KUCHING – Two special needs students are among more than 300 from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus who were awarded their scrolls at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching today.
The university’s graduation ceremony was preceded with the installation of the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari Bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg, as Pro Chancellor of the Australian branch campus university.
It was formalized with the gowning of the Pro Chancellor’s academic regalia on the Chief Minister by the Presiding Officer, Mr Andrew Dix.
Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari and Mr Dix also awarded parchments to about 344 business, computing, design, engineering, and biotechnology graduating students.
Among the graduands, two are visually challenged. Katherine Law, 22, born with congenital nystagmus, was conferred a business management degree. Katherine has poor vision and is unable to read for any length of time.
Pung Kay Suan, 27, who found out he has visual impairment at the age of 11, was awarded the Master of Business Administration degree.
Pung enrolled in Swinburne Sarawak’s foundation program in 2008 and went on to major in accounting and finance, graduating with a bachelor degree in 2013.
Apart from diplomas, bachelor and master degrees, also conferred was a doctor of philosophy degree. Swinburne Sarawak has continually produce PhDs since 2012 when two of its doctoral candidates first graduated.
This graduation saw Victor Bong Nee Shim being conferred the doctor of philosophy on his thesis which involves a fundamental study on phono and electron transport in semiconductor materials commonly used in electronic components.
Of the 344 graduating students, 288 are from Malaysia. The remainder are from a multitude of countries including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Sri Lanka, and the UAE. Since its inception in 2000, Swinburne Sarawak has hosted students from more than 60 countries. About 20 per cent of its current 4,000 students are international.
Fourteen students were presented industry awards after the ceremony. These were from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, CPA Australia, Crowe Horwarth Malaysia, Ernst & Young, KPMG Tax Services Sdn Bhd, Sarawak Energy Bhd, Sarawak Information Systems Sdn Bhd, and Yayasan Sarawak.
Swinburne Sarawak is the only campus of Swinburne University of Technology outside Australia and is ranked as the top international university in Borneo by London-based Times Higher Education (THE) in its inaugural Asia-Pacific University Ranking.
Offering identical programs as its home campus, Swinburne Sarawak has an outstanding graduate employability record. According to its last tracer study, graduates surveyed reported up to 100% employment six months after graduating for selected business and engineering courses, and an overall employment rate of 93%.