PNGUoT WELCOMES NEW INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR TO STRENGTHEN GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS

In a significant move to strengthen international relations and partnerships, the Papua New Guinea University of Technology (PNGUoT) has appointed a Director of the Office of Strategic Internationalization, who will be responsible for handling international affairs of the University.

This is an initiative aimed at strengthening connections with international universities and partners to support PNGUoT’s development.

Vice Chancellor Professor Ora Renagi said with the ongoing partnerships with world class institutions such as the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and the vision to become a globally recognized university, there was a need to establish an office to manage international relations. The recent accreditation of the engineering programs by Engineers Australia already sets PNGUoT in the motion of becoming a global competitor offering world- class degrees.

“PNGUoT is relatively small and locally recognized compared to world class institutions. The engineering faculty worked hard to have their courses accredited under the Washington Accord. All other non-engineering courses benchmarked to international standards in due course. In order for PNGUoT to be globally competitive, we must also be ranked against other world-class universities.”
“This is why the Office of Strategic Internationalization was established, and we have now appointed a new Director to take charge of these affairs,” he added.

The newly appointed Director for Strategic Internationalization Ms. Ainsley Hemming expressed her delight in taking on this role, saying there is an enormous amount of work to be done, capitalizing on PNGUoT’s current successes such as the accreditation, and also the support and interest the university is getting from key industry partners.

“This is a real opportunity to work with an incredibly enthusiastic organization on the brink of doing great things. I see this as the beginning of PNGUoT becoming a societal leader and beginning to change the fate of PNG by becoming a resource for not just PNG but the rest of the Pacific.”

Ms. Hemming has an undergraduate degree in sociology and a master’s degree in international relations.

Professor Renagi was particularly appreciative of the funding support given by the industry for the Directors salary.

The VC expressed deep gratitude to Ok-tedi Mining Limited (OTML), Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL), Kumul Minerals Holdings Limited (KMHL) and Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture (WGJV) who contributed.