University of Technology, Malaysia

From a technical school

The history of UTM began in 1904 when a technical school began operation on Weld Road (now Jalan Raja Chulan) to teach Technical Assistants for the Federated Malay States Departments of Railways, Survey and Public Works. The school was known as Treacher Technical School , named after Sir William Treacher, the Resident General. Students took classes on part-time basis; they worked and trained according to the technical needs of their employment.

In 1941 the Advisory Committee of Technical Schools recommended that the school be elevated to college status and proposed that a new technical college be constructed. The new college was to be built on a 47-acre piece of government land in Gurney Road (now Jalan Semarak), Kuala Lumpur. Plans for the construction of the college, however, were put on hold when World War II erupted in Peninsular Malaysia.

Then a technical college

In the early years, the technical college conducted engineering courses at diploma level in Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Radio Engineering, Land Surveying, Building Architecture and Quality Surveying, while a special in Automobile Engineering was offered for the transportation enforcement officers. The enrolment for the 1958/1959 academic session was 320 students.

In 1960 the college began a new era by upgrading its engineering courses to the degree level. Student following courses at the college sat for professional examinations conducted by the Institution of Civil Engineers and Institution of Mechanical Engineers, United Kingdom & the Royal Institute of British Architects, as well as the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. Students for the professional courses were drawn from government servants for the Federation of Malaya Singapore, Borneo and Brunei. Minimum entry requirements then were Grade I & II in the Cambridge School Certificate or the Malayan School Certificate with credits in English Language & Basic Mathematics. Priorities were given to those who obtained credits in Science subjects.

A technical institute

On March 14, 1972, Malaysia’s Ruler, DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Dipertuan Agong proclaimed the formation of Institut Teknologi Kebangsaan (ITK) under section 6(1) of the University & University College Act 1971. The institution inherited all the amenities and facilities of the former Technical College of Gurney Road. Mr. Ainuddin Abdul Wahid who was the principal of Technical College was made the first Rector of ITK. An interim Council consisting of nine members was tasked to devise the major policies to be implemented in the new establishment. Three administrative positions were also formalized: the Registrar, the Bursar and the Chief Librarian.

Finally a university

On 1 April 1975, the journey from school to university was completed when the institution became Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).

In 1976, the government approved the university constitution and the university Senate and Council were established.

As of the 1975/1976 academic year, the UTM Faculty of Engineering split into the faculties of Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Faculties. The three faculties together with the Faculty of Built Environment and Faculty of Surveying, plus the Centre for Science for Science Students and Centre for Humanities Students became the precursors of most academic programmes in UTM today. By 1976, the student population had reached 2,593 with 1,745 pursuing diploma level studies, 607 in the degree programmes, and 241 in the integrated programmes.

On December 3, 1977, UTM witnessed its first group of 65 graduates being conferred their degrees in the inaugural convocation ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, graced by the Royal Highness Almarhum Sultan Ismail Ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim, the first Chancellor of UTM.

Moving to Johor

The university moved to a new campus located on 2,400 acres of land in Skudai, Johor. Construction works had begun in 1978 and the campus opened on September 16, 1985 by His Majesty Sultan Iskandar Ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail, then the Yang di Pertuan Agong, in his capacity as his capacity as the second Chancellor of UTM.

UTM's has regional and international academic collaborations., including Intel, Altera, and Proton. UTM is one of the few public universities in Malaysia that has attained research university status, opening avenues for research and industrial collaboration through government research grants.

Full autonomy

On 8 January 2012, the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education declared UTM to be the first Malaysian university to attain full autonomy from the government. This allows the university to select the best of the regional students, as well as handle most of the management internally for a more efficient administration.

Campuses

UTM has two campuses - the main campus is in Skudai, and was the first university in the state of Johor. It has an area of 1148 hectares (campus map), and is the second largest public university after Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). It is about 20 km north of the state capital, Johor Bahru, and is close to the Sultan Ismail Airport, Senai.

The branch campus is situated in Jalan Semarak within Kuala Lumpur, with an area of 38 hectares. The branch campus accommodates diploma students, part-time students (also known as the SPACE program), undergraduate students (Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology) and foreign students taking business courses.

General

The university has a library (known as Perpustakaan Sultanah Zanariah) with online facilities. There are free bus services, as well as local and international restaurants on campus.

The Webometrics Ranking of World Universities places UTM in the fourth place in the South East Asia Region, and the top in Malaysia. In the QS University Rankings, it placed 100 in the "Engineering & Technology Universities" category among other world ranked universities in 2016 UTM aims to achieve the status of a global university and rank among 50 of the world's best universities by 2020.

Another initiative is the formation of the Iskandar Malaysia Academic Partnership (IMAP) resulting from the Inaugural UTM University Presidents Forum.

Official Song

UTM official song entitled 'Keunggulan Terbilang' (Distinct Eminence) was composed by Hamzah Ibrahim. The lyrics was written by Tamjis Kastiran.

Residential colleges (Skudai Campus)

UTM has on-campus hostel blocks that provide accommodation for students. The hostel blocks are grouped into units known as colleges, for simplifying administration. Each college has three or more hostel blocks under their administration. UTM has 13 colleges, which can accommodate 17,500 students. Among the facilities provided at each residential college are a cafeteria, a multipurpose hall, a Muslim prayer room, tennis courts, an internet and computer center, a convenience store and a common room.

UTM can provide accommodation for outsiders, i.e. parents or relatives, visiting friends etc., with Scholar's Inn @ UTM JB and Scholar's Inn @ UTM KL.

The Scholar’s Inn @ UTMKL is a city campus hotel at Jalan Semarak, in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Located within the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Kuala Lumpur campus and approximately 10 minutes’ drive from KLCC/ Petronas Twin Towers, the hotel is also within range of tourist spots such as the National Library, National Art Gallery, Istana Budaya and the Golden Triangle. Scholar’s Inn @ UTMKL comprises 56 rooms and studios, a meeting room, a business centre and the Scholar’s Deli.

Inner ring colleges

Outer ring colleges

Defunct college

Faculties and schools

Continuing Education

Joint programmes

Innovation Centre

Networking

These are organisations for joint projects, traineeships, study visits, international conferences, research projects, and funding.

Global outreach programme

UTM Global Outreach Programme is an international programme designed to develop UTM’s students to be global-ready graduates.

Research University

The Ministry of Education formed an ad hoc committee, comprising research from Malaysian universities, to formulate a concept paper on the establishment of research universities (RUs). The content of the paper deals with their vision, missions and goals, the criteria and standard for Rus, their governance, prevision of incentives, accreditation concerns, cost implications and an action plan.

Research Management Centre

Research Management Centre was established in 1982. Formerly known as ‘Research and Consultation Unit’ and as ‘Research & Development Unit’ and finally renamed as ‘Research Management Centre’, in 1997.

RMC manages research and development activities, intellectual property creation and management, technological development, promotion and exploitation of R&D findings through close collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation, Small and Medium Industry Development Corporation, industry, research institutes, other universities and international organisations.

RMC manages funds from research grant schemes available such as Science Fund, Techno Fund, Inno Fund, Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), Commercialization of R&D Fund (CRDF), Technology Acquisition Fund (TAF) and Multimedia Grant Scheme (MGS).

Research fundings