Associate Professor Dr Do Van Dung
President

University of Technical Education Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Distinguished participants, Ladies and gentlemen,

On behalf of the Presidential Board of University of Technical Education Ho Chi Minh City, I am very pleased to welcome you all here, the distinguished guests, outstanding researchers, representatives of press and media, to join in the International Engineering and Technology Education Conference, (IETEC'13) with the theme: Enhancing Global Engineering and Technology Education: Meeting the future.

It is been well known that economy of Vietnam developed rapidly in the past decades with a large amount of foreign direct investment (FDI). Many new industrial zones have been founded and the need of qualified engineers is increasing significantly day by day. Besides, Vietnam has been joining in many international societies to internationalize the national economy and reinforce a knowledge based economy. This requires new generations of engineers who are well-prepared with international knowledge and working skills. Accordingly, in order to meet these demands, globally updated methodology and philosophy of education are required and should be applied. Mobile learning, online learning, etc are examples of such changes. The Vietnam government has also shown more and more concerns about this issue, especially for the higher education level. Many academic programs between Vietnam and other countries for equipping academic faculty with modern skills to adapt to the global integration have been carried out. An example is the Higher Education of Engineering Alliance Program (HEEAP) with the United States in which faculty members from 5 top technology universities of Vietnam are trained with how to compose and vary curricula, teaching and studying methods and English skills amelioration. These actions are to equip students with flexible ability to match with the demands of international enterprises in the economical globalization process.

The need of global integration is also well recognized and emphasized by the President in UTE in such a way that it is the main target of the 2013 - 2018 tenure. In general, the adaptation trends to develop technology education include amelioration of competencies and skills for students, improvement of relevant teaching methods and facilities, emphasis of applications of studying knowledge, quality assurance and accreditation of teaching programs, etc. University of Technical Education (UTE) has employed a lot of energy and effort to develop our scientific research abilities and teaching methods especially in engineering and technology fields with many excellent results. However, to shorten the time of reaching to the newest global achievements in engineering and technology education, there is no better way than exchanging knowledge and experiences with outstanding experts from all over the world. Therefore, University of Technical Education Vietnam together with Central Queensland University, Australia (CQU), University of Technology, Malaysia (UTM), Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russia and Deakin University Australia organize IETEC'13 this time.

It is believed that the conference will be a good opportunity for participants from many countries, such as Australia, Russia, United States, the UK, Romania, Malaysia, India, China, Philippines and Vietnam, to meet and exchange their respective researches in engineering and technology education through professional discussion.

We would like to thank all participants for their contributions to the Conference program and proceedings. Many thanks also go to the organizing committee for their devoted assistance in the overall organization of the Conference.

Thank you and wish you a good time in Vietnam.