Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) Electrical and Electronics Engineering Chair, Associate Professor Dr Mohamad Naufal Mohamad Saad has been honoured with the Knight in the Order of Academic Palms (Chevalier de l’Odre des Palmes Académiques) by the French Minister of National Education, Youth and Sports.
Dr Naufal received the award from The Ambassador of France to Malaysia, His Excellency Roland Galharague at a special presentation ceremony at UTP recently.
Also present at the event were UTP Vice Chancellor, Professor Ts. Dr Mohamed Ibrahim Abdul Mutalib, delegates from the Embassy of France in Malaysia and Malaysia-France University Centre (MFUC).
This honorific distinction was awarded to Dr Naufal for recognising his extensive efforts and tribute to his dedication for the development of cooperation between the French and Malaysian universities. His in-depth knowledge of the French and Malaysian higher education and research systems have enabled him to develop intensive and effective collaboration between the two countries. For 15 years, he has been responsible for numerous bilateral projects associating UTP with more than 20 French institutions, which involve around one hundred French and Malaysian students and experts each year.
“I am extremely honoured and privileged to be the recipient of this award. I am earnestly grateful for the recognition I have received for my work. Winning this award would not have been possible without the inspiration and support that I have received from different people from different background, for whom I have the deepest respect, and from whom I have derived the strength to challenge myself and perform better at each stage,” Dr Naufal said.
“I am thankful to UTP Management, the Embassy of France in Malaysia, MFUC and all my colleagues at UTP as well as those who are based in France for their endless support. A special thanks to UTP Centre for Student Development for their tireless effort in ensuring that the students experience an enriching campus environment with diverse cultural exposure while undergoing their mobility programmes,” he added.
“UTP and France have a long-standing relationship whereby we have had numerous collaborations in the areas of academic, research and students’ mobility for the past 15 years,” Professor Mohamed Ibrahim said.
“Our first student mobility between UTP and France was in 2007 under the internship programme in University of Burgundy. To date, we have more than 200 students per year involved in this mobility programme either from UTP to France or the French students coming to UTP campus,” he added.
In January 2022, 18 UTP students will be undergoing the student mobility programme in seven different institutions in France for about seven months. 16 of them are funded by the European Union in collaboration with the French National Agency and institutions, and two are partially funded by Yayasan UTP (UTP Foundation).
As for research, UTP is actively involved in the PhD double degree joint supervision programme with four French institutions namely Arts et Métiers,University of Burgundy, IMT Mines Atlantique and Insa De Rouen.
Meanwhile, in his speech, His Excellency Roland Galharague said, “We are delighted that UTP is a key component of the Malaysian French cooperation in higher education and research. This bilateral relationship, which was launched more than 15 years ago, is as vibrant as ever.
“Let’s hope this visit will contribute towards reinforcing mutual collaboration and understanding between France and Malaysia – please be ensured that the Embassy of France is very willing to support the initiatives launched by UTP towards further developing academic exchanges with partners in France,” he added.
