UTM Students Are Getting a Fast-Track to Becoming EV Engineers

If you’re a student at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) with a passion for electric vehicles (EVs), your career just got a major "boost."

Perodua and UTM have officially signed a new Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to launch the Perodua-UTM xEV Engineering Programme. This isn’t just a regular partnership; it’s a direct pipeline designed to turn top engineering students into the experts who will build Malaysia’s green mobility future.

A direct path to the industry 

Every year, 10 to 15 high-achieving students from the Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Honours) programme will be handpicked for this elite track.

Instead of just learning from textbooks, these students will spend one and a half years (starting from their Year 3, Semester 2) working directly within the Perodua ecosystem. It’s essentially a "fast-track" to becoming a professional EV engineer before you even graduate!

International certification (The "Golden Ticket") 

The highlight of this program? Students will undergo a 10-week industrial internship at Perodua, where they have the chance to earn the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) Level 3 certification.

In the automotive world, an IMI certification is a huge deal. It’s an internationally recognized standard that proves you are qualified to work on high-voltage EV systems safely and professionally.

Working on the "Real Deal" 

Perodua isn't just sending mentors; they are sending hardware. The university has received:

• Two units of Perodua QV-E that students will use for hands-on learning.
• State-of-the-art Lab Equipment: This includes Hardware in the Loop (HIL) simulation systems, allowing students to test EV software and battery management in a virtual environment before applying it to the actual car.

Read: Launched: Perodua QV-E – Malaysia’s First Homegrown EV, 445 km NEDC

Mentorship from the pros 

Forget about struggling with your Final Year Project (FYP) alone. Under this program, students' research projects will be co-supervised by expert Perodua engineers. This ensures that the research being done at UTM isn't just academic, it’s solving real-world problems that the automotive industry is facing today.

Why this matters for Malaysia 

As Dato’ Sri Zainal Abidin Ahmad (President and CEO of Perodua) mentioned, this is about more than just a car, it’s about building a sustainable ecosystem. By training "Future-Ready" engineers locally, Malaysia can lead the way in EV technology rather than just being a consumer.

Know someone studying Engineering at UTM? Tag them in the comments so they don't miss out on this "electrifying" opportunity! 

Read: UTM–Perodua Smart Mobility Campus Program