Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) was set up in January 1986 as Institut Teknologi Brunei (ITB), with the primary objective of catering for a range of interests in technical and commercial education. Its establishment was supported by Leeds Polytechnic, United Kingdom (now known as Leeds Metropolitan University) which indicates UTB’s early aspiration to become a local institution that strives for international recognition.

Three Departments were first established in a shared campus with Sultan Saiful Rijal Technical College: namely Business and Management (BM), Computer and Information Systems (CIS) and Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE). EEE was renamed as Electrical and Communication Engineering (ECE) when UTB moves to its permanent campus. The Phase One of UTB permanent campus in Kampong Tungku was completed in 1998 with an establishment of two more departments, namely Civil and Mechanical Engineering.

His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam consented to upgrade the institution to a university in his decree at the Teacher’s Day Celebration on 18 October 2008. The name of the University was changed from Institut Teknologi Brunei to Universiti Teknologi Brunei on 1 March 2016.

UTB began offering undergraduate degree programmes in 2009, followed by Masters by Research and PhD programmes in 2010. In 2016, UTB has also introduced Taught Masters programmes in Engineering, Business and Computing. Although UTB has moved towards offering undergraduate and graduate programmes starting from 2009, UTB continues to take pride in and maintain its successful hands-on approach in teaching and learning, and also the relevancy of its curricula to the needs of the industry. These have been the hallmark of its successful HND programmes previously.

In research, UTB is striving to become a university that can contribute to the enrichment of knowledge and the solving of contemporary issues through its research endeavours. UTB’s research efforts are focused along three research thrusts: Oil and Gas, Green Technology and Water. The UTB Centre for Transport Research (CfTR) was established to carry out research activities that include policy studies, transport modelling and intelligent transport system, and focuses on the areas of Transport Safety, Highway & Geotechnics, and Traffic. The Centre for Innovative Engineering aims to become a dynamic centre for multidisciplinary and innovative translational research

Today, UTB has around 2169 students and 145 faculty members. To date, UTB has produced 4756 HND; 247 Bachelor’s Degree; and three Master’s Degree graduates. Academic programmes at undergraduate and graduate levels are being offered by the Faculty of Engineering, School of Computing and Informatics and the UTB School of Business. There are now 20 undergraduate degree, five Taught Masters, and also Masters by Research and PhD programmes on offer.

The Faculty of Engineering comprises of four programme areas: Civil Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Petroleum & Chemical Engineering. The School of Computing and Informatics consists of three programme areas: Creative Computing, Computer Information Systems and Computer Network Security. Meanwhile, the UTB School of Business has three programme areas: Economics, Accounting and Management. The Centre for Communication, Teaching and Learning supports the faculty and schools in terms of students’ language proficiencies and soft skills development.