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Heriot-Watt University Malaysia (HWUM) recently celebrated over 470 graduates in its Summer Graduation ceremony on 17 and 18 July 2022 at the Putrajaya Marriott Hotel.
The graduation ceremony consists of graduates from the School of Social Sciences (SoSS), School of Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS), School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society (EGIS), and School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences (MACS). Around 1,500 people, including family members and friends, attended the ceremony in three sessions over two days, with SoSS holding its session on 17 July and the School of EGIS, EPS, and MACS ceremonies were held on 18 July 2022.
The ceremony began with an opening address by our Provost and CEO, Professor Mushtak Al-Atabi, who welcomed all guests and graduates to this year's graduation ceremony. His speech highlighted some of our main achievements and the university's milestones, especially given that HWUM is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
He congratulated the graduates, "The last years have been significant for us all for so many reasons. The pandemic has changed how we work, live, communicate and celebrate. It has set us all new challenges, including how we study and interact. Thus, graduands, I would like to congratulate you all on your achievements."
Professor Mushtak also noted that it is imperative to look outwards to society and raise the level of ambition and purpose in our students and staff to ensure that we will fulfil our mission to educate and research for the betterment of society.
The ceremony was more meaningful with the presence of our Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Richard Williams from our Edinburgh campus, conferring the degrees and awards to the graduates.
In his closing speech, Professor Richard urged the graduates to look to the future, as we are now developing new initiatives to inspire change through engaging our networks across the globe to share knowledge and create a more sustainable future.
Drawing an example on this, he added, "Our Net Zero Community Hub that we are developing is a place for us all. Both a real space and cyberspace or digital twin, where we can learn about what we can do personally to mitigate climate change. This is where we can become carbon literate to understand where to focus our personal efforts and to be inspired on how we can use outcomes from research and technology."
He also took the opportunity to commend Malaysia's EmPOWER Community Service Projects, a crowdfunding campaign that has raised funds for ten deserving charities and non-governmental organisations in Malaysia.
The project, launched to commemorate our 10th Anniversary celebrations this year, has raised an incredible RM67,000. "Our congratulations goes to all those students involved. Well done to you all!" he added.
The Graduation Ceremonies draw the curtain on our #WattACelebration week that included the graduation registration and gown collection, photography, fun campus activities, alumni homecoming 2022 and an open day at the Malaysia campus. It was a joyous and engaging celebration, gathering our community members, including our alumni, graduates, potential students and family members.