Curtin Malaysia and IBA-IFIBiop 2019 organising committee host interactive technical writing workshop

Miri – 8 May 2019 – The Faculty of Engineering and Science of Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) and the 8th International Conference on Bioprocessing (IBA-IFIBiop 2019) organising committee hosted a one-day interactive technical writing workshop for 50 participants comprising academics and researchers from Curtin Malaysia, and others from Malaysia and across Asia, recently.

Held as part of the five-day IBA-IFIBiop 2019 conference co-hosted by Curtin Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) for the first time in Malaysia, the workshop was held in the Council Room at the Curtin Malaysia campus.

It covered all aspects of writing and publishing scientific articles in quartile score 1 (Q1) / science citation index (SCI) journals, including critical analyses of reasons behind the acceptance or early rejection of articles.

The workshop was facilitated by Dr. Eldon Raj Rene, a senior lecturer at IHE-Delft, Institute of Water Education in the Netherlands.

Dr. Rene’s research interests include the development of biological treatment processes for wastewater and waste gas treatment, non-point source pollution prevention, resource recovery from waste gases, the use of artificial intelligence tools for environmental monitoring, environmental process control and eco-industrial parks.

He has authored two books on Sustainable Heavy Metal Remediation (Volumes 1 and 2, published in 2017) and currently serves as the managing editor for Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/technology (Springer) and an associate editor of the Journal of Environmental Engineering (ASCE).

Dr. Rene is also a two-time recipient of the ‘Young Scientist Award’ conferred by the Challenges in Environmental Science and Engineering conference organisers in Sydney, Australia and Kaohsiung, Taiwan, respectively.

Also attending the workshop were Associate Professor Perumal Kumar, Dr. Sumaiya Islam, Dr. Neamul Ahsan Noman Khandoker, Dr. Wee Siaw Khur and Ms Jenney Ngu Lim Song of Curtin Malaysia’s Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Petroleum Engineering Departments.

During the workshop, Dr. Rene elaborated on the do’s and don’ts of scientific writing and explained some essential basics of writing to the participants. In addition, he shared the checklist for preparation of manuscripts to quartile score 1 (Q1) / science citation index (SCI) journals.

After the workshop, the participants were taken on a tour of the newly-completed Pilot Plant Facility at Curtin Malaysia by Professor Clem Kuek, Curtin Malaysia’s Dean of Research and Development.

IBA-IFIBiop 2019 co-chair Dr. Bridgid Chin Lai Fui, who is a senior lecturer at Curtin Malaysia’s Faculty of Engineering and Science, remarked that the workshop participants benefited greatly from Dr. Rene’s explanations, especially how to produce high-quality technical papers, the publication process from a journal editor’s perspective, and understanding why some papers are rejected before and after the reviewing process.

She said the workshop also provided a unique international platform for the development of future collaboration and networking between the participants from Curtin Malaysia and those from other institutions and organisations such as Kumamoto University Japan, IIT Guwahati India, Northeast Normal University China, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysian Palm Oil Board and Universiti Malaysia Pahang.

The IBA-IFIBiop is a biennial international conference organised as a networking platform for academic and industrial researchers and scientists to present and discuss the latest findings and trends in bioprocess technology.

This year’s conference, with the theme ‘Bridging Sustainability and Industrial Revolution through Green Bioprocessing’, brought together a multinational body of over 165 scientists, engineers and other experts to deliberate on global developments in the fields of bioenergy or biofuels, food technology and engineering, industrial biotechnology, environmental biotechnology, and upstream and downstream bioprocesses.

Curtin Malaysia staff and other participants with workshop facilitator Dr Eldon Raj Rene (seated 2nd right) at the end of the workshop.