Professor Ts. Dr. Massila Kamalrudin

Prof. Ts. Dr. Massila Kamalrudin, the fifth Vice Chancellor of Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), is an acclaimed academic in the field of Information Technology. A native of Banda Hilir, Melaka, she was born on 14 August 1981.

Prof. Massila has an impressive local and international education background. She graduated from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in 2003 with a Bachelor of Computer Science (Software Engineering), a Master of Science in Computing and Software Technology from University of Wales, Swansea, United Kingdom in 2006, a PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from The University of Auckland, New Zealand in 2011 and a post-doctoral at the Faculty of ICT, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia in 2012.

She started her academic career at Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia (KUTKM) as a tutor at the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology before it was later rebranded as Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM). After assuming various positions and performing as an outstanding academic, she was eventually promoted to a full professor with specialization in Software Engineering in 2020.

She has taught various courses and graduated many students at the diploma, degree, master and PhD. She has published many well cited publications and led many research and consultancy projects as the lead investigator. She has also contributed to many innovative community projects that benefited many beneficiaries especially in Melaka. She has an extensive industry exposure that is relevant to the Digital Economy and the Industrial Revolution 4.0. She is recognized as a professional technologist by the Malaysian Board of Technology (MBOT) and a Certified Requirements Engineer by the International Requirements Engineering Body (IREB) in 2013.

She has served UTeM at various levels and contributed many achievements locally and internationally. She has been a keynote and invited speaker at many national and international conferences. She has been appointed as an Visiting Professor with the University of Vitez, Bosnia from 2020 and as Adjunct Professor University Malaysia of Computer Science & Engineering, (UNIMY) from 2021.

Her research specialisation is in the field of Requirements Engineering focusing on the consistency management of requirements. She has been promoting the Research, Innovation, Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship (RICE) value chain and believe in its relevance for UTeM.

Her contributions in academia and research are acknowledged and reflected in the recognitions and accolades she received at the national and international levels including the Malaysian Young Women Scientist 2020 by the Malaysian Invention and Design Society (MINDS).

The post Covid-19 era requires non-conventional leaders with the ability to harness disruptive technology and garner support from the masses by innovative thinking. Prof. Massila has the right mindset, youth, enthusiasm, high energy, tacit knowledge, creativity, innovative thinking, professionalism, risk taking and management skills as well as on the ground experience to bring the university to the forefront as a Transformational Leader. Being a woman, wife, mother, sister and daughter, she has faced more challenges compared to her male counterparts but is still capable of performing excellently in many areas.

Under her leadership, women will be given a fairer level playing field to move ahead. As the Vice-Chancellor, she plans to bring back UTeM to its original mission as a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) university. She has vivid aspirations and clear strategies to bring positive changes to strengthen UTeM as an awesome TVET university.