UM and SEGi offer shorter route to engineering graduate studies

SEGi Group of Colleges (SGC) and the nation’s top university, Universiti Malaya (UM) entered into a course and research collaboration for their engineering programmes.

The tie-up offers an articulation pathway for SEGi-Sunderland Engineering undergraduates to obtain a UK-degree from the University of Sunderland (UoS), and complete their Master’s programme at UM, all within 4 years of study.

The country’s oldest and highest-ranked university holds the 59^th spot in the QS World University Rankings 2020 whereas its Engineering and Technology programmes are ranked 55^th in the world (QS World University Rankings 2020 by Subject). On the other end, UoS Engineering programmes are ranked among the top 20 in the UK.

With this public-private partnership, SGC and UM can now share resources and engage in staff and students exchange to help students and academic staff gain a more comprehensive exposure. They can also share publications, reports, academic materials and information resources while leveraging on their professional networks to widen employment reach and opportunities for their engineering graduates.

“We hope to see both institutions conducting and engaging in joint research activities that are focused on Industry 4.0 to contribute to the engineering sector. Academic partnerships are highly effective when both parties have unique offerings to complement each other. SGC’s Engineering programme awarded by UoS is in a class of its own in terms of ranking and research assessments whereas Universiti Malaya is home to the country’s top-ranking Engineering and Technology programmes,” said Dr. Lisa Tan, Executive Director, SEGi Education Group.

“We want to increase students’ exposure, competencies and expertise by enabling access to high-quality curricula, research and innovative teaching and learning practices because this will help us groom the next generation workforce to be agile, innovative and competitive,” said Dr. Tan after exchanging a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) document with UM at the local university today.

Explaining further, SEGi College Subang Jaya’s Faculty of Engineering and IT Head, Dr. Tiu Zian Cheak said under this agreement, SEGi-Sunderland’s Mechanical Engineering and Electrical & Electronic Engineering students can articulate into UM’s Master of Mechanical Engineering and Master of Industrial Electronics and Control Engineering, respectively.

“SEGi students will benefit tremendously as they will have the opportunity to attend lectures conducted by UM’s academic staff and have their final year projects be co-supervised by SGC and UM lecturers. They also gain access to academic materials and information from UM. This will not only promote an enriching learning experience but also open them up to world-class research and innovation activities,” said Dr. Tiu.

As a research university, UM’s rich R&D experience can supplement SEGi’s R&D efforts particularly in the field of Engineering and Information Technology. As an institution that is geared up Towards IR4.0, SEGi has been actively promoting Industry 4.0 elements in its engineering, IT and business programmes to groom a future-ready workforce particularly in these fields.

Research is a key activity within the faculty and we encourage large-scale studies and a flexible approach to interdisciplinary collaborations with other academic institutions and members of the industry to tackle the wider range of issues facing our society and the natural world.

“Faculty of Engineering at Universiti Malaya has invested heavily in the student experience and places research-led teaching at the core of our programme. We endeavour to fully support our students and researchers in their research activities and encourage them to accomplish their aims – regardless of whether their studies focus on a single academic field or address wider challenges that are shaped by the emerging needs of industry and society. In many areas, our students are leading the world with their discoveries and developments and we hope this goes well with students in SGC,” said Professor Dr. Saad Mekhilef, Dean of Faculty of Engineering, UM during the MoU Exchange Ceremony.

“Our Bachelor’s Degree Programme involves finding innovative solutions using a mixture of creativity, application of knowledge for the planning, design and execution of infrastructure works to enhance the quality of life and working together with people from all walks of life. The programme is designed with several elective courses that allow students to specialise in areas of interest,” added Professor Saad.

The exchange of MoU which took place in Universiti Malaya earlier today was headed by Dr. Lisa Tan on behalf of SEGi and Professor Dr. Saad Mekhilef on behalf of UM. The ceremony was witnessed by Deputy Principal of SEGi College Subang Jaya, Mr. Calvin Chan and UM Deputy Dean Postgraduate Studies, Associate Professor Dr. Farazila Yusof .

(from left, seated) Associate Professor Dr Farazila Yusof, Professor Dr. Saad Mekhilef , Dr. Lisa Tan and Calvin Chan at the MoU Exchange between SEGi and UM’s Faculty of Engineering. With them are SEGi Group of Colleges management and UM’s Faculty of Engineering staff.

UM Faculty of Engineering Dean Professor Dr. Saad Mekhilef (left) and SEGi Education Group Executive Director Dr. Lisa Tan exchanging MoUs that provides an articulation pathway for SEGi-Sunderland Engineering undergraduates to obtain a UK-degree from the University of Sunderland (UoS), and complete their Master’s programme at UM within 4 years of study.