YTU hosts its convocation at its assembly hall and it is hosted annually on March 1 or 2. At the convocation ceremony, the graduating students led by the rector would walk down the Awber road to the assembly hall while the Mingalar Hsine is being played. The onlookers and bystanders would give applause to the walking graduating students. This is a tradition of YTU practiced since the first convocation ceremony and hence Awbar road is one of the most famous hallmarks of the university since the time of RIT. Normally, no one would cross the Awbar road on any other given time of year.
Clocks are one of the gifts presented to the university ever since the establishment of the Burma Institute of Technology. They are constructed on a metal body topped with a convex glass cover. The clock at the main entrance, however, is constructed with flat glass.
All of the clocks at Yangon Technological University are controlled by a Main Master Clock system and are synchronized by the Synchronous Motor from the Master Clock. The clocks operated according to the frequency of the power line. There are 34 clocks hanging above the corridors and others are installed as Electric Wall Clocks in the rooms.
The parabola arch at the university main entrance is one of the most famous hallmarks that was born with the establishment of Burma Institute of Technology. The arch is the only vehicle entrance on the campus with smaller entrances on its side
After its construction, the arch was nicknamed U Lu Paw Gate by the students because it bears a resemblance to U Lu Paw, a cartoon character who had a pointed oval head and who was one of the many cartoon characters of the famous cartoonist (U) Aung Shein. And as time went by, that nickname became the official name of the gate.
The spirit of unity and integration of the university is represented (through architecture and engineering technology) by the form of the arch, with both ends of the arch rising from opposite sides and meeting in the middle to form one unified structure.
Since Yangon Technological University’s construction, a large building resembling the shape of a butterfly has been built in the valley next to the dormitories for dinners and catering for students. There are 2 dining halls on the left and right side of the building and a soaring roof that resembles the wings of a butterfly covers the area between the 2 halls, revealing the architectural beauty of the building. And thus, the building is famously known as the Butterfly Hall. The dining halls are constructed with large windows for good lighting and aggregate floors for durability.
The building is also fitted with ideal dining facilities. In August of 2018,according to the University Master Plan, a plan for the renovation of the Butterfly Hall was discussed. Therefore, the necessary renovation plans were prepared and submitted by the Architecture Students’ Association. According to the renovation plan, the original dining function of the Butterfly Hall was converted to a recreational function. During the renovation process, some of the original components were dismantled, including the refrigerator. The equipment inside the refrigerator was carefully removed and displayed inside the building.
From the start of the construction of Yangon Technological University, power distributing systems that distributed power to the whole campus were installed in the main building, building 2 and dining hall. All those machines are listed as the campus heritage items.
Since the establishment of Yangon Technological University, a Shaded Corridor Network has been constructed so that the students can conveniently walk between the administrative buildings, lecture rooms and dormitories in all seasons.
The corridor starts from the main building to building F and is over 1,000 feet long. All of the roofs are made of reinforced concrete slabs. The design of the corridor network as well as the corridor junctions between building 2 and 3, between the dining hall and the dormitories, reflect the simplistic beauty of Soviet architecture.
Since the beginning of the construction of Yangon Technological University, the assembly hall was designed to also be used as a movie theatre. Screenings in the hall were done by Carbon Arc Projection technology from the projection room above the hall.
The projection room was rediscovered by the 5th Central Executive Committee of YTU Students’ Union and Architecture Students’ Association and was restored with the help of the university’s cleaning staff. Numerous equipment including two main machines were found in the room and all have been documented and archived.
Rangoon Institute of Technology is located next to Insein Road. The land adjacent to the road was designated as a forest area since the start of its construction, with the purpose of reducing traffic noise by natural barriers. The YTU Campus Master Plan also calls for the conservation and expansion of trees in the forest area to increase biodiversity and to reduce noise pollution. However, in July 2018, the Steering Committee of Technological Universities and University development team led by former ministers of Thein Sein’s Government, planned to cut down 88 trees for landscaping in the Buffer Zone. 33 trees were actually cut down which included several veteran trees because of that plan. The Student Union President initially formed the Buffer Zone and Visual Spine Area Study Team, marking the remaining trees and starting the process of replanting in the forest area.
With the help of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation and the Yangon Region Forest Department, more than 200 trees were replanted throughout the campus including in the Buffer Zone. A survey plan was also drawn up in the Buffer Zone with the help and cooperation of some alumni and a marble Green Forest Area (Buffer Zone) monument was successfully erected.
As the Chariot Wheel concept was incorporated into its design and being connected with both the main building and the bookshop, no changes were made to the original landscape design of the Visual Spine Area. Instead the area was cleaned and the walkways were replaced with block pavement which allows water seepage into the soil. Renovating and restoring the monument of the founding of the university in the Visual Spine Area, to its former white color and repurposing the area around the monument into public areas were also done.