Top 6 student experiences for engineering students at Curtin Malaysia

Going off to university is a crucial time in any individual’s life. It is when students are able to discover more about themselves and are given valuable opportunities to grow. The experiences you go through during your studies have a huge influence over what you move on to afterwards, which is why it’s important to look for a university that can suit your needs.

For those who are interested in engineering, the Faculty of Engineering and Science at Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) is a regional leader in engineering education, research and collaboration, as it offers a variety of specialisations, industry work experience, high-tech learning spaces, a vibrant campus life, and opportunities to work in a challenging, research-intensive environment.

At Curtin Malaysia, Curtin University’s largest international campus, you can be confident in building a bright future in engineering as the Faculty of Engineering and Science is committed to providing a global engineering experience. Its wide range of courses are identical to those at Curtin’s main campus in Perth and other Curtin global campuses in Singapore, Dubai and Mauritius. They are also accredited by Engineers Australia and the Board of Engineers of Malaysia, as well as widely accepted across the world under the Washington Accord, the international accreditation agreement for professional engineering academic degrees.

In addition, you will get the chance to collaborate and contribute to projects involving students, researchers and experts in other countries, as well as attend academic conferences and go on overseas field trips. Besides that, you will have the opportunity to undergo internships at globally-recognised companies.

Beyond preparing students for their future careers, Curtin Malaysia also places an emphasis on making the world a better place, a vital life lesson that its students have taken to heart.

Here are some of the benefits engineering students can expect while studying at Curtin Malaysia:

1. Pursuing your interests at a top university

Curtin holds the distinction of being ranked in the top one per cent of universities worldwide in the highly regarded Academic Ranking of World Universities 2020 and has climbed to 217th position in the world in the QS World University Rankings 2021.

Curtin is ranked #2 in the world for Mineral and Mining Engineering in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2021. The rankings also ranked Curtin as a top 50 university in Geology, Petroleum Engineering and Earth and Marine Sciences and a top 100 university in three other engineering-related subjects: Architecture / Built Environment,  Civil and Structural Engineering, and Geophysics.

That reputation extends to all its international campuses including Curtin Malaysia, where the wide and varied range of courses combine theory with practical study, and students will have access to state-of-the-art facilities and innovative teaching methods to prepare them for their future careers.

For students who wish to study engineering, the Faculty of Engineering and Science at Curtin Malaysia offers a comprehensive range of Curtin courses that can suit the needs and interests of students at various stages in their education, and are tailored to equip graduates with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed, such as the Engineering Foundation Year, and on to undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in more than 10 specialisations.

They include Chemical Engineering, Civil and Construction Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, as well as niche areas like Environmental Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Cyber Security and Software Engineering at undergraduate level; and Public Health and Sustainable Aquaculture coursework specialisations at postgraduate level in addition to a number of research degrees.

Besides its diverse offering of taught courses, Curtin is also known as an innovator in research – in the Australian government’s latest Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) survey, the university was acknowledged for its national and international reputation for research excellence. In total, 95 per cent of the research fields assessed at Curtin were rated at or above the world standard.

Curtin was awarded the highest rating of five (well above world standard) in the fields of astronomy and space sciences, numerical and computational mathematics, geology and geochemistry as well as chemical sciences.

Thanks to the university’s focus on ground-breaking research in order to help solve real-world problems, Curtin has achieved an international academic ranking of 321 among the world’s top academic institutions in the highly competitive 2019 Nature Index, placing the university in Australia’s top eight universities. The 2019 Nature Index measures the number of scientific papers published in 82 leading journals across the research areas of life science, physical sciences, earth and environmental sciences, and chemistry.

In a global review of young institutions under 50 years, Curtin was placed 17th globally in the QSWUR: Top 50 Under 50 2021. The university is also placed 34th in the world in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THEWUR) Young University Rankings 2020.

In Malaysia, Curtin has continually achieved Tier 5: Excellent status in the Malaysian SETARA rating system as well as in the discipline-based D-SETARA ratings for its engineering programmes. It was one of the earliest universities to be granted self-accreditation status by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency in 2010 and is now among 19 self-accrediting universities in the country.

Students around the world are aware of Curtin’s sterling reputation as one of the best education providers, and many have even cited it as one of the main reasons why they decided to join the university, whether at its main campus in Perth or its international campuses in Malaysia, Dubai, Singapore or Mauritius.

2. Making full use of unique opportunities and modern facilities

Students under the Faculty of Engineering and Science will gain the advantage of national and global industry partnerships and opportunities while learning in a professional and interactive environment.

Classes are held in modern buildings in the Skylark Precinct, comprised of the impressive 4-storey Faculty of Engineering and Science complex and two other buildings housing laboratories and workshops, and the new purpose-built Engineering Research Laboratory.

The Engineering Research Laboratory acts as a hands-on learning tool for Curtin Malaysia’s engineering students, creating a sophisticated, stimulating and immersive learning environment that provides problem-based learning, group collaboration, and the opportunity to share ideas with industry players.

The Faculty works closely with a wide variety of industry players in Malaysia and internationally. These companies often provide scholarships, research grants, teaching support, software and hardware donations.

The Faculty also has an Industry Advisory Committee (IAC) which meets to provide guidance and consult on what those in the industry would like to see provided in terms of general teaching, taught unit content, courses and research areas. The IAC is involved in assisting the planning and structure of departments within the Faculty, and is often instrumental in assisting students with industrial projects and occasional teaching support.

In addition, students will have the opportunity to take part in internship or student exchange programmes during their studies, allowing them to build their industry contacts, widen their network, and gain both industrial and cultural exposure.

3. Broadening your horizons

With over 4,000 students from over 50 nations, Curtin Malaysia’s multicultural student population provides students with the chance to mix and form friendships with those from different backgrounds and perspectives, helping them to develop a well-rounded worldview.

Teaching staff recruited internationally from over 15 different countries further strengthen its international focus and experience.

4. Exploring the region

Besides learning about the world through others, students are also encouraged to blaze their own trail and make the most of their time as a student.

There’s plenty to see and do in Miri and the rest of Sarawak, thanks to its perpetually lovely weather, but its location also makes it easy for students to travel around the country and even further afield to nearby countries such as Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam for leisure, field trips and student exchange.

5. Enjoying the full campus experience

The overriding objective of Curtin Malaysia is to establish a world-class campus with first-class teaching and enriching student experience. With a 1,200-acre campus located in Senadin, a suburb some 18 kilometres north-east of downtown Miri, it offers the best possible facilities and services one would expect from Curtin’s largest international campus.

They include a modern library and auditorium, state-of-the-art laboratories and computing facilities, food and retail outlets, health and counselling services, secure student housing, a large recreation and event centre and a range of sports facilities.

Curtin Malaysia continues to create new learning spaces aimed at increasing student engagement, fostering collaboration between staff and students, and providing flexible, technology-rich environments. Equipped with the latest technological advances in teaching and learning, including distributed learning technology, they greatly support active student learning at the campus.

6. An affordable education

Aside from the joys and benefits of living in Australia compared to the joys and benefits of living in Malaysia, the major difference between pursuing a Curtin degree in Perth and Miri is cost. The cost of completing a degree at Curtin Malaysia is roughly one third the cost of completing the same degree in Australia, with considerably lower living costs – an option that is not lost on hundreds of students joining Curtin Malaysia each year.

Curtin Malaysia’s Faculty of Engineering and Science an ideal choice for engineering students.