| James Kon |
SETTING yet another historic milestone, Institut Teknologi Brunei (ITB) has been renamed as Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB).
The name-launching ceremony was officiated by the Minister of Education, Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman.
Associate Professor Dr Hajah Zohrah binti Haji Sulaiman, Vice-Chancellor of UTB, in her opening remarks at the event highlighted that the change of name is yet another significant landmark for the higher education institution as it celebrates the 30th anniversary of its establishment.
“As a young university, the change in name is expected to open up bigger development opportunities for the university. With the new name, the university has placed high hopes to compete in the higher education arena regionally and internationally.”
The new name will end the confusion as another higher education institution also has the same acronym, and in terms of marketing, there is no need to further explain that it is a university,” the Vice-Chancellor added.
Minister of Education, Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman and Associate Professor Dr Hajah Zohrah binti Haji Sulaiman, the Vice-Chancellor of UTB at the ceremony
Associate Professor Dr Hajah Zohrah binti Haji Sulaiman, the Vice-Chancellor of UTB delivering her opening remarks
Universiti Teknologi Brunei campus with its new name in front of the building. – PHOTOS: JAMES KON
“We are aware that ITB was upgraded to a university eight years ago and the new name UTB comes as a recognition of the maturity and capability of the institution.
This (maintaining the standard and confidence) is a responsibility that must be shared by all at UTB with the highest level of commitment,” she said.
Meanwhile, Haji Ady Syarmin bin Haji Md Taib, Director of International and Public Relation Office, said, “Last year, we did a survey on renaming ITB and majority wanted the new name as Universiti Teknologi Brunei. The new name was presented to the Council of Universities and was given the consent of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam. We have already started using UTB from March 1 this year onwards.”
Currently, UTB offers 20 undergraduate degree courses, five master programmes as well as Master by research and PhD programmes.
When asked about new programmes being planned by UTB, he said, “We will need to conduct discussions with the relevant stakeholders to understand if there is need to introduce new programmes.”
As it marks the 30th year of its establishment, the university continues its mission to provide experiential learning, enhance research, foster partnerships and prepare the graduates to meet the demands of a competitive job market as well as to realise the Vision 2035.
UTB was established in 1986 with its first intake of 57 students. To date, the national engineering and technology university has produced 5,006 graduates.
Today, UTB is home to 2,169 students and 145 faculty members.
On October 18, 2008, UTB was officially upgraded to a university by His Majesty.
Since then, UTB’s developments include the expansion of its academic programme portfolio, establishment of partnerships with industries and universities, programme accreditation by professional bodies and intensification of research activities.
UTB has also made significant progress in research. Its research efforts are focused on three research areas: oil and gas, green technology and water.
The UTB Centre for Transport Research (CfTR) was established to carry out research activities that include policy studies, transport modelling and intelligent transport system and focus on the areas of Transport Safety, Highways and Geotechnics, and Traffic.
The newly-established Centre for Innovative Engineering aims to become a centre for multi-disciplinary and innovative translational research.
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