by Yeoh Li Cheng
BATU PAHAT – Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) continues to strengthen its strategic partnership with Korea University of Technology and Education (KOREATECH), South Korea, through reciprocal student mobility programme that promote academic excellence, research collaboration, and cultural exchange.
Building on UTHM’s previous outbound success, KOREATECH has sent its students for the first inbound internship mobility programme to UTHM from 20 July to 16 August 2025 in return. The students, Choi Yonghyeon, Kim Youngjin, and Yoon Jaehyun completed a four-week programme that combined academic exposure, research training, and cultural immersion.
During the programme, the students were attached to Centres of Excellence (CoE), Institute for Integrated Engineering (I²E), gaining hands-on experience in advanced laboratories. They were also exploring several research centres including the Research Centre for Applied Electromagnetics (EMCenter), where they explored antenna design and impedance matching, the Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Center (AMMC) where they were introduced to 3D printing and materials testing, and at the Research Center for Soft Soil (RECESS) they were familiarised with applications in infrastructure. Meanwhile, at the Microelectronics and Nanotechnology-Shamsuddin Research Centre (MiNT-SRC), they worked on Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC), combining natural and synthetic compounds for performance evaluation. Their programme concluded with a visit to the Industry Centre of Excellence for Railway (iCOE REL).
Beyond academics, the students joined cultural and environmental activities, including a biodiversity survey at Ayer Hitam Utara Forest, hiking at Hutan Lipur Soga Perdana, cultural visits to Sawah Sungai Balang and weekend excursions to Singapore, Melaka, and Tioman Island, where they experienced Malaysian culture and cuisine.
The Korean students expressed that the programme arranged for them has given meaningful insights into advanced research, develop their academic and practical skills as well as personal growth that is valuable for their future career.
To further strengthen the UTHM–KOREATECH Collaboration and following the success of two previous outbound batches, UTHM currently announces its third badge of student exchange to KOREATECH, taking place from 27 August to 22 December 2025. Representing UTHM are Mohamad Zulhilme bin Mohd Suhaimi (Faculty of Technical and Vocational Education), Eugene Chew Zhe Yu (Faculty of Engineering Technology), and Nur Faqihah Binti Mahidin (Faculty of Engineering Technology). This milestone also marks the continuation of a growing partnership that has evolved into a two-way exchange.
It is more meaningful that all these students have been awarded the prestigious Global Korea Scholarship (GKS), making this achievement even more significant.
To mark the start of their journey in Korea, they were celebrated in a welcome gathering where they meet their new friends and enjoy the beginning of this international experience. Reflecting on the experience, one of the students said that he enjoys the orientation session and excited to pursue the rest of the journey.
The seamless continuation from UTHM sending students abroad, to KOREATECH sending interns to Malaysia, and now UTHM dispatching its third batch of GKS has underscores the depth of collaboration between the two institutions.
Through these reciprocal mobility programmes, UTHM and KOREATECH continue to advance academic and research excellence while fostering cross-cultural understanding and global student networks. UTHM stays committed to positioning itself as a hub for international academic mobility and collaborative engineering and technology education.
