Y. B.  DATO’ SERI MOHAMED KHALED BIN NORDIN
MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION MALAYSIA

“Selamat Datang” and welcome to the first International Engineering & Technology Education Conference (IETEC ’11).

First of all, congratulations to the organising committee – Taylor’s University, CQUniversity, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia – for initiating this unique platform to address the wider issues concerning education in engineering and technology.

As its theme suggests, IETEC ’11 focuses on equipping educators with knowledge, skills and tools to produce engineers and technologists of the 21st century. As one of the core builders of a nation’s development, engineers must be able to think and operate in a sustainable manner, while upholding the core values of their profession. I believe that IETEC ’11 will be able to positively influence the direction of the global education landscape in engineering and technology.

This conference also witnesses the first collaboration of its kind between leading private and public universities in Malaysia, in line with our vision at the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia. I look forward to seeing more such collaboration taking place in the near future, in the interest of reshaping the local higher education landscape and contributing towards Malaysia’s overall economic development.

With that, I wish all participants an enlightening and productive conference.

Thank you