On May 27, Professor Sibrandes Poppema, President of Sunway University, Malaysia, led a delegation to NCUT for an exchange visit and delivered a presentation on the “2+2+1” joint bachelor’s-master’s degree program. Vice President Chai Lay Ching also joined the visit. President Zhang Lifeng held talks with the guests in Conference Room 322 of Dunpin Building. Vice President Chen Qun attended the meeting.
Zhang Lifeng warmly welcomed Professor Sibrandes Poppema and his delegation. He introduced NCUT’s ongoing development of its new campus and its disciplinary layout featuring “Four Priority Disciplines” and “Four Emerging Disciplines”. He noted that NCUT places great importance on the internationalization of education, and that the “2+2+1” program jointly developed with Sunway University and Lancaster University will provide NCUT students with high-quality international educational resources and diversified pathways for further study, helping enhance their overall competitiveness. He expressed the hope that the three universities would work together to develop the program into a high-level brand for international educational exchange.
Professor Sibrandes Poppema spoke highly of NCUT’s achievements in developing emerging disciplines. He said that the strong alignment between the two universities’ disciplinary strengths, as well as their complementary advantages, provides a solid foundation for the program. Building on Sunway University’s long-term and in-depth cooperation with Lancaster University, the program adopts an innovative joint training model. Its curriculum integrates the strengths of all three universities, strengthens students’ English-language foundation, and supports their academic development and further overseas study.
After the meeting, President Sibrandes Poppema and his delegation delivered a program presentation in Smart Classroom 506 of Guangxue Building, introducing Sunway University, its teaching and laboratory facilities, and the specific arrangements of the program. More than 100 students from NCUT’s School of Electrical and Control Engineering, School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and other schools attended the presentation.
The “2+2+1” program is a joint bachelor’s-master’s degree program between NCUT, Sunway University in Malaysia, which is ranked 410th in the 2026 QS World University Rankings, and Lancaster University in the United Kingdom, which is ranked 157th. Under the program, NCUT students will complete their first and second years of undergraduate study at NCUT and, after meeting Sunway University’s requirements, continue their third and fourth years of undergraduate study at Sunway University. Upon completing the two “2” stages and meeting the relevant requirements, students may receive bachelor’s degree certificates from both NCUT and Sunway University. The final “1” refers to a one-year master’s degree program at Lancaster University, which students may enter directly after meeting the relevant requirements. Undergraduate programs already included or planned under the program include Mechanical Design, Manufacturing and Automation; Mechatronics Engineering; Automation; Electrical Engineering and Automation; Transportation Equipment and Control Engineering; and Intelligent Transportation.
