(Back row, from second right) Goledzinowsk and Mienczakowski in a group photo with the VIPs and award sponsors.
MIRI: A total of 82 students of Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) received excellence awards from a diverse range of industry sponsors at the recent Curtin Malaysia awards ceremony.
The event was held in conjunction with the university’s graduation ceremony, which had 682 graduates receiving their scrolls.
Curtin Malaysia, in a statement, said among the award recipients were 46 students who were inducted into the Vice-Chancellor’s List – created in 1991 to acknowledge and recognise outstanding performance by undergraduate students and promote an intellectual culture among students.
In addition, two students received awards upon graduating from Curtin’s elite John Curtin Leadership Academy programme, while another two received Yayasan Sarawak’s Outstanding Graduate Awards for 2018.
(From sixth left) Mienczakowski and Samling Group assistant general manager for group administration Andrew Wee with the recipients of the Samling awards.
The awards were for academic merit in the university’s business, engineering, science and arts programmes, as well as for outstanding extracurricular achievement in the form of the John Curtin Leadership Academy Graduate List Awards, Datuk Dr Lee Kim Shin Outstanding Student Community Contribution Awards, Eastwood Valley Golf & Country Club Award for Outstanding Performance in a National Competition and Sarawak Higher Education Foundation Outstanding Leadership Award.
This year’s sponsors comprised long-time industry partners of the university and a number of new sponsors, as well as professional bodies such as ACCA Malaysia, the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers, Board of Engineers Malaysia, CPA Australia, Institution of Engineers Malaysia and Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Other sponsors included accounting firms Crowe Horwath, Ernst & Young and KPMG, and major corporations like Samling Group of Companies, Sarawak Energy Bhd, Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd, Shell Malaysia, Shin Yang Group of Companies, Novakey Developers, Ocean Vantage Engineering, and Sarawak Information Systems Sdn Bhd (Sains).
Completing the list of sponsors were the Sarawak Higher Education Foundation, Yayasan Sarawak, Bintulu Development Authority, Eastwood Valley Golf & Country Club, Miri Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Wan Ullok Jugah Chin & Co Advocates, Curtin Malaysia’s Pro-Chancellor Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan and Assistant Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Lee Kim Shin, who is also chair of Curtin Malaysia’s management board.
Dr Chan, in his address, called upon the award recipients to always remain enthusiastic, to continue aiming high and pursue excellence in all that they do, set high goals and persevere through adversity, and above all, be open to the wonderful, unexpected opportunities that await them.
Curtin Malaysia president and chief executive Prof Jim Mienczakowski, meanwhile, thanked the award sponsors for their contributions, which was the highest ever this year and hoped that they would extend their support beyond awards sponsorship to other forms of philanthropy such as the funding of scholarships and bursaries, collaborative research, equipment and campus facilities.
The Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia Andrew Goledzinowski, was the guest-of-honour at the event.
Among those present were senior leaders of Curtin University from Perth including acting chancellor Sue Wilson, Curtin Council member Steve Scudamore, vice-chancellor Prof Deborah Terry, and deputy vice-chancellor (international) Prof Seth Kunin, and Curtin (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd chairman Datu Ose Murang.
Wilson (right) presents an award to John Curtin Leadership Academy graduate Caroline Muramba.