UTP offers you the flexibility to get a Masters Degree without having to quit your job or put your career on hold

Do you want to obtain a postgraduate degree without having to put your career on hold? Are you in middle management and have set your sights on a promotion but lack the requisite postgraduate qualification? Are you a petroleum engineer in Sudan but would like to deepen your knowledge at a university overseas recognised by the oil and gas industry?

In any of these instances, open distance learning could just be the ticket to knowledge enhancement, career improvement and all-round personal accomplishment. Open distance learning or ODL, which combines aspects of open learning where the teaching and learning activities are enhanced beyond conventional classroom boundaries and distance learning, which refers to geographical distance between learners and teachers. It appeals to working professionals because this route takes them to a postgraduate qualification without having to quit their jobs.

UTP, which prides itself in its outcome-based education approach, has since May last year, begun offering postgraduate programmes via ODL mode - allowing students the flexibility to unlock knowledge from the comfort of their homes.

Selected Masters Programme by Coursework have now gone virtual, including MBA in Energy Management, MSc in Asset Management & Maintenance, MSc in Electronic System Engineering, MSc in Offshore Engineering, MSc in Petroleum Geoscience and MSc in Process Integration. Meanwhile, other courses or programmes to be offered via ODL such as MSc in Petroleum Engineering and MSc in Process Safety are currently awaiting approval from the Ministry of Higher Education.

Although the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has already pushed learning online, UTP Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic, Professor Ir Dr Hilmi Mukhtar, says ODL for postgraduate courses is the next step forward.

"With the ODL programme, students are not required to pursue their postgraduate studies on-campus. There is no face-to-face, in classroom learning. This means that students will not have to quit their jobs or sacrifice their chances at a promotion if they choose to further their studies. Learning can be done anytime, anywhere and on any device. The programme's reach is also expanded beyond borders because you don't need to be physically in Malaysia to take up the programme," he says.

The programmes offered via ODL are delivered via UTP's e-learning platform, ULearnX. ODL programmes are offered with the flexibility of classes on campus, online or a blend of both - the choice is in the hands of the student. Working professionals can opt for the best mode of learning to accommodate their busy schedules and demands of career and family. Students have a choice of completing their postgraduate degrees at their own pace - taking a year to three years.

International students also stand to benefit because they do not need to be based in Malaysia - a great advantage given how the pandemic has brought international travel to a standstill.

Besides the teaching material that is available on ULearnX, the learning platform also allows students to manage their course activity. Course lecturers can also track the students' progress and communicate with them regularly.

Through the ODL mode, special weekend classes can also be arranged to accommodate the student's busy schedule. Using an open-source application on the learning platform lecturers can engage and collaborate with students online through chat, audio and video - further enriching the teaching and learning experience.

These sessions are also recorded and uploaded onto the learning platform, and in that way students who are unable to attend are not left out. "Students can download the sessions, view them and then pose questions to the lecturers, so it's interactive," says Hilmi.

What's more, students can also stay in touch with UTP lecturers and industry experts via frequent meetings and consulting sessions at UTP's Centre for Advanced and Professional Education (CAPE) in KL as the UTP Regional Centre.

The postgraduate courses delivered via ODL mode also include industry-based projects and assignments.

"These projects can be used to solve real world problems. For example, if you are an engineer carrying out maintenance in an oil and gas company, you can use the findings from the project to enhance current processes. That way you don't just develop your own expertise, but it also benefits the organisation," says Hilmi.

The modular-based postgraduate programmes covering core and technical aspects targets a broad spectrum of the oil and gas, and energy sector - enhancing their skillsets so they can take up leadership within the industry.

Like all of UTP's academic programmes, the course content is industry driven. The curriculum for the various programmes is crafted following input from UTP's Industry Advisory Panel and subject matter experts from other institutions and professional bodies. International external examiners also ensure that UTP's academic programmes are benchmarked against global standards. These ensure that UTP's academic programmes are robust and relevant to industry needs and with the ODL mode, postgraduate student can access these world-class programmes without leaving their jobs or homes.

UTP postgraduate research programmes tackle future living issues from education, health and wellbeing to energy and mobility.

For most of human history, people around the world have lived in small communities, but today cities are growing at an unprecedented rate. Currently, more than half of the world's population live in urban areas, and this is expected to rise to 66% in 2050. At the same time, the increasing pace of digitalisation and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, Big Data and Data Analytics are also changing the way we live, work, travel and play.

Rapid urbanisation coupled with the disruptions brought on by technology has also led to the development of smart cities and smart communities, which leverage on automation, intelligent and connected devices and systems for a more sustainable future.

UTP is cognisant of the challenges resulting from urbanisation as well as the promise of emerging technologies in creating better, more inclusive futures. So, if you're keen on exploring solutions for smarter and sustainable communities then a postgraduate research programme at UTP is the obvious pathway.

The university's 22 postgraduate degree programmes are broadly categorised under two themes - energy sustainability, and smart communities. Under each of these themes there are multi-disciplinary research institutions supporting the various postgraduate research topics.

In the conventional approach of pursuing a postgraduate degree, the student undertakes research at a specific department or faculty. UTP's approach, however, is more unique.

Here, postgraduate students pursue their research at respective research institutes, comprising academic staff from various departments and faculties. There are instances, depending on the research topic, where a postgraduate researcher may have one main supervisor and several co-supervisors - thus enjoying a more stimulating and collaborative research environment.

The research institutes under the smart communities theme include the Institute of Health and Analytics (IHA) for Personalised Care, the Institute of Self-Sustainable Building (ISB) for Smart Living, and the Institute of Transport Infrastructure (ITI) for Smart Mobility. Each of the respective research institutes also host individual research centres.

So how can these research institutes partner with the postgraduate students in their quests to design and create solutions for future living? Associate Professor Dr Tang Tong Boon says these research institutes provide a rich ecosystem for research into issues relating to renewable energy to power buildings and communities, green transportation solutions, smarter homes for the young and elderly, among others.

Tang who heads the IHA says one of its priorities is to explore pioneering advanced technologies and data analytics for health and quality education.

Within the IHA is the Centre for Intelligent Signal and Imaging Research or CISIR. It is a national centre of excellence, conferred by the Ministry of Higher Education in 2014. It is one of the 20 national centres of excellence in Malaysia.

CISIR is dedicated to undertaking translational research in the areas of brain pathways and mental states. The Centre provides a platform to study brain-related issues and associated problems from the medical professional and societal perspectives.

Its research staff develop advanced signal processing techniques and utilise various neuroimaging modalities to investigate the characteristics and functions of the brain and/or the diagnosis of different neuropsychiatric disorders. Committed to conducting research, disseminating findings, promoting and enhancing R&D cultures through collaborative research with local and overseas research institutions, hospitals and industry, a postgraduate researcher attached to CISIR can be assured of a fulfilling and intellectually engaging research environment.

"If you're someone who is interested in being part of an exciting team to challenge how you can innovate and contribute to future living, then a postgraduate research at UTP is appealing," says Tang. Researchers also have the opportunity to work with UTP partners such as hospitals and schools - collaborating with neurosurgeons, conducting clinical trials.

The IHA is well-equipped with state-of-the-art facilities including exoskeleton apparatus (armeo spring) to study arm and hand rehabilitation, a green room studio for augmental reality recordings, MRI-compatible electroencephalography (EEG) headset with 128-channel amplifier, as well as portable EEG devices. It also has two Hitachi OT-R40 functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) systems which have the highest grade (number of measuring channels) in Malaysia.

The institute also collaborates with reputable institutions around the world including National University of Singapore, National Tsing Hua University (Taiwan), National Taiwan Normal University, Technische Universitat Dresden (Germany), Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Arts et Metiers (France), Monash University (Australia), Murdoch University (Australia), University of Melbourne (Australia), University of Glasgow (UK), University of Leeds (UK), and Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia) to name a few.

These partnerships and linkages offer students a richly rewarding learning experience. In the case of Aishah Ismail, who was awarded the Merdeka Grant Award, she was able to kick off her research at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The PhD in Applied Science postgraduate student who has since returned from her stint at MIT is now putting to use her experiences at the Ivy League institution in her daily research routine at UTP.

Another key advantage of undertaking a postgraduate research at UTP is the fact that nearly all of the university's 300-strong academic staff comprises principal investigators with projects that are largely industry-funded. These funds, ranging from a few hundred thousand to a few million ringgit, allow postgraduate students to secure sponsorships to undertake research contributing to the various projects. UTP also has a high ratio of international community amongst the staff and students, which provide for a unique global intellectual and cultural experience for postgraduate students.

For more information on UTP's postgraduate programmes, visit www.utp.edu.my