Over 250 participants attend National Chemical Engineering Symposium in Miri

Miri – 11 December 2015 – The National Chemical Engineering Symposium (NACES) 2015, held for the first time in Sarawak at the campus of Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) last weekend, attracted over 250 participants from 17 tertiary institutions in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

The event with the theme ‘Tug of War: Fossil Fuels against Renewables’ was organised by Curtin Sarawak’s Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Student Chapter in collaboration with the university’s Department of Chemical Engineering and the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) in Malaysia.

It was opened by Curtin Sarawak’s Chief Operating Officer Kingsley F. Charles, Acting Deputy Dean of its Faculty of Engineering and Science Dr. Lenin Gopal; head of its Department of Chemical Engineering Associate Professor Chua Han Bing. Also present were Sarawak Energy’s General Manager of Research and Development Dr. Chen Shiun; IChemE in  Malaysia’s Regional Manager for Southeast Asia Mohan Balasingam and organising chairperson of NACES 2015 Low Yi Jin.

The event’s keynote speakers comprised Dr. Chen of Sarawak Energy; IChemE in Malaysia Marketing Executive Theresa Lok; and Sonepar Group Senior Regional Consultant Andy Seet.

In his keynote speech, Dr. Chen gave an overview of the development of Sarawak’s power generation projects focusing on hydropower as a sustainable and renewable energy resource, and provided insight into how Sarawak Energy utilises advanced technology to optimise power generation and lower carbon dioxide emissions.

Meanwhile, Lok spoke about the role of IChemE and career opportunities in chemical engineering in her presentation, while Seet shared his career path from graduate trainee to senior regional consultant at Sonepar Group, a global market leader in the distribution of electrical products and related services.

Universities and foreign branch campuses in Malaysia represented at the symposium were Curtin Sarawak, Monash University Malaysia Campus, UCSI University, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam, Johor and Pulau Pinang, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UNITAR), Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Universiti Malaya (UM) and The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.

Indonesia and Singapore were represented by students from Institut Teknologi Bandung and National University of Singapore.

The participating institutions competed in seven parallel sessions in conjunction with the symposium – Technical Essay Writing, Technical Case Study, Technical PowerPoint Presentation, Technical Video Presentation, Technical Debate Competition, Chemical Engineering Challenge and Process Plant Design.

They were judged by some 40 judges from the participating universities and organisations such as PETRONAS, Shell, Sonepar Group, Leadership Resources (M) Sdn. Bhd. and Technip Berhad.

UTP emerged the overall champion while Curtin Sarawak took top spot in the Process Plant Design and Technical Debate sessions. The Technical Essay Writing session was won by UM, while students from UM, USM, UiTM Shah Alam and UTP won in the Technical Case Study session.

In the Technical PowerPoint Presentation, Technical Video Presentation and Chemical Engineering Challenge sessions, UTP, UiTM Shah Alam and Institut Teknologi Bandung won respectively.

NACES 2015 was sponsored by Sarawak Energy Berhad and Top Glove Corporation Berhad and supported by Sarawak Convention Bureau, IChemE in Malaysia and Curtin Sarawak’s Student Council.

The event provided the participants, who were mostly chemical engineering undergraduates, the opportunity to demonstrate their creative thinking, effective communication and technical knowledge in generating innovative solutions for global development issues and challenges.

The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus will be the host for NACES 2016.

(L–R) Mohan, Dr Chen, Kingsley, Dr Lenin, Associate Professor Chua and Low cutting ribbon during opening ceremony.

Low (right) receiving a mock cheque from Dr Chen as Kingsley looks on.

Group photo of the NACES 2015 participants.