Chemical Engineering lies at the core of today’s most pressing global challenges. In an era shaped by rapid technological advancement, environmental urgency, and the demand for cleaner, safer, and more resilient industries, chemical engineers play a pivotal role—driving the energy transition, strengthening process safety, enabling sustainable manufacturing, advancing digital innovation, and supporting circular economy solutions.
From the 2026 academic session onwards, the Department of Chemical Engineering enters a renewed phase of academic excellence and strategic growth. This transformation is marked by deeper industry integration, internationally benchmarked professional certifications, expanded global engagement, and the introduction of forward-looking courses aligned with national priorities and global sustainability goals. Together, these initiatives reaffirm our commitment to producing graduates who are future-ready, industry-relevant, and globally competitive.
With this purpose and ambition, I warmly welcome you to one of Malaysia’s most dynamic and forward-looking Chemical Engineering departments—where strong fundamentals meet real-world relevance and global opportunity.
Recognised by Industry, Respected Globally
Our commitment to quality and graduate outcomes is reflected in both employer confidence and international recognition. In 2025, our programme was recognised as an Employer’s Top Choice in Chemical Engineering by TalentBank. In the same year, our Chemical Engineering program was ranked among the Top 150 globally (out of more than 3,000 related programmes), underscoring the strength of our academic and research ecosystem.
A Distinctive 2026 Curriculum: Fundamentals, AI, and Decarbonization
Our 2026 curriculum balances strong foundations with future-oriented relevance. Students begin with carefully designed fundamental laboratory sessions that build intuition and engineering thinking through simple, hands-on experiments, prior to the exposure of the key core courses in Chemical Engineering. This foundation is then strengthened through advanced process simulation, integrated design experiences, and digital fluency in process data analytics, artificial intelligence for process industries, and intelligent systems.
Another hallmark of the programme is its strong and explicit emphasis on decarbonization and carbon management. Through courses such as Carbon Management and the specialised pathway in Chemical Engineering for Energy Transformation, students gain structured exposure to CCUS, hydrogen systems, circular economy solutions, and low-carbon energy technologies. The depth and early integration of this focus position our programme as one of the most comprehensive of its kind in Southeast Asia, aligned with UTP’s Grand Challenges, Malaysia’s Net-Zero Carbon Emissions Target by 2050, and global sustainability commitments. Complementing this, the course Chemical Engineers in Strategic Industries broadens awareness of the critical roles chemical engineers play across sectors such as semiconductors, upstream oil and gas, biotechnology, advanced polymers, and specialty manufacturing—strengthening systems thinking and strategic workforce readiness.
Global Exposure, Work-Ready Graduates
A hallmark of our undergraduate programme is the 7-month industrial internship, designed to produce graduates who are work-ready from day one. Students undertake internships both locally and internationally, with placements across the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Austria, Japan, Mozambique, and Indonesia, while the department also hosts inbound internship students from partner institutions abroad, including Europe and Asia. This two-way international mobility develops professional maturity, adaptability, and cross-cultural competence—qualities highly valued by employers operating in global and multidisciplinary engineering environments.
In parallel, we place strong emphasis on global academic and professional readiness through structured international exposure. Students may participate in one-semester exchange programmes with a wide network of leading global partners, including West Virginia University, IMT Mines Albi, American University of Ras Al Khaimah, Khalifa University, Nazarbayev University, Kazakh-British Technical University, National Taipei University of Technology, and University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, among others, alongside dual-degree programmes with Universitas Pertamina and Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember. Together, these pathways cultivate internationally aware, professionally confident graduates who are globally mobile and immediately effective in high-impact engineering roles.
Industry-Driven, Globally Benchmarked Education
At the heart of our academic vision is a deliberate alignment with industry relevance and professional practice, grounded in rigorous mastery of chemical engineering fundamentals. A defining strength of the department is our deep engagement with industry, supported by internationally benchmarked certifications either embedded directly into the curriculum or separate trainings in collaboration with global organisations such as Gexcon, SLB, and AspenTech.
We are particularly proud of our partnership with Gexcon, which includes the fully sponsored annual Gexcon Award for the best undergraduate project, encouraging students to deliver high-impact, process-safety-driven engineering solutions.
Through close collaboration with PETRONAS Strategic Knowledge Groups (SKG18 and SKG16), students are exposed to industry-benchmarked practices that are transferable across sectors. Initiatives such as the HSE Open Day, featuring physical HIRARC evaluations, and industry-informed Final Year Plant Design Projects ensure graduates are trained to navigate real operational, safety, sustainability, and economic considerations—preparing them for a wide range of engineering environments beyond the energy sector.
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Through sustained industry partnerships, internationally recognised certifications, strong fundamentals, AI-enabled learning, decarbonization leadership, and global collaboration, our department continues to stand at the forefront of chemical engineering education in the region.
Thank you for visiting our department. We invite you to join us as we shape the next generation of chemical engineers—ready to lead, innovate, and make a meaningful impact in a sustainable future.
