merupakan sistem yang mampu memberi amaran mengenai kenaikan paras air kepada penduduk yang menggunakannya.

Menurutnya, sistem itu juga dapat menyelamatkan nyawa dan kerosakan harta benda yang mencecah jutaan ringgit setiap kali banjir melanda, terutamanya banjir kilat yang sering berlaku di kawasan bandar.

“Apa yang membanggakan setiap satu set sistem ini mampu memberi khidmat kepada 250 pelanggan dan boleh ditambah dengan kad SIM Modul Identiti Pelanggan (Subscriber Identity Module) yang lebih besar.

“Pada dasarnya sistem ini mempunyai tiga kelebihan iaitu boleh menghantar khidmat pesanan ringkas (SMS) mengenai banjir yang berlaku, paras air berjaga-jaga dan paras berbahaya.

“Sistem ini juga boleh beroperasi dengan sebarang pengendali khidmat telekomunikasi selular seperti 019, 012, 013 dan 017,” katanya pada sidang akhbar di sini hari ini.

Prof. Dr. Abu Bakar berkata, sistem itu menggunakan kaedah fotoniks iaitu cahaya untuk mengesan kenaikan air dan menghantar isyarat kepada unit pemerosesan yang akan memproses isyarat paras air dan kemudian menghantar SMS kepada pelanggan.

Katanya, kelebihan kaedah fotoniks berbanding kaedah lazim yang menggunakan logam ialah ia mampu beroperasi dari jarak jauh, bebas kejutan elektrik dan menggunakan kuasa elektrik rendah.

Menurutnya, sistem itu disasarkan penggunaannya di kawasan yang sering dilanda banjir kilat sehingga menimbulkan fobia di kalangan penduduk setiap kali hujan lebat.

“Harga pasaran setiap set dijangka kurang daripada RM10,000 yang boleh dikongsi oleh penduduk di sesebuah kawasan perumahan atau kampung dan jika dilihat dari jumlah pelanggan yang boleh menerima khidmat bagi satu sistem, harganya hanya kira-kira RM40seorang,” katanya.

Jelas beliau, bagi menyiapkan sistem itu, pihaknya mengambil masa enam bulan dengan dibantu oleh Prof. Madya, Dr. Norazan Mohd. Kassim; Prof. Madya, Dr. Abu Sahmah Mohd. Supaat; Dr. Sevia Mahdaliza Idrus Sutan Nameh; Dr. Mohd. Haniff Ibrahim; Norhafizah Ngajikin dan Ahmad Hassan.

Beliau berkata, keberkesanan sistem itu telah diuji oleh dua pihak berkuasa tempatan iaitu Majlis Perbandaran Johor Bahru Tengah (MPJBT) dan Majlis Daerah Kulai.

Katanya, kejayaan mencipta alat tersebut membolehkan Fakulti Kejuruteraan Elektrik meraih pingat emas pada Ekspo Teknologi Malaysia yang berlangsung di Pusat Dagangan Dunia Putra (PWTC) pada 21 Februari lalu.

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Pastikan UTM diiktiraf universiti penyelidikan, Sultanah Johor


JOHOR BAHARU: Canselor Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Sultanah Zanariah Tunku Ahmad menggesa warga pendidik UTM khususnya Naib Canselor berusaha lebih gigih bagi memastikan UTM diiktiraf sebagai universiti penyelidikan.

Dengan jumlah siswazah melebihi 100,000 sejak penubuhannya, baginda yakin UTM akan mampu mencapainya dan diiktiraf di peringkat global atas kemampuan melahirkan graduan yang berkualiti.

"Naib canselor dan pensyarah perlu berusaha lebih gigih lagi bagi memastikan UTM akan tersenarai bersama-sama universiti universiti yang telah diiktiraf di peringkat global," titah baginda pada majlis konvokesyen ke40, UTM, di Skudai dekat sini pada hari Sabtu.

Seramai 2,223 orang graduan UTM menerima ijazah masingmasing pada konvokesyen kali ini dengan 33 graduan merupakan penerima Ijazah Doktor Falsafah (PhD), 489 (Sarjana), 89 (Diploma Lepasan Ijazah), 1,399 (Sarjana Muda) dan 213 (Diploma).

Pada majlis pagi ini, Sultanah Zanariah turut berkenan menganugerahkan Ijazah Kehormat Doktor Pengurusan kepada Presiden Universiti Meiji, Jepun, Profesor Hiromi Naya.

Penganugerahan itu merupakan tanda penghargaan UTM kepada Universiti Meiji atas pelbagai sumbangan termasuk penubuhan sebuah pejabat satelit universiti itu di kampus UTM, Jalan Semarak, Kuala Lumpur.

Konvokesyen kali ini turut menyaksikan seramai lapan penerima Ijazah Sarjana Muda adalah graduan usahasama UTM dan Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM), manakala 422 penerima Ijazah Sarjana Muda dan 38 diploma adalah graduan Sekolah Pendidikan Professional dan Pendidikan Berterusan (SPACE) UTM.

Seramai 78 penerima merupakan graduan antarabangsa dari 18 buah negara termasuk Libya seramai 19 orang, Indonesia (18), India (5), Bangladesh dan Sudan masing-masing empat orang.

Pada majlis itu, Kamaruddin Othman yang mengambil kursus Sarjana Muda Kejuruteraan Mekanikal dan Ummu Tasnim Husin, Sarjana Muda Sains (Matematik) dipilih sebagai penerima Anugerah Canselor.

Sementara pasangan suami isteri Salasun Naim Mohd Zain, 47, dan Rohidah Samadi, 48, warga emas Zainon Kassim, 50, dan Mohd Asrof Mohd Sapie, 32, yang menghidap rabun merupakan penerima anugerah SPACE.

Ketika ditemui selepas majlis itu, Mohd Asrof berkata kecacatan yang dialaminya tidak menjadi penghalang untuk melanjutkan pelajaran.

"Saya guna pita rakaman dan memperbesarkan tulisan bagi menelaah dan mengulang kaji pelajaran," kata graduan Sains dan Pendidikan Pengajian Islam itu.

Bagi Kamaruddin, 24, dan Ummu Tasnim, 22, ibu bapa dan kejayaan kakak dan abang menjadi pendorong mereka berdua sebagai anak bongsu untuk berjaya.

"Abang dan kakak memberi saya kekuatan untuk berusaha dengan gigih, tapi saya tidak sangka akan cemerlang seperti ini, syukur pada Tuhan," kata Kamaruddin.

Ummu Tasnim berkata beliau meminati subjek matematik sejak kecil kerana bapanya merupakan guru matematik.

"Mana tumpah kuah kalau tidak nasi. Ayah bekas guru matematik, jadi secara tidak langsung saya meminati subjek Matematik sejak kecil hingga sekarang," katanya.

BERNAMA

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UTM City Campus - Sambutan Maulidur Rasul 1429H


Sambutan Maulidur Rasul Peringkat Kebangsaan pada tahun ini jatuh pada hari Khamis, 20 Mac 2008. Perarakan dan perhimpunan beramai-ramai telah diadakan di Stadium Putra, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.

Ribuan hadirin membanjiri Stadium Putera Bukit Jalil untuk sama-sama memperingati hari bersejarah hari kelahiran Nabi Junjungan yang ajarannya masih bersama kita hingga ke hari ini.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) City Campus, Kuala Lumpur turut mengambil bahagian di dalam perhimpunan tersebut dengan menghantar seramai 100 orang peserta terdiri daripada 80 lelaki dan 20 wanita yang diketuai oleh Ustaz Shahrizal bin Shahidan.

Kemuncak sambutan tersebut diumumkan lima orang penerima anugerah Tokoh Maulidur Rasul. Hadiah disampaikan oleh Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di Pertuan Agong.

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Pelajar KST Mewakili Negara


Chua Tau Shen, pelajar tahun Dua Diploma Kejuruteraan Elektrik (Perhubungan), Kolej Sains dan Teknologi (KST), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) City Campus, Kuala Lumpur telah dipilih untuk mewakili negara ke Pertandingan Kemahiran Peringkat ASEAN pada 8 hingga 19 November depan.

Beliau telah dipilih berasaskan kejayaannya memenangi pingat gangsa di dalam Pertandingan Kemahiran Malaysia Ke 17 dalam bidang Elektronik Industri yang dijalankan pada 13 hingga 17 Ogos 2007 yang lalu.

Saudara Chua telah dipilih untuk mengikuti program latihan intensif selama 6 bulan dibawah kendalian Urusetia Kemahiran Malaysia dan akan menjalani latihan di UTM City Campus di bawah seliaan Encik Ahmad Redzuan bin Mohd. Hanapiah, Pengajar di Woksyop Elektronik.

Setinggi-tinggi tahniah diucapkan kepada Saudara Chua. Kejayaan ini membuktikan bahawa graduan UTM adalah antara yang terbaik yang diperlukan oleh majikan dan industri.

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Heads up for undergrads at Career Carnival 2008


Skudai, 11th March: This year’s Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Career Carnival saw 60 companies taking part, with hundreds of students and visitors checking out the services offered. The carnival was organized by UTM’s Career and Counseling Centre (PKK) in collaboration with the Counseling and Career Club, Student Affairs and Alumni Office and the office of Academics and Internationalization.

The Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic & International), Prof. Ir. Dr. Siti Hamisah Tapsir officiated the carnival which was held at the Sultan Iskandar Hall, UTM Skudai. The fair started on the 10th to 13th of March 2008.

With this year’s carnival theme ‘Challenge Yourself for an Optimum Future’, it is meant to push, inspire and encourage the graduates to pursue their career beyond the technical boundary globally. The carnival allows UTM graduates have extra edge in securing technical related jobs.

Siti Hamisah in her officiating speech said that “Career carnivals such as this aims to provide platform for graduating student to explore and broaden their career and job possibilities with the participating companies involved”.

We have quite a big number of our graduates working with multinational companies and they are based in the US, Europe, China, Middle East and Singapore” She added.

Representatives of participating corporations held interviews for prospective employees. There are also career talks given by participating companies which had an amazing response from the students.

According to the Deputy Director of the program, Norazrina Mohd Salleh the response from the students was so unexpected during career talk sessions. ”The Students shown great interest in these talks, we had to add more seats for them. Even students who have graduated attended the carnival to seek a better job opportunity”, she said.

More than 10, 000 résumé’s were collected before the carnival to allow the companies to screen suitable candidates to be interviewed. The committee of the carnival took the initiative of collecting the resumes by conducting a road tour around faculties and by organizing activities to promote the carnival.

The Carnival aims to attract final year students and also students who will undergo their industrial training. By attending this carnival it is hoped that the students will be able to find their placing in the job market.

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LUNCHEON TALK : US - CHINA RELATIONS : IT

Mr. David Bruce Shear, Deputy Chief of Mission, United States Embassy, Kuala Lumpur

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) City Campus series of eminent persons Luncheon Talk was recently held on the March 13, 2006. The guest speaker was Mr. David Shear, the Deputy Chief of Mission from the United States Embassy, Kuala Lumpur.

Mr. Shear is considered as a Chinese affair expert since he has served extensively in the Far East region. He will be ending his tour of duty in Kuala lumpur soon and will continue handling the China affair at the U.S. State Department in Washington D.C. The talk is aptly titled, US-China Relations: Its Implication To Asean.

Mr. Shear who has served in Beijing, Tokyo and Sapporo touched in great length the rising power of China, India, Japan and United States in South East Asia region. There seem to be tug-of-war between US and China to stamp their influence in most of Asean nations.

Mr Shear did also touch on how critical is the peace and stability factor for any country to enjoy economic prosperity. He gave the example of Penang where multi national companies felt at ease setting up their business.

Gauging from the 60 plus audience and Mr Shear interaction during the dialog session, it can be said that the main objective of the talk to simulate intelectual discussion between the apeaker and the audience has been achieved.

The exchanged of ideas between UTM City Campus staff and Mr Shear becomes more significant since the Deputy Chief of Mission will be ending his stint in Kuala Lumpur for a new posting at the US State Department currently headed by State Secretary Condoleeza Rice.

The Luncheon Talk shows that even though majority of the UTM City Campus staff are from the engineering and technology background, they are not isolated from the everyday happenings of the world affairs, be it for the Palestinian issues or the Darfur conflict as the saying goes, good diplomacy is becoming more dependent on good science and technology.

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Gerak Usahawan 2008: An Initiative to Promote Entrepreneurship

Skudai, 1st March 2008: Traditionally, entrepreneurship refers to a solely self-funded business, but in today’s environment with all the financial aid and facilities offered by the government, entrepreneurship has expand into very diverse areas of society. The role of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial culture in economic and social development has always been vital important to the state and national economies.

In an effort to reach out and heighten awareness of the significant role of entrepreneurship in, the Ministry of Entrepreneur and Co-operative Development in collaboration with UTM organized ‘Minggu Gerak Siswa’ from 29th February to 2nd March 2008 at Dataran Ko-kurikulum, UTM Skudai.

The 3-day programme was graciously officiated by Yang Berhormat Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled bin Nordin, Minister of Entrepreneur and Co-operative Development on Saturday, 1st March 2008, in presence of Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Musa bin Hassan, the ministry’s Secretary General, Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Prof. Ir. Dr. Alias bin Mohd Noor, UTM Vice-Chancellor (Students Affairs and Alumni), Encik Mohd Khairi bin Malik, Chairman of MPUB Johor Bahru Barat, Yang Berhormat Dato’ Aziz bin Sapian, Nusajaya, Johor parliamentary seat candidate and other distinguished guests.

Addressing its primary objective to stimulate on-going interest among the public, as well as to create a platform for students and young people to embark on entrepreneurship, Yang Berhormat Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled at the opening ceremony said that there are many opportunities available in the form of grants, assistance and loans offered by the ministry and its agencies, for various kinds of businesses. In this regard, he said “a total of RM1.8 has been spent by the government for the past four years to help promote business opportunities and increase business among bumiputra entrepreneurs.

Considering entrepreneurship a career path, Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Prof. Ir. Dr. Alias bin Mohd Noor, in his speech urged students explore all the opportunities and get involve in business, in preparation for life after graduation.

A user-friendly manual - Skim Pembiayaan dan Geran untuk Usahawan was launched in conjunction with the ceremony, followd by presentation of mock cheques by Yang Berhormat Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled to all companies that has successfully obtain MeCD financial aid.

The programme has received overwhelming response from the public and campusians since the very first day. Approximately 66 entrepreneurs took part in the programme to market various products, amongst others include foods, healthcare products, batik materials, vehicle spare parts and beauty products.

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Public Lecture: Lightning the Misunderstood Natural Phenomenon


By Prof. Dr. Hussein Ahmad (High Voltage and High Current Institute, Faculty of Electrical Engineering)

Skudai, 27th February: The misconceptions and misunderstanding about lightning are not limited to the general populace but also affecting the professional and semi professionals. These may be due to limited relevant publications and discussion as well as forum on the subject of lightning.

In order to create awareness among the society, a Public Lecture was held at the Sultan Iskandar Hall, UTM entitled ‘Lighting the Misunderstood natural Phenomenon’. The lecture was delivered on the 27th of February by Prof. Dr. Hussein Ahmad, the Director of High Voltage and High Current Institute (IVAT). He is a well known figure in the study of electricity currents and has developed several award winning research products locally and internationally.

This lecture is to address and iron out the misunderstanding about lightning and aligning the public towards correct understanding of lightning natural characteristics rather than just hearsay or suspicion.

The aspects discussed are the frequency of lightning strike of structures on the ground, the hazards of lightning strikes to human being, public properties as well as the animals roaming the earth. It also touches on the basic requirement of lightning protection for building structures, electrical and electronic equipment coupled with installation of lightning discharge detection system.

It was found that most of what IVAT have invented or developed not limited to removing the misconceptions and misunderstanding, can also be sources of alleviating the problems related to lightning.

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