The students wait patiently for their names to be announced to receive their scrolls.
Abang Johari (second front) makes his way to the graduation ceremony. Also seen is Morshidi Ghani (fourth front).
KUCHING: A total of 344 students from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak campus received their scrolls at the graduation ceremony at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) yesterday.
Of the number, 288 students are from Malaysia, while the rest came from a multitude of countries including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The ceremony preceded with the installation of Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg as pro chancellor of Swinburne Sarawak, which was formalised by The Councillor, presiding officer Andrew Dix.
Diplomas, bachelors, masters degrees and PhDs were conferred during the occasion.
Swinburne Sarawak has continuously produced PhDs since 2012 after the graduation of its first doctoral candidates.
Industry awards were also presented by Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, CPA Australia, Crowe Horwarth Malaysia, Ernst & Young, KPMG Tax Services Sdn Bhd, Sarawak Energy Berhad, Sarawak Information Systems Sdn Bhd and Yayasan Sarawak.
Swinburne Sarawak is the only campus of Swinburne University of Technology outside Australia, which is jointly owned by Melbourne public university and the state government via Yayasan Sarawak and Sarawak Higher Education Foundation.
In July this year, London-based Times Higher Education ranked Swinburne Sarawak as the top international university in Borneo in its inaugural Asia Pacific University ranking.
Offering identical programmes as its home campus, Swinburne Sarawak has an outstanding graduate employability record.
According to its last tracer study, graduates surveyed reported up to 100 per cent employment six months after graduating for selected business and engineering courses, and an overall employment rate of 93 per cent.
Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Dato Sri Michael Manyin, his deputy Dr Annuar Rapaee, State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani, Assistant Minister of Native Land Development Datuk Roland Sagah and Assistant Minister of Rural Electricity Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi were also present at the graduation ceremony.