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THE University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka has become the country’s first academic institution to earn IChemE accreditation.

Moratuwa’s BSc (Hons) in chemical engineering has been accredited at bachelor level, from the current academic year up to and including entry year 2011.

IChemE ceo, David Brown says: “We benchmark academic programmes against high, internationally recognised standards. Our accreditation process assesses programmes against the learning outcomes achieved by students and is grounded in a philosophy of continuous improvement.”

Meanwhile, Universiti Sains Malaysia has received the certificate confirming that it is now accredited at master’s level. The successful accreditation was completed in December. “The enhancements made to the degree curriculum and improvements to the laboratory facilities are significant and reflect a real commitment to continuous improvement by the chemical engineering faculty since IChemE’s first visit in 2006,” says Neil Atkinson, IChemE qualifications and international development director.

The accreditation marks the first time a Malaysian state university has been accredited at master’s level. The accreditation lasts for five years and begins with the 2009 student intake. USM’s bachelor’s chemical engineering course was accredited in 2006.

IChemE accredits more than 50 leading chemical engineering courses in 17 countries. Malaysia is the fastest-growing area of IChemE membership with 32% year-on-year growth in 2009 and 35% in 2008.

USM is the first university in Malaysia to have been granted the Accelerated Programme of Excellence (APEX) status by the country’s Ministry of Higher Education. The APEX initiative is designed to fast-track the university to attain world-class status.