Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology
The VNUHCM University of Technology (abbreviation: HCMUT Vietnamese: Trường Đại học Bách khoa, Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh)[1] is a member university of Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City and is the flagship university in technology teaching and research activities in Vietnam.
Trường Đại học Bách khoa, Đại học Quốc Gia Tp. Hồ Chí Minh | |
Type | Public |
---|---|
Established | 1957 |
President | Mai Thanh Phong |
Academic staff | 1,038 (2012) |
Students | 24,910 (2009 Fall) |
Undergraduates | 16,906 (2009 Fall) |
Address | 268 Ly Thuong Kiet St., Dist.10 , , |
Campus | Main Campus: Urban 14.8 ha (37 acres) Thu Duc Campus: Suburban 26 ha (64 acres) |
Colours | Azure, Blue |
Mascot | Not Available |
Website | www |
HCMUT is a center of technology - industry and management training. Up to May 2005, HCMUT has 11 faculties, 14 research and development (R&D) centers, 4 training centers, 10 functioning offices and one joint-stock company. During the past 40 years since Vietnam's unification, 60,000 Engineers and Bachelors have graduated from HCMUT. Up to now, HCMUT have trained 60,000 Engineers and Bachelors, more than 10,000 Masters and 200 Doctors.
History
Established on Jun. 29, 1957 according to the decree 213/GD signed by President Ngo Dinh Diem, the university was known as National Center of Technology (also known as Phu Tho National Center of Technology) . The center included 4 partner colleges: College of Civil Engineering, College of Electrical Engineering, College of Industrial Arts Engineering (École Supérieure d'Ingénieurs des Arts Industriels - Kỹ sư Công nghệ), Vietnam National Maritime Engineering.
In 1960s, College of Chemistry was established, belonging to National Center of Technology.
In 1972, National Center of Technology was renamed as National Institute of Technology, which was the only center of South Vietnam to train technical engineers and experts. According to the decree 010/SL/VNGDTN signed on January 11, 1974, the National Institute of Technology was merged into Thu Duc Institute of Technology and renamed as University of Technology. In the same year, Thanh Hoa Post Graduate Department (the current Environmental Engineering Faculty) was established in the College of Civil Engineering. It was the first time when the university conducted post graduate training program. After the national reunification, the university was renamed as Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology as Saigon was renamed to Ho Chi Minh City (according to the Decision 426/TTg signed by The President of the Cabinet on October 27, 1976). Being one of the three largest universities of technology in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology has the mission of training engineers majoring in the fields of capital construction, industry, resources exploration and exploitation, and environment preservation to provide a force of manpower mainly for the southern areas of Vietnam.
Since 1981, HCMUT has expanded its scope into postgraduate training. In 1990, HCMUT opened the master's degree training system. Actually, the postgraduate training in HCMUT has been focused since 1981.
According to decision 16/CP by the Prime Minister on January 17, 1995, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) was founded. Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology became one among the 9 members of VNU-HCM and was renamed as the University of Engineering.
According to decision 15/2001/QĐ-TTg and decision 16/2001/QĐ-TTg by The Prime Minister on December 2, 2001, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City was reorganized with only 3 members; and the University of Engineering gained back its traditional name as Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology.
Infrastructure
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT) has two campuses: one is located in the inner of Ho Chi Minh City and the other in the outskirts of the city. The former one has an area of 14 ha, of which address is 268 Ly Thuong Kiet St., Dist.10, Ho Chi Minh City. The campus has 117 classrooms (14.479 m2), 96 laboratories (12.197 m2), 3 workshops (6.950 m2), and 1 library (1.145 m 2 – for both undergraduate and graduate student). The latter one, with an area of 26 ha, is located in Linh Trung Ward, Thủ Đức, Ho Chi Minh City. The campus has 3 buildings which consist of 54 class rooms and halls, 26 laboratories and a covered stadium. Besides the two campuses, HCMUT also has an inner city dormitory with an area of 1,4 ha. With the expenditures of 101 billions VND, the dormitory was rebuilt in 2004 and was put into operation in 2009.
The event of the years between 2001 and 2005 is that, with the self-funded budget (from tuition fees, science research and technology transfer and other training activities), HCMUT focused on rebuilding an area of 26.128 m2 (increases 40% in comparison to that of 1995), upgrading classrooms, laboratories, the library, of which total area is 7.670 m2 (increases 50% in comparison to that of 1995), invested in equipment for training activities. All classrooms are equipped with projectors and computers, laboratories with modern tools for training and science researching (worth 80 billions VND).
At HCMUT, a number of teaching and learning materials in various fields are available almost all of the time. Among them, 55% (509 titles) are compiled by HCMUT professors. There are 277 titles of magazines (191 foreign languages and 86 Vietnamese ones), 9460 titles with more than 36.555 books, 30 computers for internet accessing and other types of materials such as scientific magazines in the library. The library is invested with an annual budget of more than one billion VND in maintenance, learning materials, including printing curriculum for educational purposes.
Academics
To fulfill the demands for manpower in industrial and technological majors in Vietnam, the university completed the outcome and thorough academic programs for 34 undergraduate majors and 1 major in college program following the ABET standards, but HCMUT has not been yet accredited. Although most students are advised to follow the recommended studying schedules since they are already compressed, they are free to determine the number of credits they take up to a fixed specific amount determined by the university each semester.
Academic programs
The academic programs in HCMUT operate on a semester calendar from early August to mid May. They are classified in seven types of educational programs:
- Formal and informal undergraduate education
- Postgraduate education
- College Program: Although the name of the program may make sense at first, it is simply similar to community college in the U.S higher education system. The naming convention in Vietnam is slightly different from the U.S. or others.
- Education program for the gifted and talented: While studying at HCMUT, professors will recommend prominent and prospective students to this class, usually at the end of the sophomore year.
- PFIEV (Programme de Formation d'Ingénieurs d'Excellence au Vietnam) Program: HCMUT has cooperated with France on this training program. Students when entering HCMUT can choose to follow this type of program whose courses are mostly taught in French. Ones with strong academic progress will be offered certifications recognized by Engineers Association of France to be able to practice in Europe.
- Advanced Program: This is a national project that enables HCMUT to implement the training organization system of Electrical and Electronics Sector, Department of Electrical and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. This program is highly focused on Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
- Articulation Program: This program offers students involved in two years to study at HCMUT and the rest of the academic programs at the partner universities and institutions in others countries.
- English Program: HCMUT offers an undergraduate study programs of management, engineering that are completely taught in English.
- Executive MBA-MCI Program: This MBA program conducted by HCMUT in partnership with University of Applied Science and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. The program is specialized in Management Consulting International, which is certified by FIBAA - Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation.
Faculties
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology offers 33 Bachelor's Degrees, 41 Master's Degrees and 41 Doctorate Degrees in 11 faculties.
Office for International Study Programs
Office for International Study Program (Abbreviation: OISP) is the center of management, admission, generating all international study programs of HCMUT such as the Advanced Program, English Programs, Articulation Programs for both undergraduate and postgraduate study and the Executive MBA-MCI Program.
History
In 1990, HCMUT initiated its first international partnership in education and research. In 2006, OISP is established to unify and professionalize the management system and operation of HCMUT's international study programs.
Study Programs
- Advanced Program: Electrical - Electronic Engineering
- English Programs: Industrial Management; Environmental Management and Technology; Chemical Engineering; Petroleum Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Automobile Engineering; Logistics; Aerospace Engineering; Computer Engineering; Computer Science
- Articulation Programs: Business Administration; Chemical Engineering; Pharmaceutical Engineering; Petroleum Engineering; Civil Engineering; Information Technology; Electrical - Electronic Engineering; Mechatronic Engineering
- Executive MBA-MCI Program: specialized in Management Consulting International
Partner universities
Australia:
- University of Adelaide
- University of Queensland
- Griffith University
- La Trobe University
- University of Technology Sydney
Japan:
United States:
Extra-curricular activities
At HCMUT, students are offered with a variety of extra-curricular activities.
- The voluntary “Green Summer Campaign” is one of the biggest annual activities of the school. Students participating the campaign will commute to remote areas to improve the literacy rates and help the local residents build the infrastructure of their regions.
- Freshman students will have excursions to Cu Chi Tunnel to learn about the historic land.
- There are clubs for students to join such as English Club, French Club for students with interest in foreign languages; Hiphop Club; Robot Club for those who share huge passions in creating and utilizing robots and exchanging experiences to prepare for the annual Robocon (National Robot Contests)...
Athletics
As there are many courts and fields on HCMUT campuses, students can always take part in an abundance of sport activities such as basketball, volleyball, football, tennis... Occasionally, students of HCMUT can either take part in sports competitions among Faculties of the school or among institutions in Ho Chi Minh City.
Achievements
Students of HCMUT have won 208 Olympic prizes in the fields of Mathematics, Physics, Informatics, Mechanics, Civil and Architecture Engineering in ten years after their first participation. Among those prizes there are 10 First prizes, 29 Second prizes and 72 Third prizes.
In the 2014 National Olympic Contest in Mechanics, HCMUT became the leading institution with prizes awarded to 5 winning teams and 49 individuals. In 2015, HCMUT continues to assert its leading position in this national competition with more prizes awarded to 8 winning teams and 60 individuals. In particular, the winning teams won 1 First prize, 2 Second prizes and 5 Third prizes. Among those 60 individual prizes there are 1 First prize, 14 Second prizes, 21 Third prizes and 24 Consolation prizes.
The students have also brought back the Championship of Asia-Pacific Mini Robots Contest in 2002 (held in Japan), 2004 (South Korea) and 2006 (Malaysia).
With the total amount of 314 million VND, the school has sponsored two high schools of Thanh Hóa, Long An Province and Khanh Thuong-Khanh Vinh City, Khánh Hòa Province. 225 million was used by the labor union of HCMUT to build houses of gratitude and 118.6 million VND was used for building house for unfortunate people over the past 10 years. 253 million VND is spent for gifts offered to orphanages, charity-schools, disable children and children who suffer from dioxin.
International partnership and Research collaboration
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology have established a partnership to share academic curriculum and create an exchange program. Some of HCMUT's brightest undergraduate and master's students will do their PhD research at Illinois.[2]
The Norwegian group Roxar AS has established a partnership with HCMUT. Roxar will assist the university in building a high-tech lab. The group hopes that some students will choose to work for it after they graduate.[3]
International research collaborations:
- University of Applied Sciences Mannheim, Germany
- Protestant University for Applied Sciences Freiburg, Germany
- Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
- University of Leeds, UK
- Kryvyi Rih National University, Ukraine
- Waseda University, Japan
- Hokkaido University, Japan
- Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Japan
- National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
- Annual International Workshop on Advanced Computing and Applications (ACOMP)
- Pacific Rim Applications and Grid Middleware Assembly (PRAGMA)
Notable alumni
- Trương Hòa Bình - Standing Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, Former Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam
- Prof. PhD. Nguyễn Thiện Nhân - Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh city Party Committee, Former Chair of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, Former Minister of Education and Training, Former Vice President of HCMUT
- Trần Lưu Quang - Standing Deputy Secretary of HCMC Party Committee
- Lâm Du Sơn - Vice President of Electricity of Vietnam
- Nguyễn Thị Thu Hà - Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee
- PhD. Nguyễn Thanh Mỹ - Inventor, Businessman, Chairman of American Dye Source, Inc., Chairman of Mỹ Lan Corporation
- Huỳnh Hữu Bằng, Managing Director of SBT Corporation
- Prof. Dr. Phan Thanh Binh, Chairman of the Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children, Vietnam National Assembly, Former President of Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City
- Trần Bá Dương - Founder and Chairman of Truong Hai Auto Corporation (THACO)
- Trần Quí Thanh - Chairman & CEO of Tan Hiep Phat Beverage Group
References
- "Copyright ownership of the university name". Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. November 29, 1995. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- Gudeman, Kim.“Illinois, Vietnam National University agree to share curriculum, create exchange program”. College of Engineering. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 28 August 2008.
- Thanh Niên Daily. “Norwegian IT company donates lab, software to HCMUT”. Thanh Niên, 20 May 2009. 10 June 2009.