History
The university was formerly known as Institute of Technology PETRONAS (ITP) and was a wholly owned subsidiary of PETRONAS, the national oil company of Malaysia. It was registered with the Ministry of Higher Education on 26 April 1995 and obtained approval under the "Essential Higher Education Institute Regulation 1996". ITP began its operations at PERMATA, Bangi, Selangor on 3 July 1995. On 26 July 1995, ITP was registered as a private limited company and transferred its operations to Tronoh in the state of Perak, on 1 July 1996. Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) was established on 10 January 1997 when PETRONAS was invited by the Malaysian government to set up a university.
The campus is built on a 4 square kilometres (990 acres) site strategically located at Bandar Seri Iskandar, Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia. When UTP firstly moved to Tronoh, it took over the campus ofUniversiti Sains Malaysia (USM)'s engineering faculty, which has since moved to their new campus in Penang. In its initial years, lectures, lab sessions and tutorials were held in the old USM facilities, and UTP gradually shifted all operations to newer facilities once construction was completed.
[edit]Facilities
[edit]New academic complex
The new academic complex was designed by Foster and Partners, and the first-phase construction was completed in 2004. The design received an Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2007. The overall layout of the new academic complex is in the shape of a five-pointed star made up by five semicircles. The new academic complex was officially opened by the former chairman of Petronas and ITPSB Board, Y. Bhg. Tan Sri Azizan Zainul Abidin. Currently, almost all of the academic activities have been shifted to the new campus.
The front-most point of the star where the new academic complex is facing is the elliptical chancellor complex. The chancellor complex houses the chancellor hall, the information resource center, security department, finance department and some of the other important administrative department offices. It is affectionately dubbed the "glass" by the students due to its futuristic design.
Another two points of the new academic complex is where the buildings commonly known as Pocket C and Pocket D is situated.
Pocket C is an orange building with a slanting foyer look. Cafeteria, clinic, bookshop, prayer rooms and security office are located at the ground floor of the building. The first and second floor of the building consist of 2 computer-aided design theatres and 4 lecture theaters.
Pocket D is a blue building with the same architectural design as Pocket C. The ground floor of the building is where cafeteria, the UTP Gallery, and the Student Card Centre are located. The first floor and second floor are seated by 6 lecture theaters. The Student Support and Services Department (SSSD) and prayer rooms are located at the third floor of the building.
Pocket A and Pocket B are another two buildings at the points of the new academic complex. They are yet to be built. However, the reason still remains vague.
Along the perimeter of each semicircle, there are several buildings at the outer of the new academic complex. Each building is assigned to a programme. Some programmes has several buildings. The buildings are named with numbers. On the way from the chancellor complex to Pocket D, the buildings are Building 23, Building 22, Building 21 and Building 20. From Pocket D to Pocket C, the buildings are Building 19 up to Building 15. From Pocket C to Pocket B that is yet to be built, only Building 14 and Building 13 are available and are in use now. From the chancellor complex to the not-yet-built Pocket A, there are Building 1 up to Building 5.
The numbered buildings are generally similar in design. The ground, first and second floor of the buildings consists of laboratories and discussion rooms. The third floor of the buildings is always the lecturers' offices.
[edit]Sports complex
The university has a centralized sport facilities, commonly known as the sports complex. It is located near the main entrance gate. It consists of a swimming pool, several football fields, three futsal courts, three takraw courts, five basketball courts, five tennis courts, three volleyball courts, four squash courts, threebadminton courts, a jogging track and a netball court.
In general, students participate actively in sports, with the most popular sports being football and volleyball.
[edit]Computer, network and Internet access
All hostels in UTP are provided with network sockets with Local Area Network (LAN) and broadband Internet access through a central server maintained by the Information Technology and Media Services (ITMS) Department Nonetheless, there have been many complaints regarding the Internet access recently. It has been slow and unstable. In some cases, Internet access is lost completely.
Beginning 1 February 2007, wireless Internet access is provided to UTP students at most of the places inside the campus and residential complex. As of April 2009, the internet bandwidth has been upgraded to 155 Mbps. However, wireless Internet connections have recently been discontinued at hostels, students who need wireless connection often have to go to IRC, which is located in the chancellor complex, opposite chancellor hall.
Besides, the network and Internet are also accessible through the IT sections in the information resource center, and also computer labs in each academic building in the new academic complex.
[edit]Education
The foundation programmes are offered for students that enroll to UTP with SPM level or other equivalent levels to prepare them for degree programmes. Newly enrolled students with STPM level or other equivalent levels are exempted from the foundation programmes. Other newly enrolled diploma graduates are exempted from certain courses according to their academic performance and courses taken during their diploma programmes.
Currently, UTP offers two foundation programmes, five bachelor engineering degree programmes and three bachelor technology degree programmes.
[edit]Academic circulations
In UTP, there are two semesters a year. A semester starts in January or July, with 14 weeks of studies per semester, divided by a one-week mid-semester break and ends with 3 weeks of final examination. The end of the semester is followed by a 7-week semester break. A trimester system has been implemented in foundation programmes since 2009.
[edit]Foundation programmes
The foundation programmes offered in UTP are engineering foundation programme and technology foundation programme. As the names suggest, the engineering foundation programme prepares the students to continue with engineering degree programmes in UTP, whereas the technology foundation programme is a preparation programme for students to pursue their studies in technology degree programmes.
[edit]Undergraduate degree programmes
The engineering degree programmes take a total of four years to complete (including internship), while technology degree programmes take three and a half years. All engineering students are welcomed to enroll in Management minor starting academic year of 2009.
The seven degree programmes offered are:
- Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EE)
- Majors offered as of 2009:
- Instrumentation and Control
- Power Systems Engineering
- Embedded Systems
- Communication Systems
- Microelectronics
- Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Chemical Engineering (CHE)
- Majors offered as of 2009:
- Industrial Environmental Engineering
- Process Plant Engineering
- Gas and Petrochemical Engineering
- Petroleum Engineering
- Process Analysis and Control
- Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Civil Engineering (CVE)
- Majors offered as of 2009:
- Construction Technology
- Coastal and Offshore Engineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Advanced Geotechnical Engineering
- Petroleum Engineering
- Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering (ME)
- Majors offered as of 2009:
- Automotive
- Energy
- Manufacturing
- Materials
- Petroleum
- Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Petroleum Engineering (PE)
- Majors offered as of 2009:
- Reservoir Engineering
- Drilling and Production Operations
- Bachelor of Technology (Hons) in Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
- Majors offered as of 2009:
- Multimedia Technology
- Software Engineering
- Minors offered as of 2009:
- Financial Management
- Corporate Management
- Digital Electronics
- Bachelor of Technology (Hons) in Business Information Systems (BIS)
- Majors offered as of 2009:
- E-Business
- Knowledge Management
- Database Systems
- Minors offered as of 2009:
- Financial Management
- Corporate Management
- Digital Electronics
- Bachelor of Technology (Hons) in Petroleum Geoscience
- Majors offered as of 2009:
- Basin Reservoir Studies
- Exploration Geophysics
[edit]Postgraduate degree programmes
UTP also offers postgraduate degree programmes by research, and by coursework and dissertation.
The programmes offered by research are:
- MSc and PhD in Mechanical Engineering
- MSc and PhD in Civil Engineering
- MSc and PhD in Chemical Engineering
- MSc and PhD in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
- MSc and PhD in Petroleum Engineering
- MSc and PhD in Petroleum Geoscience
- MSc and PhD in Information Technology
The Master of Science programmes offered by coursework and dissertation are:
- MSc in Process Integration
- MSc in Petroleum Engineering
- MSc in Petroleum Geoscience
- MSc in Asset Management and Maintenance
- MSc in Advance Process Control
- MSc in Electronic System Engineering
[edit]Student industrial internship programme
UTP offers one of the longest industrial internship programmes in the country. The students are posted as interns for 32 weeks (approximately 8 months). The length of the internship duration allows students to engage in more significant work assignments and is widely thought as a major strength of the academic curriculum.
[edit]Community
A majority of the students are local, but there are significant numbers of foreign students studying in the university as well. The foreign students are from Cambodia, Chad, East Timor, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Libya, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Iraq and Yemen. large number of international students are from Pakistan & Sudan , local and international, study under convertible loans or scholarships from the Education Sponsorship Unit of Petronas itself.
Besides international students, there are also international lecturers and tutors in UTP. They are from Egypt, United States of America, Belgium, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ethiopia, Pakistan,Philippines, Sudan, Russia, Turkey and Turkmenistan.
[edit]Clubs and societies
There are several clubs and societies inside the campus. The main student organization of UTP would be the MPPUTP (Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar UTP) or SRCUTP (Student Representative Council of UTP). The main objective of the organization is to represent the students in all aspects related, and this includes academic and career, welfare, entrepreneurship, promotion and publication, sports and recreation, public relations and so on. There is also a few international based clubs and societies such as SIFE and AIESEC in UTP. These clubs ensure a diverse and an equal platform for students from all nationality to interact with equal involvement.
[edit]Events
Events are usually organised by clubs and societies, generally costing up to tens of thousands of ringgit.
[edit]Main events
- Techiez Dinner
- ConvoFair
- Engineering Design Exhibition (EDX)
- Technology, Education and Career (TEC)
- Media:IRC Carnival
[edit]Other events
- Beyond Horizon Motivational Outreach Camp(BHMOC)
- Students In Free Enterprise(SIFE) UTP
- Geograph-uiz Show
- Career Development Carnival (CDC)
- Euphonious (Battle of the Band)
- Talent Search (Singing Competition)
- Heart for Islam (H4I)
- Debat Alam Sekitar
- International Colourful Night (ICN)
- Intervillage Sports Tournament (IST)
- Kembara Sufi
- Event Management Seminar
- Multimedia Class
- Media Class
- ESQ UTP
- Digital Art Competition
- Malam Anugerah Kolej Kediaman (MAKK)
- Malam Inspirasi Seni
- Media Tour
- Debat Kemerdekaan
- Minggu Aluan Siswa (MAS)
- Ramadhan Discovery
- Mission Awareness Program (MAP)
- RECMO
- Titian Budi
- UTP Futsal League
- UTP Soccer League
- Wawasan Desa