UPM And Kyutech Plan Twinning Programme Next Year

From Zainal Abdul Jalil KITAKYUSHU (Fukuoka), Japan Dec 22 (Bernama) -- Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Kyutech Institute of Technology (Kyutech), here, plan to introduce a twinning and double-degree programme next year. UPM vice-chancellor, Dr Mohd Fauzi Ramlan said both universities had agreed on principle to implement the programme. However, he said, UPM would have to get the approval of the university's Senate before introducing the programme. Mohd Fauzi was speaking to reporters after a dialogue session with Kyutech president Morio Matsunaga and senior officials, here, Sunday. He is with 110 UPM staff attending the Engineering and Applied Science Symposium 2014 at Kyutech. The two-day symposium, part of the Sakura Science Plan (SSP) sponsored by the Japanese government, ends Sunday. Mohd Fauzi said Kyutech as a leading university in Japan, which had conducted much research in technology, could assist UPM develop its programmes, especially in the agriculture sector in Malaysia. "Kyutech has built a satellite and its relations with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States will give UPM the edge in sharing Kyutech's expertise in developing the agriculture engineering sector," he said. He said the duration of studies for the double-degree programme would be longer than the twinning programme. Meanwhile, Matsunaga said Kyutech had obtained approval from the Japanese Education Ministry to conduct the twinning and double-degree programmes with UPM. "We had opened a satellite campus at UPM in Serdang (Selangor) last year and plan to send 100 students each year to take the short course. "We hope the twinning and double-degree programmes will foster closer cooperation between Kyutech and UPM in various areas," Matsunaga said. -- BERNAMA