PEKAN: Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), which marked its 21st anniversary in February this year, is now known as Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA).
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah consented to the use of UMPSA's logo and name according to the Federal Government gazette which came into force on April 14, 2023.
UMPSA was established as Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan dan Teknologi Malaysia (KUKTEM) on Feb 16, 2002 as the 16th higher learning institution in the country before being upgraded to a full-fledged university, known as UMP on Feb 1, 2007.
UMPSA vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Yuserrie Zainuddin said the name change of the campus to UMPSA when it was at the peak of success coincides with the university's vision towards a leading technological university.
"Despite the change of name, the university's main focus areas, programmes and enrollment remains unchanged and is in accordance with the goals of its initial establishment. This branding exercise will continue to realise the aspirations of excellence achieved through academic empowerment, internationalisation and impactful research.
"UMPSA's achievements have helped the university produce excellent graduates to become quality human capital in driving the nation's development. UMPSA has achieved 98.67 percent in graduate employability which is among the highest in the country," he said in a statement.
Yuserrie said the branding move is poised to build the vision, reputation and capabilities of the university in line with the development and achievements of other world-recognised universities.
"UMPSA offers a variety of technical programmes based on engineering and technology which are capable of enriching the high-level Technical Education and Vocational Training (TVET) ecosystem in the country.
"As a member of Malaysian Technical Universities Network (MTUN), UMPSA is committed to create innovation and uniqueness in academic programmes through strategic collaborations at the international level. Engineering programmes using world-class models such as the partnership with Germany's Karlsruhe University of Applied Science (HKA) is seen as the best benchmark for universities in Malaysia.
"In the field of research, the university focuses on applied research and industrial projects with local industries to enrich teaching and learning. UMPSA also promotes research products commercialisation activities for the benefit of the society in line with the tagline "Technology for Society," he said.
Yuserrie said the branding will continue to steer the university towards glory by emerging as the best technological university on the global stage.
"The commitment displayed by UMPSA staff saw the campus recently ranked among some of the world's best universities when it was listed in the 201-250 position in the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2023 (THE Young) which lists the world's best universities that are 50 years or less," he said.
UMPSA has two campuses in Pahang namely in Gambang, Kuantan and Kuala Pahang, Pekan.