The Mien Dong University of Technology (MIT Uni.) in Dong Nai province is being strongly invested by Nguyen Hoang Group (NHG) to reach new heights in engineering, technology, innovation in Vietnam and further. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Van Song, new President of MUT, gives Human an interview about the strategy.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Van Song, President of Mien Dong University of Technology.
We would like to send our congratulations to you on your new role. Could you please tell us your upcoming plans to put MUT to new heights?
MIT Uni. was established in 2013 and has so far made strong developments to gradually assert itself as a multi-disciplinary and prestigious university in Vietnam’s southeast region.
The upcoming period of the university is extremely important. We will implement a development strategy to bring MIT Uni. to a new position: a university of excellence in engineering, technology, and innovation; a leading institution in southern Vietnam with high positions in internationally recognized university rankings.
A beautiful photo corner at the Mien Dong University of Technology.
We will make major changes, including strong investments in facilities for our international standard campus and equipment. The training programs will also be reviewed to meet the reality of the current industrial revolution 4.0. Along with that, a new university model will be applied: smart university model with smart classrooms, a smart learning environment, smart lecturers, smart campus, smart learning community, and smart learning methods.
Germany, where you had studied, is one of the world’s leading countries in engineering and technology. In some areas such as auto and domestic water, German standards are considered the highest in the world. How will those advantages help you and MIT Uni.?
Germany is a powerful country and the world’s 4th largest economy. Germany leads the world in high technology and heavy industry. It is a very developed country, with a very high standard of living maintained by a skillful and productive society.
I am very fortunate to have been studying and working in Germany for nearly 10 years at two large German universities famous for technology – the University of Stuttgart and the Berlin Institute of Technology. Therefore, my advantage is to well understand about the people, culture, as well as the education system of Germany. I believe that these valuable experiences in the educational environment will help me to do better in management at MIT Uni.
The future appearance of the Mien Dong University of Technology.
Please allow me to mention a little bit of expertise. German standards in automotive and domestic water technology are higher than world standards. Those who have lived in Europe can see that Germany applies its own standards for automotive technology such as safety, emissions, etc. Its own standards for water quality are higher than in the neighboring countries. Therefore, I think that if Vietnam can learn these technologies from Germany, it will be great.
In the coming time, MIT Uni. will introduce new disciplines, focusing on the high-tech. Please share more information.
In the next school year, in addition to the existing majors, we plan to open a series of new pioneering majors to meet the human resource needs for the 4.0 revolution. We will have 6 faculties and offer a total of 27 majors, quite focusing on high technology and innovation. The majors that will receive big investments are Automotive Technology; Aviation Engineering and Maintenance; Logistics and Supply Chain Management; Data Science and Artificial Intelligence; Nursing.
The learning and experience environment for students at MUT in the coming time.
How will your previous work and accumulated experience support you in your new position? How will the German people’s discipline and the knowledge you have obtained from German education benefit MIT Uni. students?
In 2009, when I finished my studies in Germany and returned to Vietnam, I worked as a researcher at the Southern Institute of Irrigation Science. A year later, I was appointed as Deputy Director of the Center for Hydro-Hydraulic Research. The places gave me my first experience in scientific work management. In 2013, I joined Thuy Loi University as Head of the Department of Training and Student Management, Head of the Subject of Civil Engineering, then was appointed Deputy Director of Campus Two cum Deputy Director of the Institute of Irrigation and Environment at the University. In 2017, I was appointed to the position of Vice President of Vietnam – Germany University in Vietnam.
I have held many key positions related to research, teaching, scientific management and training and university administration. Therefore, the environment at MIT Uni. is not new to me. I believe that the experiences, expertise, and lessons that I have learned from my previous management work can help me in my current management work. With nearly 10 years of studying and working in Germany, I got good understanding of the people, culture, and education system of Germany. I have also abtained a lot of knowledge and spirit from German education. For me, Germany is a beautiful, peaceful country with many surprises and interesting things to discover. I especially like the strict discipline and responsible working style of the Germans. You can see this very clearly in Germany’s national football team in recent major tournaments. And I think the two important slogans for MUT students in the future are the same: the spirit of innovation and discipline.
You have a passion for sports, specifically passionate about badminton. With the passion, how will you help promote the MIT Uni. student life experience?
I am quite passionate about sports and can play many sports. With badminton, I got acquainted and started playing with a group of close friends in Berlin. The time when I studied and worked in Germany was when I was quite young, unmarried, with many deep memories. I used to get training and compete for a sports club in Berlin called SVBB (SV Berliner Brauereien e. V). After work, I took the time to practice for about an hour before going home. Almost every weekend I competed in semi-professional tournaments in Germany. At the club, sometimes in competitions, I won some small awards, with the top prize being a silver medal. However, what I gained most from participating in these activities was that it helped me balance between study and life, especially in the context of being far from home, in a country thousands of kilometers away from Vietnam.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Van Song (left) is a sports enthusiast and often plays badminton.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Van Song and his international friends join a football competition in Germany in 2003.
My passion for badminton followed me back to Vietnam and is here now. I think that sports are always the passion of young people, especially students. With a campus as large and comfortable as the campus, MIT Uni. students are very fortunate to have a great place to enjoy sports. I will do my best to support my students and especially join them in these activities. And maybe I could change the color of my medal right during my time at MIT Uni. with my students.
Thank you very much!
By Tuong Thuy
