History
Ungku Omar Polytechnic was established in 1969 by the Malaysian Ministry of Education, aided by UNESCO. A total of RM24.5 million was allocated by the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP). UNESCO was assigned with the responsibility of planning and executing the polytechnic's construction on an area of 22.6 hectars at Dairy Road, Ipoh. The polytechnic was named after the late Dato' Professor Ungku Omar Ahmad, in recognition of his valuable contributions to the nation, especially in the field of medical research.
Initially, this polytechnic was housed at the Daily Training Centre (DTC), Ipoh building which came to be known later as Maktab Perguruan Kinta. For the first batch of 300 students, lectures were held beginning from 2 June 1969. At that time, the academic workforce consisted of 28 local lecturers, who were assisted by 14 volunteers from Canada, United States of America, Germany and Japan. Towards the end of 1973, the polytechnic shifted to its new campus and was officiated on 10 May 1974 by the then Minister of Education, the late Tun Abdul Razak bin Hussein.
During the early stages, the polytechnic only had four academic departments, namely the Civil Engineering Department, Electrical Engineering Department, Mechanical Engineering Department and Commerce Department, which offered various academic programmes at diploma and certificate levels. In 1972, the Marine Engineering Department was formed and this department only offered one diploma level academic programme. On 1 March 1999, two academic units were upgraded as departments. The Mathematics and Science Unit was upgraded as the Mathematics, Science and Computer Department. The Language and Religious Unit was upgraded as General Studies Department. In January 1999, the Information Technology Programme was offered for the first time under the Electrical Engineering Department. In July 1999, the coordination of Information Technology Programme was taken over by the Mathematics, Science and Computer Department. In January 2007, the Information and Communications Technology Department began to coordinate the Information Technology Programme.
On 1 September 1999, the Kinta Teachers Training College handed over its campus to Ungku Omar Polytechnic. Now, this campus is known as Campus B and it houses the Commerce Department, General Studies Department, Cocurriculum Unit and Examination Unit. Expansion of the campus area is vital to cater for the ever-increasing intake of students. It is expected that the total number of students in Ungku Omar Polytechnic would reach 10,000 in the near future.
Towards the end of the year 2007, Ungku Omar Polytechnic has produced a total of 50,822 graduates. At present, many of our former students are serving in various economic sectors, contributing their skills and talent in the process of nation-building. This was made possible by our workforce of academic and non-academic staff, which currently totals 790.
