The Faculty of Civil Engineering, affectionately known as UTM FKA (Fakulti Kejuruteraan Awam), is one of the largest faculties in the region. It is also the largest producer of civil engineers in Malaysia. Currently there are about 1738 students in UTM FKA, of which 376 are Masters and 82 are Doctoral students. Presently, UTM FKA hosts foreign students mainly from Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and some Middle Eastern and African countries who are enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate studies in various fields in civil engineering. Since its establishment in 1975, UTM FKA has produced 8089 Bachelors degree, 90 Post Graduate Diploma, 942 Masters and 68 Ph.Ds graduates. Many of these graduates now hold prominent positions in various organisations both in the public and the private sectors.
There are four academic departments at the Faculty representing the main branches of Civil Engineering. They are the Department of Structures and Materials, the Department of Hydraulics and Hydrology, the Department of Geotechnics and Transportation and the Department of Environmental Engineering. In addition to these departments, the Faculty also houses four centres of excellence to coordinate and optimise the vast expertise available in the Faculty. These centres of excellence are the Construction Technology and Management Centre (CTMC), the Institute of Environmental and Water Resources Management (IPASA), the Coastal and Offshore Engineering Institute (COEI) and the Steel Technology Centre (STC).
A number of FKA staff has been recognised at national and international level for their scholarly work and research in their fields. The recognition includes awards from many competitions or exhibitions such as the Petronas Invention Medal Award, Mindex/Innatex, UTM’s Researcher of the year award, ITEX, Geneva’s International Exhibition of Invention, WEPO and INPEX. Several products invented by FKA researchers have been commercialised such as the sine-slab and the artificial sea grass for coastal protection, the F-R concrete, and the mobile interlocking block machine.
As a faculty, FKA has also been acknowledged as one of the leading faculties in UTM. In the year 2000, FKA was the first faculty of civil engineering in Malaysia to obtain ISO 9002 certification for its undergraduate academic management. FKA was the recipient of the Vice Chancellor Quality Award in 2001, UTM’s Information Technology Award in 2002 and 2008 and Creativity and Innovation Award in 2004. With such achievements, there is no doubt that FKA is on the right track to becoming one of the leading teaching and research faculties in Malaysia if not the region.