His Royal Highness Prince (Dr.) Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah ibni His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, Pro-Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB), graciously consented to officiate the First UTB Science, Technology and Engineering Connect (UTB-STE Connect) 2023. The event took place at the Main Conference Hall, International Convention Centre (ICC) in Berakas.
The arrival of His Royal Highness was greeted by the Minister of Education and Chair of UTB Council, Yang Berhormat Datin Seri Setia Dr. Hajah Romaizah binti Haji Md. Salleh and UTB Vice-Chancellor, Yang Mulia Datin Paduka Professor Dr. Dayang Hajah Zohrah binti Haji Sulaiman.
Also in attendance at the ceremony were members of the UTB Council, senior government officials, invited guests, staff and students of UTB.
The event commenced with the recitation of the Holy Quran, verse 57 to 58 of Surah Al-A’Raf by Yang Mulia Dr Siti Wardah binti Major (Rtd) Haji Abdul Rahman, Lecturer of UTB School of Business, First Runner up of the Final National Al-Quran Reading Competition for Adults, 1444H.
The Vice-Chancellor of UTB, Yang Mulia Datin Paduka Professor Dr Dayang Hajah Zohrah binti Haji Sulaiman, delivered her welcoming speech.
His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, then consented to deliver sabda and officially inaugurated UTB-STE Connect 2023, followed by a multimedia presentation.
The event proceeded with the plenary session by Yang Mulia Professor Datuk Ir. Ts. Dr. Ahmad Fauzi bin Ismail, the Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Malaysia entitled ‘Research and Innovation in Facing Emerging Global Challenges: The What and How?.’
Before leaving the ceremony, His Royal Highness consented to give token of appreciation to the Vice-Chancellor of UTM. His Royal Highness then consented to receive a Pesambah designed by Awang Aiman bin Roslan, a student from the School of Design and a photograph session afterwards.
UTB-STE Connect 2023 is co-organised with Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), and Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP). This biennial congress aspires to bring together luminaries from academia, science, research, engineering, industry, and stakeholders to discuss and exchange ideas to create a brighter future together in their respective fields.
With the theme, ‘Research and Application for a Better World', the congress features a diverse programme structured around five conferences and three special feature events, offering a broad spectrum of topics and discussions.
The five conferences included the 9th Brunei International Conference on Engineering and Technology (BICET 2023); 6th International Conference on Applied Computational Intelligence in Information Systems (ACIIS 2023); 2nd International Conference on Business, Management and Information Systems (ICBMIS 2023); 1st International Conference on Agrotechnology, Beverage, and Food (ICABF 2023); and ATU-Net 1st International Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Computing, Engineering, and Science Education (InvENT 2023).
Whereas the featuring events include the 11th Asia Technological University Network (ATU-Net) Board Meeting; 2nd UTB University Presidents’ Forum and UTB Women Leadership Forum.
Yesterday marked the beginning of the congress which includes the five conferences together with the UTB Women Leadership Forum 2023 and the 11th ATU-Net Board Meeting 2023.
The final day of the congress is scheduled tomorrow, 25 October 2023 featuring the Women Leadership Workshop alongside the concurrent five UTB-STE Connect 2023 conferences.
Sponsors of the UTB-STE Connect 2023 include Brunei Press Sendirian Berhad as the Platinum sponsors; Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) as the Gold sponsors, and Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sendirian Berhad (BSP), Brunei LNG Sendirian Berhad, and Authority for Info-Communications Technology Industry (AITI) of Brunei Darussalam as the Silver sponsors; Netcom Computer House Sendirian Berhad, Berakas Power Company Sendiriran Berhad (BPC), ITPSS Sendirian Berhad, Datastream Digital Sendirian Berhad (DST) are the Bronze sponsors; Other sponsors include Progresif Sendirian Berhad, Artesian Fresh Sendirian Berhad, Rustique by Absolute, Flower Journal, Auto Haus, Eight tea, Healthy Food BSB and Elpresso Coffee.
ACIIS 2023 Technically Co-Sponsored by IEEE Computational Intelligence Society, Malaysia Chapter and sponsored by the ASEAN University Network/ Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network (AUN/SEED-Net) – Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
UTB-STE Connect 2023 is a testament to UTB's commitment to fostering innovation, advancing knowledge dissemination, and promoting global collaboration. It provides an unparalleled opportunity for thought leaders and change-makers to come together and shape the future through the fields of Science, Technology, and Engineering.
