UTB is the main provider of technical higher education in Brunei, a sultanate that shares the island of Borneo with provinces of Malaysia and Indonesia. It aspires to be "a global university impacting society”, with a mission "to nurture socially responsible students".
Launched in 1986 as a technical institute offering higher national diplomas, UTB attained university status in 2008, offered graduate courses from 2010 and took on its current name in 2016. Further progress was reflected in accreditation by the European Federation for Management Development in 2023. It moved to its current campus in 1998.
It aims to offer "hands-on education and industry-based programmes", which are delivered in either English or Malay. Its faculties include schools of business, design, computer engineering, applied science and mathematics, and engineering, as well as three research centres. The most recent of these, the Centre for Agri-Food Science and Technology (CrAFT), was set up in 2018 as part of a national drive to diversify Brunei’s economy.
The undergraduate degree in petroleum engineering has been reshaped and relaunched as energy engineering, in order to incorporate renewable fuels and sustainable production.
UTB remains a small institution, with 504 new students admitted for the 2023-4 academic session. Most are accommodated on-campus, within walking distances of lecture halls and laboratories.
New memoranda of agreement were signed in 2023 with Mitsubishi Corporation. The deal included an electric car for UTB, as well as sponsorship for five students each year.
