Grooming Talents for Global Electrical and Electronics Industries

According to the report published by the Japanese brokerage firm, Nomura Research in mid-2019, Malaysia emerged as the fourth biggest beneficiary after Vietnam, Taiwan, and Chile as a consequence of the U.S.-China trade war and the country’s E&E sector was amongst those which gained the most from this trade diversion. Today, the E&E sector in Malaysia is producing 13% of the world’s back-end semiconductor and 7% of the world’s semiconductor trade passes through the country. Indeed, the E&E sector accounts for 38.2% of Malaysia’s exports and the country’s total trade in E&E products in 2022 was approximately RM 593 billion. The E&E sector is, unarguably, the indispensable locomotive of the nation’s economy, with many lucrative investment and employment opportunities attracting capital, both locally and globally. 

Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) through its Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology (FEGT) is offering the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Electronic Engineering and the Bachelor of Technology (Honours) in Electronic Systems, undergraduate programmes which encourage the intellectual and personal development of students, as well as respond to professional and community needs.  Both these programmes specialize on the development of craftsmanship in the E&E sector. The key objective of the programmes is to produce technologists and engineers with the knowledge and expertise of electronic technology to fulfill the manpower needs of the E&E industries. The programmes are designed to gear the students towards the fourth industrial revolution (IR4.0) with the knowledge in smart manufacturing, internet of things (IoTs), robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), 5G technology, and, most importantly, semiconductor chip design and fabrication.

Designing and fabricating a semiconductor chip is laborious and they involve engineers that possess exoteric skills and knowledge. In UTAR, FEGT is working closely with some major semiconductor chip players in the development of its curriculum for its Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Electronic Engineering. By receiving constant feedback and guidance from local and international semiconductor companies, such as Intel StarFive Technology and Oppstar Technology, the course syllabi and contents stay consistently vibrant and coherent with the bleeding edge of semiconductor chip technology. The academic staff in-charge of the semiconductor chip related courses are aficionados who have had years of teaching and research experience in the relevant field. 

Additionally, the E&E industry also needs skilled technologists with knowledge in electronics and job-related experience. The emphasis of the Bachelor of Technology (Honours) in Electronic Systems is to address this need by having a shorter programme duration of 3 years with one year of industry experience through its combination of work-based learning (WBL) modules and industrial training. Currently, there are three companies involved as WBL industry partners, ViTrox, Infineon Technologies and Huawei Technologies. The industry coaches and UTAR lecturers work hand in hand to ensure that the students undergoing WBL receive the best training possible in the E&E industry and also exposure to the latest tools and technology. Graduates who perform well are almost guaranteed of employment (need to meet the specified requirements) into the WBL partner companies with improved remuneration packages compared to offers for graduates from conventional 4-years programmes. Lastly, scholarships or interest free loans by some of the WBL industry partners are also available to students who sign up for the programme. This shows the commitment and belief by the industry towards the UTAR programme.

“The employability statistics have shown that 99% of the graduates who complete the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Electronic Engineering and Bachelor of Technology (Honours) in Electronic Systems are able to secure a job within 6 months of their graduation. The industry has also feedback that UTAR graduates from these programmes perform extremely well in their work and are highly valued. This is convincing evidence which suggests that our curriculum is kept well abreast with the needs of the industries,” said FEGT Dean, Professor Ir. Dr. Ng Choon Aun.