Curtin Malaysia Faculty of Engineering and Science hosts webinar for graduating students

Miri – 27 July 2020 – A total of 150 soon-to-graduate engineering and science students of Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) attended their Faculty of Engineering and Science’s virtual pre-graduation webinar recently. The occasion marked the close of their final semester and three or four years of undergraduate study (depending on programme) at the campus.

Due to the current circumstances amid COVID-19, the normally face-to-face event had to be held on online for the first time, but that did not diminish the significance of the event, nor the online attendance of all the graduating students, senior management, and academic staff of the Faculty of Engineering and Science.

As the final-year, final-semester students had spent their final semester attending classes, tutorials and examinations online, except for a brief three weeks on-campus to complete their final-year projects, having to attend their pre-graduation event remotely came hardly as a surprise.

The students were from Faculty’s departments of Chemical Engineering, Civil and Construction Engineering, Electrical and Communication Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Applied Geology, and Computer Systems and Networking.

Also attending were Curtin Malaysia’s Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Simon Leunig, Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Beena Giridharan, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Science Professor Vu Tuong Thuy, and heads and academic staff of the various departments. The three professors each gave speeches to congratulate the students and launch the event.

This was followed by a presentation on graduate membership in the Board of Engineers (BEM) and attaining professional engineer status by civil and construction engineering programme coordinator and lecturer Ir. Meheron Selowara Joo.

The webinar also saw five accomplished alumni of the Faculty of Engineering and Science sharing their student experiences at Curtin Malaysia, and their transition from being university students to becoming young professionals. They also talked about the current situation in their respective industries, including career prospects for new graduates and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their industries and personal lives.

The five comprised Aaron Lim Chee Ren, a territory manager with Petron Fuel International; Dr. Lee Ren Jie, a process safety consultant with SynergenOG Sdn. Bhd.; Haripriyan Jaganathan, an industrial operation and risk expert for Air Liquide; Nguyen Quang Minh, a process engineer with the Ecolab Manufacturing Plant in Brisbane; and Dhiren Tejani, a design engineer for Intel Corporation.

Lim graduated with first class honours in chemical engineering, and whilst at Curtin Malaysia, he assumed various leadership positions in student organisations such as the Curtin Marketing Club, AIESEC and International Students Association. He also co-founded Humanitarian Affairs at Curtin Malaysia, a student volunteer group affiliated with the worldwide Humanitarian Affairs organisation.

Having had more than 4 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry, Lim is now seeking to enhance his skills in consulting and management by signing up for a MBA programme in Germany.

Dr. Lee received his Bachelor in Chemical Engineering degree at Curtin Malaysia in 2015. He went on to pursue a PhD at the campus, which he completed in 2019. His postgraduate research study focused on gas separation with membrane technology to synthesis blend mixed matrix membrane. His involvement in the research project led to numerous publications in research journals and conference proceedings.

Haripriyan, meanwhile, graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering in 2013. He began his career as a remote operations centre engineer with The Linde Group for four years, overseeing the operations of multiple air separation units (ASU) located in South and East Asia. In 2017, he joined Air Liquide as an ASU performance engineer, and after two years, he was given the opportunity to further his career in the organisation’s Technical Career Leaders path leading to his current position.

Nguyen completed his Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering in 2017. As a student at Curtin Malaysia, he was actively involved in the Curtin Oratory and Debating Society and represented Curtin Malaysia at the National Chemical Engineering Symposium (NACES) 2015 competition where he won first place in the technical debate category.

He assumed his role as a process engineer with Ecolab Manufacturing in 2018, working under the plant manager to lead process improvement projects with the aim to increase efficiency and quality. Prior to this, he worked in a pesticide/herbicide plant and a steel manufacturing plant.

Dhiren is a graduate of both Curtin Malaysia, where he obtained a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Systems and Networking, and the main campus in Perth, where he completed a Master of Engineering Science in Telecommunications and Networking

As a design engineer, Dhiren specialises in designing future technologies, primarily in the area of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). He is also an avid researcher and according to him, rapidly evolving industry and technological advances in artificial intelligence and home automation continue to be a source of great interest and continuous learning for him. His research has also seen some of his work being published in international journals.

For more information on Curtin Malaysia, visit curtin.edu.my or find Curtin Malaysia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

(L-R) Curtin Malaysia alumni Dr Lee Ren Jie, Aaron Lim Chee Ren, Haripriyan Jaganathan, Nguyen Quang Minh, and Dhiren Tejani.