KUCHING – Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus marked its biggest graduation ceremony yet with the conferment of degrees to 722 of its graduates at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching on 9 October, 2012.
The Vice-Chancellor of Swinburne, Professor Linda Kristjanson, presented scrolls to graduates who had successfully completed bachelor degrees in engineering, science, business, design and computing.
Presiding over the ceremony was Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr Haji Adenan bin Haji Satem, who is Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office and Minister of Special Functions.
Adenan is also Chair of the Swinburne Sarawak University Council.
“This is our biggest and most significant graduation ever. We are graduating more than 700 students, including our first batch of biotechnology and multimedia design graduates and two PhDs in engineering,” said Pro Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Swinburne Sarawak, Professor Ken Heskin.
“It reflects the belief that discerning students, and discerning parents, at undergraduate and postgraduate levels have had in the sheer educational and professional quality of what we offer to our students,” he said, adding that it is also a reflection of the university’s commitment to develop highly skilled manpower for Sarawak and Malaysia.
Swinburne Sarawak graduates, Heskin said, meet academic and professional standards in both Australia and Malaysia.
“Their English language proficiency, communication and intercultural skills must also meet the required standards of global employers in the 21st Century. Our graduates are therefore highly attractive to employers. Some have found work with the biggest names in industry such as Intel, Ernst and Young, and PricewaterhouseCoopers,” he added.
Of the current 4,000 students on campus, 20% are from across the globe, Heskin said, citing that this multicultural diversity serves as a distinct advantage to the students.
“Our students benefit from learning about the cultural perspectives of over 50 countries around the world. That is a priceless educational and vocational experience in the 21st Century.”
Heskin, who was the first Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor from 2000 to mid-2002, said that the university has grown tremendously over the last 12 years.
“Ten years ago, the campus was small but the student numbers were growing as we worked hard to establish ourselves as an Australian university campus in Malaysia. I would never have believed when I left then that I would return a decade later to find a vibrant, well-resourced and handsome international university campus with students from all over Malaysia and from every corner of the world,” said Heskin, who took up a senior university management position in New Zealand after his departure in mid-2002.
He returned to Kuching early this year to assume his current position as Pro Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive.
Also presented at the ceremony were corporate and industrial awards: Naim Holdings Berhad, PANSAR Group, X-Fab Silicon Foundries, KPMG International, Crowe Horwath, Sarawak Palm Oils Bhd, Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd, Sarawak Information Systems Sdn Bhd, Yayasan Sarawak, Ernst & Young, CPA Australia, Three Gorges Development Company (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Shin Yang Shipping Corporation Bhd and Sarawak Energy Bhd.
