| Wani Roslan |
IT WAS a day to remember for 1,477 graduates of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) who were filled with joy and excitement as they received their certificates from His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam and Chancellor of UBD, at the 28th UBD Convocation yesterday.
Accompanying His Majesty was His Royal Highness Prince (Dr) Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Pro-Chancellor of UBD.
This year saw the fourth batch of UBD’s distinctive GenNEXT programme, with 28 PhD graduates, surpassing last year’s record of 20 graduates. Of the total, 481 graduates were Master holders, 893 graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree, 62 received their Diplomas, and 13 were Advanced/Graduate Diploma recipients.
Also seen during the convocation was the graduation of 109 international students in UBD.
The highly anticipated event began with the recitation of verses from the Al-Quran and continued with a welcoming remark delivered by the Vice-Chancellor of UBD, Datin Dr Hajah Anita Binurul Zahrina binti Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Wijaya Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Abdul Aziz.
In her speech, she highlighted that the graduation also saw 13 of the first cohort of the Bachelor of Engineering programme in the field of Chemical and Process Engineering, receive their certificates. The programme is a collaboration between UBD and Zhejiang University, one of the well-known universities in the Republic of China and Hengyi Industries.
His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, Chancellor of UBD and His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, The Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, Pro-Chancellor of UBD during the UBD 28th Convocation Ceremony
Photos above and below shows among the graduates of UBD with their certificates. – PHOTOS: AZROL AZMI
“These students continued their studies and took industrial placements for 18 months in the Republic of China, and Alhamdulillah, all of the graduates have been employed at the Hengyi Industries and Insya Allah, this will be an example of tripartite collaboration among the academia, industry and government agencies that will be developed further in the future,” she said.
The vice-chancellor also added that UBD has developed lifelong learning and the main characteristic for the initiative is through flexible learning in terms of three perspectives namely learning by collecting credit to acquire the level of qualification depending on credits obtained, appropriate duration of study and a place of learning whereby online components will be introduced under this initiative and UBD will offer a Bachelor of Science programme in the field of Digital Business in January 2017.
She then underlined that UBD has undergone research projects in various fields or multidisciplinary studies which include biological research, phytochemical and medical herbs and flora in Brunei Darussalam.
“These research projects are documenting the use of herbs where researchers will collect, preserve and disseminate the herbaceous plants at the UBD conservation centre and it also allows the researchers to know the biological activity of herbal plants and evaluate its benefits,” she said.
“It is hoped that these research projects will be able to identify herbal products that can be marketed in-and-outside the country. Alhamdulillah, this research project has produced a number of publications and also included in training for capacity building,” she added.
By focusing on the future, UBD has entered the first year of UBD’s new Strategic Plan 2016-2020, with the aim to bring UBD to be ranked as an innovative and entrepreneurial international university, and to achieve its objective; UBD has adopted Deliverology Approach and Lean Management.
Following the vice-chancellor’s welcoming speech, His Majesty consented to deliver a titah followed by the presentation of certificates to graduates, who all beamed with pride as they received their hard-earned qualifications from their beloved Chancellor.
His Majesty then consented to tour the convocation exhibition, featuring its strategic goals and plans for the next four years to empower future leaders through innovative education and enterprising research.
Using augmented reality technology, the exhibition showcases ongoing research projects that embrace UBD’s new innovative and progressive directions to meet the needs and demands of the local and global population.
UBD was ranked the top university in Asia for student mobility in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) University Ranking for two consecutive years.
UBD was also positioned first in outbound students and third in inbound students. Overall, UBD was ranked 123rd top universities in Asia and the university is positioned at 11th for international faculty, 13th for faculty student ratio and 17th for international students – making it in the top 20s in Asia in five categories.
The convocation also saw the graduates taking the opportunity to personally thank His Majesty and take photos with the benevolent ruler.
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