Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) is a Malaysian research university established 10 January 1997. It is wholly owned by Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS), Malaysia's oil and gas multinational corporation. The campus is built on 400 ha in the new township of Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia. The university conducts research activities in collaboration with PETRONAS on six research areas. They are self-sustainable building, transport infrastructure, health analytics, hydrocarbon recovery, contaminant management and autonomous system. In 2023, the university become the best university in Malaysia according to Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

History

In 1997, UTP was established in Perak, Malaysia when PETRONAS was invited by the Government of Malaysia to set up a university. Setting up a university from scratch poses formidable challenges, and the first step was taken in December 1998 with the completion of the UTP academic master plan. This acted as the basis for the physical master plan studies and registration or accreditation of degree programmes. The process of master planning was completed in 2002 and the construction of the area under consideration was completed in August 2004.

Campus

The university site is located one kilometre from the village of Tronoh, a former mining town in the Perak Tengah district of Perak, the largest state on the west coast of the peninsula. The 2 site lies within the commercial corridor between Kuala Lumpur and Penang, some 10 km from the town of Batu Gajah and 25 km from the city of Ipoh. A total amount of 7.3MWp solar panel were installed at its building rooftop.

Academic complex

The new academic complex was designed by Foster and Partners, and the first-phase construction was completed in 2004. The design received an Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2007. The overall layout of the new academic complex is in the shape of a five-pointed star made up by five semicircles. The new academic complex was officially opened by the former chairman of PETRONAS and ITPSB Board, YBhg Tun Azizan Zainul Abidin. Currently, almost all of the academic activities have been shifted to the new campus. A ‘star concept’ diagram, overlaying vision, site, programme and quality, was used as a template to zone various facilities and initiate the preliminary design,

Notable alumni