Duy Tan Dream

DTU Strives to Eliminate the Discrimination between Public and Private Universities

On the evening of April 9^th, the opening ceremony of the XXI National Student Mathematics Olympiad was held at DTU. DTU is the first private university in Vietnam to host this event. Recently, DTU students were the champions of the 7^th Huda Cup Football Tournament and four DTU teams reached the national finals of the 2013 Robocon Contest.

Such achievements have demonstrated DTU’s educational reputation in Central Vietnam. The reporter of Thethaovanhoa.vn interviewed Dr. Vo Thanh Hai, the DTU Vice-Provost.

* DTU is the first private university to host the National Student Mathematics Olympiad. Everyone at DTU must be very proud?

DTU has participated in the National Student Mathematics Olympiad for many years now, winning third and consolidation prizes. This year there are about 85 teams, comprising 865 lecturers and students and the DTU team has ten students. The DTU Board of Provosts and the entire faculty are very glad to host the competition this year. DTU would like to thank MOET, the local authorities and the community for your support.

Dr. Vo Thanh Hai, DTU Vice-Provost, is always proud of student achievements

The main requirements to host the event are the university facilities and its participation and success in previous years, which will influence the steady improvements of the participants. The excellent results of DTU in previous Robocon contests have proved students’ abilities and talents to compete with other leading universities.

In November, DTU will organize the National Student Informatics Olympiad. Although there are many different events to manage, DTU will try its best to also make this event a success.

Four DTU teams out of a total of eight will represent Central Vietnam in the national finals of the 2013 Robocon Contest. One month before that, DTU won the 7^th Huda Cup football tournament. Can you comment on these achievements?

The Huda Cup is a professional football tournament held for students in Central Vietnam, in the spirit of fair play. DTU has participated in the tournament for many years but never reached to the finals. However, this year, DTU won and will enter the final round in Vinh in May. Thanks to the support of the DTU Board of Provosts, this is a great achievement for DTU students and encourages them to do better.

In the 2013 Robocon Contest, four of the eight DTU teams proceeded to the national finals. We highly appreciate the efforts that all members of DTU Robocon teams have made so far. As well as completing their daytime class-work, they were required to stay up very late at night to finish making the robots. DTU gave them free use of all the equipment and the funds to finance their research. Flexible examination schedules were also arranged to help them.

We feel very proud of those achievements because DTU is only a private university but the outstanding academic training and direction has helped these students to succeed. By combining their studies and team-play, instead of just focusing on their class-work, students will strive to perform better and better.

DTU, New Champions of the Huda Cup Football Tournament

This means that DTU knows how to balance study and extra-curricular activities, academic and physical education so students can do better academically?

It is said that DTU has quickly improved in academics and extra-curricular activities, while the number of enrollees has increased considerably, as well as innovation in teaching methods. DTU has always invested in numerous extra-curricular activities and gained remarkable results. Besides the Huda Cup Football Tournament, DTU students have participated in the annual U-League contest, organized by MOET and been one of the leading teams entering the national finals. In its first year, the DTU football team reached the finals and a student won the title of Miss U-League. Most recently, Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan Trang was the winner of the 2012 Miss Danang Pageant.

As well as sports events, DTU have participated in many music shows, including one on March 26^th, organized by the Danang University Youth Union, achieving high results. Such extra-curricular activities are sponsored by DTU through the DTU Youth Union, the DTU Office of Students Affairs and the DTU Center of Physical Education and National Defense. Most of them are voluntary.

The outstanding achievements of DTU students have left strong impressions. Mr. Dang Xuan Nam is the first and only student in Central Vietnam to win first prize in the 2010 Loa Thanh contest. In 2012, DTU was ranked at 7^th of 102 teams and won a consolation prize with the topic “2012 - Introducing and Demonstrating Earthquake Engineering Research in Schools”, held in Taiwan. Most of their achievements recognized both nationally and internationally.

DTU believes that it is vital for students to study and entertain themselves at the same time to stimulate their creativity. Part of their education is devoted to social activities. Currently, DTU is building two mini-football fields and a basketball court for relaxation after hard days of studying. Students feel overwhelmed if they just focus to their studies. So their academic programs are balanced with theory comprising 60% and practice 40%. DTU students are required to work in groups to develop their team skills. This way they will be effectively prepared for better communication, teamwork and personal relationships.

Researching models of earthquake shelters to be applied in practical applications

I hear that, on April 25^th, DTU will collaborate with the Danang Association of New Business to hold a Conference on Technology Transfer?

The Technology Transfer Conference on April 25^th will focus on technology, publications on IT research conducted at DTU, telecommunications, architecture, tourism and the environment. After publication, these concepts may be applied to local companies.

DTU’s new direction is that all DTU faculty and student projects must be effectively used by the local community. As DTU is a private university, the budget is mainly contributed by students. So, most of the research should be selected carefully to make of is potential worth to the community. DTU will invest in new research projects with high payback.

Students who are in financial need to support their scientific research will receive grants from DTU. The university also holds competitions to help students learn more about science by providing them with valuable scholarships.

In the future, DTU will establish new academic training and research models to replace current ones. DTU hopes to eliminate the perception by local companies and others that public universities are better than private ones by highlighting its significant achievements in academic reputation. Such achievements may narrow the gap between the standards of public and private institutions.

DTU is taking steps to obtain accreditations from ABET and AACSB, in technology and economics, as required by MOET. It is the long-term plan, from 2013-2020, to educate a new labor force to meet the local demands.

Thank you and we hope that DTU will be very successful in the future!

(Board of Website Editors)