Engineering is a profession of using technical and scientific knowledge to design and implement machines, devices, systems and processes to meet specific safety criteria. Malaysian engineers play an important role in the development of industries and infrastructure in the nation. One of the most important characteristic the engineers need is interpersonal skills to deal with the public efficiently and to be technically skilled to meet the industry’s needs.
To prepare and train engineers to be leaders in the development of a nation, they have to endure diverse industrial skills such as ethnics and professionalism to face global scenarios and future trends. The engineering education model designed for Malaysians is expected to be as competent as others around the globe.
The first local university to offer engineering degree programmes was University Malaya. For STPM holders who enroll in engineering programmes, it takes up to three years to complete the course. University Teknologi Malaysia later introduced a five-year engineering programme for SPM holders. However, the duration of the programme was reduced from five-year to four years. The amendment was due to the shortage of manpower in the country.
The duration of programme in University Putra Malaysia was also shorten from a 4-year programme to 3 years to help solve the shortage of manpower. Due to the shorten duration, student’s performance has dropped drastically nationwide.
A report highlighted that Malaysian engineering students have a low percentage of climbing to the top management positions in public as well as private sectors. The Malaysian Council of Engineering Deans and the Institution of Engineers Malaysia was formed to assist in solving these issues besides providing the best solution through developing a model for engineering education. Engineering education in Malaysia has to ensure the universities can help the nation’s interest for the progress, expansion and sustainability of the nation.
Engineering graduates must demonstrate excellent scientific knowledge to cope with the rapidly expanding amount of latest knowledge in the world. They must be able to adapt with the changes due to globalization. To climb to the top management positions, engineers need to acquire leadership and management skills to perform well in this industry.
Malaysia engineering education was re-evaluated to produce more knowledgeable graduates to constitute to the job market. There are five important elements to be considered in the education model to cater Malaysia’s needs; scientific strength, professional competency, multi skilling, well respected and potential industry leadership skills, and moral and ethical soundness.
First and foremost, scientific strength produces innovative engineers who can work in research and development activities. More importantly, these engineers are capable in adapting to different fields of engineering. Professional competency trains the engineers who are able to identify and decipher engineering problems by applying techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools.
Multi skilling helps the engineers to work in different engineering fields and perform well in multidisciplinary work and teams. Well respected and potential industry leadership skills enable the engineers to understand consequences of engineering solutions as a whole in a global context. Besides, this skill also trains the engineers to communicate effectively with the community. Lastly, moral and ethical soundness refers to moral and ethical responsibilities for the engineers.
There are three main channels to enroll in engineering degree programmes in Malaysia that are, Matriculation, Diploma and STPM. Besides the local universities mentioned above, there are also other private institutions offering engineering degree programmes. Among it, Faculty of Engineering and Science under Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman offers Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Electronic and Communications Engineering and Quantity Surveying. These programmes take up to 4 years to complete it upon graduation.
Other renowned institutions offering engineering degree programmes are University Teknologi Petronas, KBU International College, Multimedia University, Universiti Tenaga Nasional and many more.