We’re proudly introduce our another Youth Advisor, Muhammad Assad. Check more about him!

Muhammad Assad B.Sc. (Hons.) was born on 16 January 1987 in Jakarta, Indonesia. His nickname, Assad, is derived from Arabic word, which means lion. His parents have a dream that their son can be a “lion”, such a brave person and not fear of anything or to anyone except fear to the God, Allah The Almighty. Little Assad grew up in the family environment that shared Islamic values of devotion, honesty, discipline, independence and unyielding spirit. He was also fortunate due to having parents that really care about the education. His parents give the best education to him since Kindergarten.

Education Background

Assad is currently pursuing Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Islamic Finance in Doha, Qatar. For this Master Studies, he is awarded full scholarship by the King of the State of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Prior to studying in Qatar, he graduated from one of the finest universities in Malaysia, which is Universiti Technology Petronas (UTP). He was also awarded another full scholarship from Petronas (Malaysia’s National Oil Company) for his Undergraduate Studies. During the Convocation Ceremony in August 2009, he was graduated with a first-class student honors (cum-laude) and awarded with triple awards, which never have done before in the history of UTP that one student received 3 awards.

Those three were “Rector’s Gold Award for Business Information Systems”, “The Best International Student Award for The Year 2009”, and “Chancellor Award for The Best Graduate for the Class of 2009”. Special for the last one, the “Chancellor Award” was the most prestigious Award accorded by UTP to graduating students and given directly by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. To be nominated for this award, the candidate has to demonstrate excellence performance not only in the academic field but also in other areas including sports and other extra co-curricular activities. Some other attributes of well-rounded personalities are also taken into consideration, such as the interpersonal, management and leadership skills, be respected by colleagues and peers, and also be regarded as a role model by other students.

While from Kindergarten until Junior High School, he spent his school time in Al-Azhar Jaka Permai. Right after that, he continued High School to Insan Cendekia, Serpong, one of the finest schools in the country which was founded by the former President of Indonesia, Dr. Eng. B.J. Habibie.

Academic and Non-Academic Achievement
Assad is bright, compassionate, energetic and hardworking person with an analytical mind. During Undergraduate Studies, he has shown the academic and non-academic excellence and managed to balance between study and other extra-curricular activities without sacrificing one another. He has received numerous prestigious awards such as “Silver Medal in the Final Year Project for Engineering Design Exhibition”, “Computer and Information Sciences Academic Excellence Award”, “The Best International Student Award on MAKK”, “ISC Academic Excellence Award”, “Business Information Systems Silver Award”, “First Winner of Public Speaking Competition”, “Third Winner of Rector’s Debating Championship”, and also received “Dean’s List Award” for six consecutive semesters; three years in a row. This award is for those students who able to obtain GPA above 3.5 out of 4.0 every semester.

In non-academic activities, he is a very active person inside and outside campus. Inside the campus, he has participated in a diverse assortment of extracurricular activities and has been doing many self-initiated activities to make the campus life livelier. Assad also possesses good leadership quality and interpersonal skills that help him to interact easily with many people at all level and adapt to any situation. Due to his characteristics and personal upbringing, he is well-known as friendly and humble person among his friends, lecturers and university staff.

In 2006, he won the election and was elected as the President of International Student Council (ISC) / International Senate, which was the highest body for all of international students in UTP with 25 countries as members. He was also holding some important positions in other organizations such as in Student Representative Council of UTP (Majelis Perwakilan Pelajar) as Executive Committee for 2 consecutive years, Indonesian Student Organization (both for PPI UTP and PPI Malaysia), Young Entrepreneurs Club of UTP, etc. Currently also he is Youth Ambassador of Indonesia for Globals Foundation, the non-profit organization that involves in youth activities based in Netherlands.

Despite the activities involvement inside campus, Assad also has contributed in numerous activities and programs outside. For several time he was trusted to represent Indonesia in number of international forums and conferences, either being a participant or a speaker. The latest event he attended was the “3rd UNESCO Asian Youth Forum”, which was held in June 2009 in Gwangju, Republic of Korea. His presence was invited by UNESCO as Youth Delegate of Republic of Indonesia, and presented a paper on “Reshaping Our Future: In Search of Asian Alternatives.” During the event as well, he was chosen as the Plenary Chair of the Forum and managed to come up with the “Gwangju Resolution”, which was the comprehensive action plan focuses on three sub-themes of “equip, enhance and empower.” The resolution passes unanimously and was also presented at the International UNESCO Youth Forum in Paris, October 2009

Several months before, in March 2009, he was also invited to be the only youth key speaker representing Indonesia to speak on “Quality Innovations for Teaching and Learning: Youth Sustain Education” in the “12th UNESCO-APEID International Conference” and “4th World’s Teacher Day” in Bangkok, Thailand. This is an annual APEID (Asia-Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development) which brought more than 1,500 participants from all over the world, including policy makers, intellectuals, government officers, academic researchers, and the conference itself was officiated by the Prime Minister of Thailand, Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Some other events he was attended were “World Leadership Conference 2009” in Singapore, “ASEAN University Student Conference 2009” in Bandung, “ASEAN-Korea 20 Years of Friendship” in Jakarta, “International Youth Forum” in Bandung, “International Indonesia Student Conference” in Malaysia, “2nd ASEAN Camping Congress” in Malaysia, “Sunburst Youth Camp” in Singapore, and many others.