This is Mei Zhen Lim, the Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS Chancellors Gold Award winner for 2026.

I want to tell you her story.

Mei Zhen is from a rural town that sends very few people to university. She had major surgery at age 12, her mother left the family shortly after and sadly, her father died during Covid. At that point she found it hard to imagine ever fulfilling her dream of going to university.

But YUTP (the UTP charity supporting student and research development) stepped in and offered her a full scholarship to study Civil Engineering with us. And Mei Zhen grabbed that opportunity with both hands.

She excelled in academics achieving a first class honours degree. She was president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS – Student Chapter (ICE-UTP-SC) and project director for Orientation Week in 2023 where she led 200 committee members to welcome more than 1300 new students.

She started a global supply chain business with her South Sudanese roommate, connecting manufacturers in China with upcoming young professionals in Africa to provide affordable professional attire, and thus support career confidence and workplace participation, particularly among women.

She provided free online English tuition to primary school pupils from families unable to afford additional classes and connected secondary school students in her hometown with mentors who guided them in goal-setting, interpersonal skills and scholarship applications.

She turned her final year project into a research paper presented at the International Conference on Water Resources, and will shortly appear in Springer Nature’s journal Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering.

And her innovation achievements have received multiple national and international recognitions, including four Gold Awards, two Silver Awards and multiple highly placed achievements at competitions and conferences like the International STEM Innovation Olympiad 2024.

I wanted to share this story with you for three reasons.

Firstly, it’s an incredible story! Mei Zhen is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met and I want to tell everyone about her. 

Secondly, it’s a reminder that all of our students, every single one, has their own story of the opportunities university has given them.

Thirdly, those two things together, the transformation of every one of our students, and Mei Zhen’s journey in particular, are powerful reminders that what we do really really matters. 

Our students find their path and build the skills they need to walk it. 

Mei Zhen says YUPT and UTP gave her the chance to choose her own life. 

That is SO important. 

When I look at universities around the world grappling with severe funding pressure, geopolitical and technological forces beyond our control, and the need to transform to meet the possibilities, challenges and funding constraints…

Convocation ceremonies, and stories like Mei Zhen’s remind me…

Our work really does transform lives and enable better futures. 

So to my colleagues at UTP and dear friends across the sector…

Thank you.

Keep doing what you do.

It really matters.