A group of delegates from the Irish Higher Education sector and Education in Ireland (Asia) visited Sungai Long Campus on 6 January 2020. The delegates were comprised of Regional Manager of Education in Ireland Elizabeth Mchenry, Senior Education Consultant (ASEAN) of Education in Ireland Cormac Kavanagh, China & Southeast Asia Liaison Officer of Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) Karen McAvinue, Business Relationship Manager of Dublin Business School (DBS) Zaiti Waddell, International Education Manager of University of Limerick (UL) Liam Ryan, International Marketing and Recruitment Assistant of UL Celine Wong, Graduate International Marketing and Recruitment Assistant of Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) Kean Yeap Yong, Senior International Officer of Dublin City University (DCU) Colum Cronin, Assistant Lecturer-cum-Researcher of Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) School of Science and Computing Graece Tan.

On hand to welcome them were UTAR Vice President for Internationalisation and Academic Development Ir Prof Dr Yow Ho Kwang, Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science (LKC FES) Academic Development and Undergraduate Programmes Deputy Dean Assoc Prof  Ir Dr Gobi Vetharatnam, Division of Community and International Networking (DCinterNet) Director Assoc Prof Dr Lai Soon Onn, Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research Director Assoc Prof Dr Yong Thian Khok, Division of Programme Promotion Director Lee Choy Fong, Division of Admissions and Credit Evaluation Director Tan Kee Chuan and DCinterNet staff Liu Dan.

The meeting commenced with the presentation of UTAR corporate video to enhance the delegates’ understanding of the overall development of the University. Delivering his remarks, Prof Yow first welcomed all the delegates to UTAR. He then gave a brief introduction about the University and expressed his hope to create a strong bond with the Irish universities for future expansion of collaboration. On the other hand, each representative from the Irish universities, namely LIT, DBS, UL, AIT, CIT, DCU and WIT took turns to introduce their respective university and its developments. They expressed their willingness to create a stronger link with UTAR and hoped to explore more areas of collaboration and achieve mutual benefits.

An in-depth discussion was carried out between all the parties, which promoted the exchange of information. Among the possible areas of collaboration discussed were student exchanges, study tour, internship, PhD study and research collaboration. 

The meeting then ended with a souvenir exchange, followed by a group photo session.