Courses related to Computer Science have been offered by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) since the university was established in 1970. In line with the emergence of the computer science discipline, UKM set up the Statistics and Computer Science Unit in 1977 under the Quantitative School. The Statistics and Computer Science Unit was upgraded to become the Computer Science Department in 1982 wh
ile the Quantitative School became the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science in 1988. Academic programs at the Undergraduate, Master and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) levels have been introduced incrementally. The number of academic staffs with PhDs increased in accordance with the national requirements related to enhancing the quality of teaching and research. In the 1990s, the world economy was driven by knowledge-based economics which was in tandem with the emergence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Not to be left out of these exciting developments, Malaysia devised various policies and initiatives including the Multimedia Super Corridor(MSC). Subsequently, ICT has become one of the nation’s most important industries. In line with the changes that has moved the world from the industrial to the information era, the Computer Science Department was upgraded in 1 October 1994 to become the Faculty of Information Science and Technology (Fakulti Teknologi dan Sains Maklumat) (FTSM). Strengthened by 40 academic staffs, the faculty was awarded the ‘MSC company’ status on 24th November 2000. Today, FTSM consists of 100 faculty members that include 9 professors. The new FTSM campus is located at the second link of UKM Bangi, it has 8 building blocks, 2 lecture halls, and 1 undergraduate/postgraduate centre block. It also houses two research centres which are driven by experts in various fields of research. Since its inception, nearly 20 years ago, FTSM has progressed rapidly in various aspects. FTSM students too, are making their presence felt by being actively involved in numerous programs and competitions at the national and international levels such as the FIRA RoboWorld Cup Tournament.
