Khairiyah Mohd-Yusof, Ph.D.
Director
Centre of Engineering Education,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
81310 Johor Bahru, Malaysia
khairiyah@cheme.utm.my
Biography
Dr. Khairiyah Mohd-Yusof is the Director of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Centre of Engineering
Education (CEE), promoting meaningful research and scholarly practices in engineering education and
managing the PhD in Engineering Education program. She obtained her PhD in Chemical Engineering for
the University of Waterloo, Canada. Prior to becoming the Director of CEE, she was the Deputy Director
at the Centre for Teaching & Learning (2008 – 2011), and Head of the Chemical Engineering Department
(2006-2008). An Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Dr. Khairiyah is
regularly invited as a speaker in various conferences and workshops in Asia, Europe and North America.
She conducts research and receives funding for her work in engineering education, and dynamic process
modeling and control. Dr. Khairiyah has also won several awards, including the Diamond Award for Best
Paper at the 2005 UNESCO International Centre of Engineering Education Asia Pacific Conference on
Engineering Education in Bangkok, Thailand, the Best Paper Award at the 2011 IEEE Global Engineering
Education Conference in Amman, Jordan, the 2013 Institution of Chemical Engineers Malaysia Award for
Education and Training and the Best of the Best Award at the 2014 Innovative Practices in Higher
Education Exposition in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Currently, Dr. Khairiyah is an Editor for the ASEAN
Journal of Engineering Education, an Associate Editor for the Journal of Engineering Education, and is in
the Editorial Board for the Journal of Problem Based Learning in Higher Education and the IChemE
Education for Chemical Engineers Journal. She is also a Master Trainer for the Higher Education
Leadership Academy (AKEPT) under the Malaysian Ministry of Education, the Secretary for the Society of
Engineering Education Malaysia (SEEM), and board member representing Asia for the Research in
Engineering Education Network (REEN). Dr. Khairiyah had chaired and organized various Engineering
Education Conferences in Malaysia, including the 2013 International Research Symposium on PBL in
collaboration with the Aalborg University UNESCO Chair on PBL in Engineering Education and AKEPT,
and the 2013 Research in Engineering Education Symposium in collaboration with REEN, AKEPT and
SEEM.
Statement of Rationale
I have been passionate about engineering education ever since I started reading the Chemical
Engineering Education journal when I was a graduate student in the U.S. in the early 1990's. This early
exposure to scholarly implementation and publication in engineering education became ingrained in my
own practice when I became an academic staff in the Department of Chemical Engineering in Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia. I was able to provide leadership when I was appointed to lead the Active Learning
and PBL Taskforce in the early 2000, organize the Regional Conference in Engineering Education starting
from 2005, and to be part of the taskforce to develop the PhD in Engineering Education program in UTM
in 2007. By the time I was appointed as the founding Director of the UTM Centre of Engineering
Education (CEE) in 2011, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from and work with the "Guru"
in Engineering Education, such as Prof. Richard Felder, Prof. Karl Smith, Prof. Duncan Fraser, Prof. Anette
Kolmos, Prof. David Radcliffe, Prof. Ruth Streveler, Prof. Jeff Froyd, Prof. Erik de Graaff and many others.
My learning opportunities in engineering education led to my desire to spread scholarly and evidence
based practices throughout the engineering education community, especially in the Asian region. From
the work that we have done in the CEE with the Society of Engineering Education Malaysia, there is a
clear need for this to ensure meaningful practices with impact, so that the benefit attained at least
commensurate with the cost, if not more. The research element in engineering education will not only
provide the evidence, but also bring out the experience and culture from different parts of the world
which is very much needed to promote understanding.
If elected as one of the IFEES executive committee, I would like to utilize my experience and knowledge
to provide leadership for the growth of scholarly practices in engineering education. My experience and
skill as a trainer of teaching and learning techniques for the outcomes based approach, as well as
research in engineering education, can definitely help in planning and supporting engineering faculty
development through IFEES. In addition to supporting activities, I would also like to institute several
"pull" factor for excellence in engineering education through IFEES, such as through the 2014 Innovative
Practices in Higher Education Exposition which CEE organized in collaboration with IFEES, SEEM and
AKEPT, where gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded for entries that were judged to be qualified.
With our experience in working with the international community, I hope to contribute the expertise
available in CEE and SEEM for IFEES, especially from the Asian perspective.