VTAR students better equipped for the future

Tools for tomorrow: Wee (centre) admiring the 3D printers gifted by IME to VTAR Institute as (from left) Lau, Tan and MCA member Leong Kim Soon look on.

KUALA LUMPUR: VTAR Institute has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IME Technology for the latter to provide 3D design software to better equip students with the necessary skills to meet the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0).

“Working with IME will allow VTAR to upgrade its training programme by using Solidworks, a 3D computer-aided design software which is an innovative learning tool for product design and development that is easy to teach and learn. It is also exciting to use.

“With Solidworks, VTAR students, especially those in furniture and electronic courses, will be trained and equipped with the necessary skills to work in the IR4.0 environment, ” said MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, who was the guest of honour at the MoU signing ceremony here yesterday.

He also said that with the new technology and software, VTAR would be able to produce graduates who would be better accepted in the market, adding that people would be left behind if they did not adapt to IR4.0.

“This is the trend because we know that over the next six years, we want to increase high-skilled workers from 18% to 35% of the workforce in Malaysia.

“That means there is a 17% vacuum that we need to fill. I hope that VTAR can improve its efforts to ensure that we are still competitive in the world, ” Dr Wee said.

Previously known as the Kojadi Institute, the institute rebranded itself as VTAR in 2015 with the aim of taking in more students and offering more diversified vocational courses.

VTAR Institute chief executive officer Tan Cheng Liang said Malaysia was currently facing a critical shortage of skilled workers, with high skilled workers only at 18% of the workforce, while semi-skilled and low-skilled workers were at 75% and 7% respectively.

Tan added that with the software, the institute would be able to train not only furniture technology students, but also those in engineering, electronics and bakery.

With the collaboration, she hoped that VTAR could play a role in helping the country build and upskill students, as well as industry players so that they are able to meet the needs of the industrial sector.

Meanwhile, IME Technology sales director Lau Chee Wei said he was happy that the software provided would help VTAR students express their creativity and come up with innovations.

IME also gifted VTAR with two 3D printers to give students the opportunity to create their own products.