On October 31, Florida International University (FIU) President Mark B. Rosenberg and Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) Vice Chancellor Datuk Abdul Rahim Hashim signed an Exchange and Cooperation Agreement that promises to open doors to student and faculty exchange, collaboration and joint research.

The signing ceremony, hosted by President Rosenberg at the Ronald Reagan House on the Modesto A. Maidique campus, was witnessed by FIU officials: Provost Kenneth G. Furton, Vice President for Research Andres Gil, Dean of the College of Engineering and Computing Amir Mirmiran, FIU Foundation CEO and Senior Vice President of University Advancement Howard Lipman, Vice Provost for Faculty Meredith Newman, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Michael Heithaus, Chair of Department of Earth and Environment William Anderson, Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and Computing Giri Narasimhan, and Kalai Mathee, director of the Global Health Consortium at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.

DSC_3615-webAccompanying the vice chancellor from UTP were Deputy Vice Chancellor Abdul Rashid Abdul Aziz, Director of the Centre of Innovative Nanostructures and Nanodevices Norani Muti bt Mohamed, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Faiz Ahmad, and Associate Professor of Fundamental and Applied Science Ibrahima Faye.

The visit included tours of the College of Engineering and Computing’s Wall of Wind and AMERI Nanofabrication lab as well as the Modesto A. Maidique Campus and Stocker AstroScience Center.

The Vice Chancellor and the Deputy Vice Chancellor also met with the FIU International working group that included the Vice President for Research Andres Gil, Associate Vice President for Research Luis Salas, Vice Provost for Faculty Meredith Newman, School of International and Public Affairs Director John Stack, Associate Dean of Research Engagement Michael Maunder, Latin American and Caribbean Center Director Frank Mora, Southeast Environmental Research Center Director Todd Crowl, Office of Global Learning Initiatives Director Hilary Landorf, Office of Study Abroad Director Laura Boudon, Office of International Student and Scholar Services Director Ana Sippin, the Global Energy Security Forum co-Director Ed Glab and the Director of Assessment Mercedes Ponce.

DSC_3522-webThe visit and signing follow a visit to UTP in June 2014 by a FIU delegation that included professors Kalai Mathee, Giri Narasimhan and William Anderson.

“The success of this visit is borne by numerous individuals who worked behind the scene. It is really a dream come true to initiate this collaboration with a renowned Malaysian University,” said Mathee, a native of Malaysia who served as the major liaison between FIU and UTP.

About FIU
Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, hospitality and management, journalism, business, law, public health, nursing and medicine. As one of South Florida’s anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU ranked 4th largest public university campuses by enrollment during the 2013–14 academic year. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://fiu.edu/.

About Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
UniversitiTeknologi PETRONAS (UTP) that was established in 1997, is owned and managed by Institute of Technology PETRONAS Sdn. Bhd., a company duly incorporated in Malaysia,. UTP has grown to be one of the most prominent private universities in Malaysia. Offering a wide range of industry-relevant engineering and technology programs at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, UTP has produced more than 9500 graduates and currently has an enrolment of 5,700 undergraduates and 1,250 postgraduates from over 55 countries around the world. UTP complements its engineering and technology programs with quality education in the areas of management and the humanities, with the aim of producing well-rounded graduates exhibiting excellent leadership qualities and communication abilities.

Rated as Tier 5 (Excellent) University for the year 2011 rating system for the Malaysian higher education institutions (SETARA ’11) and achieved the Tier 5 for D-SETARA in engineering, UTP continues to provide distinctive educational opportunities to its students.

UTP also places strong emphasis on research and development as it strives to achieve the status of an internationally renowned research university.   The university conducts extensive research activities in collaboration with PETRONAS and other institutions and industries locally and abroad focusing on enhanced oil recovery, carbon dioxide management, deep water technology, nanotechnology, green technology, biomedical technology, hybrid energy systems, intelligent city and sustainable resources. This is evident when UTP was awarded a 5-star rating by Malaysian Research Assessment Instrument (MyRA) for its research, development and commercialization efforts recently.

For more information visit:  www.utp.edu.my