The Universities in Malaysia is facing serious challenges. Just like the issues of a country's economy, experts can never be able to agree on the causes, let alone the solution. Some may blame the government over the flip-flop policies.

Many still remember the millions or may be billions spent to implement smart school during Mahathirs era. The the change of focus away from agriculture let to the change of name of UPM. Recently the mess in the teaching of Science and Maths.

But some good news... as USM is recognized as the top 20..

Sunday April 10, 2011

USM is in the top 20

By RICHARD LIM
educate@thestar.com.my

UNIVERSITI Sains Malaysia (USM) is the 19th best varsity for Chemical Engineering in Asia, according to the inaugural QS World University Rankings for technical subjects.

Sandwiched between Tokyo Institute of Technology and University of Hong Kong in the Asian rankings, USM – the nation’s apex university – was also classified in the 51-100 bracket in the global rankings for the subject.

QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd, which conducts and compiles the annual World University Rankings, said in a statement that USM was the only local varsity in the top 100 in any of the five global rankings, which were divided according to subject.

A USM School of Chemical Engineering research officer showing a process based on membrane technology for palm oil mill effluent treatment at its campus in Nibong Tebal. – File photo.

Computer Science and Information Systems; Civil and Structural Engineering; Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering; and Electrical and Electronic Engineering are the other subjects in the rankings.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was top in each category, finishing above Stanford University, Cambridge University and Harvard University.

QS Intelligence Unit head Ben Sowter said the new QS World University Rankings by subject respond to a need for comparative data at a more granular level.

“In many countries, students are being charged more than ever before for their degrees, so addressing the potential career outcomes of one’s study choice is becoming increasingly important,” he said.

MIT recently agreed to establish the Malaysian Institute for Supply Chain Innovation (Misi) in partnership with the Higher Education Ministry and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).

MIT Centre for Transportation and Logistics director Yossi Sheffi said Misi would be dedicated to postgraduate supply chain education and research.

He added that Misi would serve as MIT’s Asian hub in the university’s international network of centres, which is known as the Global SCALE (Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence) Network.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Malaya (UM) were the other public universities in the Asian standings.

UTM placed 33rd in Chemical Engineering while UM was ranked 34th in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

The National University of Singapore was the best performing Asian university in the exercise, occupying the top 10 spots in the global rankings for each subject except Computer Science and Information Systems.

The QS World University Rankings by subject is based on employer reputation, academic reputation and research quality with a percentage breakdown of 40-30-30 respectively.