Officiating Speech By Minister Of Higher Education in conjunction with MoHE And Intel Elite Internship Program Launching Ceremony

OFFICIATING SPEECH BY

YB DATUK SERI DR. NORAINI AHMAD
MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION

MoHE AND INTEL ELITE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM LAUNCHING CEREMONY

26 JULY 2021 | MONDAY | 11.00 A.M.

(https://www.facebook.com/MOHEOfficial)

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Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

[SALUTATIONS]

• Yang Berhormat Dato' Mansor bin Haji Othman
  Deputy Minister of Higher Education
• Yang Berbahagia Datuk Seri Dr. Mazlan bin Yusoff
  Secretary General of the Ministry of Higher Education
• Yang Berbahagia Profesor Dato' Dr. Husaini bin Omar
  Director General of Higher Education
  Department of Higher Education
• The Honorable Mr. Suresh Kumar
  Vice President of Chipset Silicon Group and General Manager of Malaysia Design Center, Intel Corporation
• Yang Berbahagia Prof. Ir. Ts. Dr. Mohd Rizal Arshad
  Acting Vice Chancellor of UniMAP and Programme Coordinator for this event
• University representatives, lecturers, members of the media
• Interns of the MoHE and Intel Elite Internship program
• Ladies and gentlemen

Assalamualaikum wbt and warm greetings.

[INTRODUCTION]

1. I am grateful that we are able to attend the MoHE and Intel Elite Internship Program Launching Ceremony.

2. I have been informed that the past 2 editions of this program have received very good response. Therefore, I would like to thank and congratulate Intel for their efforts in collaborating with MoHE for the past 3 years.

[MoHE AND INTEL ELITE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM]

3. On behalf of MoHE, I would like to congratulate the 120 students who have been successfully selected to participate in the 2021 MOHE and Intel Elite Internship program.

4. They are currently pursuing their studies in Electronic and Microelectronic Engineering at 12 of Malaysia’s public universities namely;

   5. Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP);
   6. Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM);
   7. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM);
   8. Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM);
   9. Universiti Malaya (UM);
   10. Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM);
   11. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM);
   12. Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM);
   13. Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP);
   14. Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTEM);
   15. Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM); and
   16. Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS).

5. The 10 week internship program is specifically tailored to equip undergraduate students with the knowledge of industry-standard electronic-design-automation (EDA) software of synopsis.

6. Students will also have the chance to learn about integrated circuit (IC) design flow.

7. I hope that you will fully utilize your time in this internship and learn from the microelectronic-related industries.

8. I would also like to congratulate the 22 visiting lecturers who have been selected to join the Train-the-Trainer program.

9. I would like to express my apreciation to UniMAP for being the facilitator of this program. It is hoped that the sharing of knowledge, ideas and expertise will benefit both students and lecturers.

Ladies and gentlemen,

10. Programs such as this, meet the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) where we see a need for knowledgable and well trained electronic engineers particularly in electronic automation.

11. A report by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) in 2020 stated that Malaysia’s Electrical & Electronic (E&E) industry is the nation’s largest export earner. Last year, the country exported products worth more than RM386 billion, or 39.4 percent of all manufactured goods.

12. There are currently approximately 148 E&E companies in Malaysia where about 50 percent of them are involved in semiconductors.

13. In 2020, there were close to 2,300 vacancies in the semiconductor sub-sector which is related to IC design engineering. The extensive use of electronic gadgets has caused high demand of IC design engineers in the industry.

14. With programs such as the MOHE and Intel Elite Internship, graduates from the electronic and microelectronic field can be directly absorbed into the industries without the need for additional training. This will simultneously increase the percentage of Graduate Employability (GE) among students in this field.

Ladies and gentlemen,

[COLLABORATIONS TO BOOST GRADUATE EMPLOYABILITY]

15. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of challenges to all sectors around the world and the higher education sector is not an exception. MoHE has invested in several efforts to minimize the impact of the pandemic towards graduate employability. This includes;

    1. Career improvement programs such as PENJANA KPT-CAP which offers reskilling and upskilling as well as entrepreneurship development programs;
    2. MoHE has also established collaborations with the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC) for the "University to Community" Program;
    3. Aside from that, job matching programs such as those implemented in collaboration with SOCSO; and
    4. Programs in partnership with the Ministry's strategic partners such as the collaboration with Intel today.

16. MOHE has actively worked together with Intel in various programs, and I am pleased to acknowledge Intel’s active role in coming up with various technology adoption programs that are in-line with the focus of the government.

17. I would like to express my gratitude to Intel for functioning as catalysts of new curriculum revolution in universities in the areas of E&E as well as Computer Science.

18. It is also important to acknowledge that Intel Malaysia has accepted more than 2,300 students as Interns and graduate trainees.

19. Intel’s operations in Malaysia is their largest offshore location which provides a strong base for career options among our graduates.

Ladies and gentlemen,

[CLOSING]

20. I believe this program will bring beneficial outcomes to the participants towards strengthening the collaboration between university, industry, and community.

21. MoHE will always welcome any form of collaborations from industries that aid the development of our nation’s human capital.

22. On that note, I hereby launch the MoHE and Intel Elite Internship Program.

Thank you very much.

Muat Turun

pdf Teks Ucapan YBM - MoHE and Intel Elite Internship Program (243 KB)