Engineering Education - What the future holds?

Dato' Seri Prof. Mashkuri YaacobVice ChancellorUniversiti Tenaga Nasional

Visions of the future…

Visions of the future

Artificial Food production

Sustainable future 3D Photocopy

Time travel

Environmental CO2

reduction

Reduction of food supply

Reduction in natural

resources

Artificial intelligent

Global warming

Social unrests

Financial crisis

Economic ScenariosOECD- Tertiary educated workforce (%)

Indo

nesia

Braz

il

Malay

sia

Philipine

s

Kore

a0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

OECD- Quality of basic education (PISA + avg. scores)

Indo

nesia

Brazil

M'si

a (a

ll)

Thai

land

M'si

a (u

rban

)

Turk

ey

OECD

Kore

a350

400

450

500

550 Math ScienceReading

Economic ScenariosMalaysian Average wage per sector in 2009 (RM’000)

Petro

chem

ical

Min

ing

Utiliti

es

Mfg

of t

rans

p eq

Mfg

of E

&E eq

Const

ruct

ion

Mfg

of F

&B

Agric,

fish

ing

etc.

0

1

2

3

4

5

Malaysian vision 2020

Expected average 2020

Futuristic

Complex and non-routine skills

Diverse skills

Higher wages

Better soft skills

Higher productivity

Knowledge worker

Attributes needed

-Peter Thiel, technology entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist, founder of PayPal

Changing of Role of UniversitiesTraditional Role

• Ivory Tower• Economic driven,

introspective• Paper certificates• Produce graduates

that do not match current labour market

• Graduates do not match future sectors

New Role

• An active role in economy and society

• Quality education • Meaningful research

for societal well-being

• R&D that can be translated to wealth

• Bridging knowledge and technology in society

No university can achieve this alone. It will have to be planed for with collaboration with other institutions of higher learning, industry, government and NGOs.

New Role

Government & NGOs

Other Universities

Communities

Industries

Engaging the universities

Universities are now faced with national and global challenges.•K-Economy•To optimize their resources

To ensure economic, social

and environmental sustainability of nation and the

world

Play a vital role in extensive research and education, to promote, educate

and preserve mother nature for

a sustainable future

New role of Universities in the

K-Economy

Engaging the universities in K-Economy

Producing skills required by market

and to balance between current market and long

term requirement;

Source of R&D and commercialization

Ensure budget is commensurate with

high expected outcome

Raising income level for human capital by

ensuring that low income group has access to Higher

Education

Generating graduates that can

demand higher income

Stay relevant to the present and future

by being referred to and respected

The importance of Engineers and other Professionals

Provide infrastructure design

Ensure safe, reliable, non-destructive, environmentally

friendly, sustainable, maintainable

infrastructure built

Affordable for most people

Others will contribute according to their roles

Improve the quality of life

Engineering curricula Engineering technical knowledge Tailored for the development of required skills Using Problem Based Learning approach Not to be

Didactic, boring or Pedantic, follow rules/trivial matters May blocks creativity and innovation

To emphasise critical thinking over memory Emphasise non- routine skills Inculcate creativity Must be cascaded down to Primary and Secondary

levels so that they are prepared for tertiary education Providing or conveying engineering is to open up

and be creative

Engineering curricula in UNITEN

Outcome based

Education

Problem Based

Learning

Accredited by

International

Professional Bodies

Graduates are global

leaders and team players

Challenges for Engineering Education in Malaysia It is a challenge for

higher education to nurture these required skills

Create global leaders and team players of graduates in engineering programmes

May require an overhaul of the Malaysian education system towards greater autonomy accountability

Need whole set of people in HE management to understand, internalise and operationalise

Cascade up to politician, leaders of the country

Thank you

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.“ – Albert Einstein