Curtin Malaysia holds 3rd Civil and Environmental Engineering Research Conference for students

Miri – 1 July 2022 – The Civil and Construction Engineering Department of Curtin University Malaysia’s Faculty of Engineering and Science recently held its 3rd Civil and Environmental Engineering Research Conference for students and staff.

The conference, which was conducted face-to-face for the first time after two years and partially in hybrid mode, was attended by about 30 students and staff, including three interns from Politeknik Mukah and Politeknik Kuching.

The event included a guest lecture on riverine infrastructure by Ir. Wang Say Kwang from the JKR Regional Office in Miri. In addition to sharing his technical knowledge and work experience in riverine infrastructure development, Ir. Wang also had an extensive discussion with the students and staff on various aspects of civil engineering and environmental engineering.

Head of the Civil and Construction Engineering Department, Associate Professor Wong Kwong Soon, said it was good for the students and staff to learn from a highly-experienced industry practitioner.

“Ir. Wang shared a lot of industry knowledge and insights which was beneficial to both the students and lecturers,” said Assoc. Prof. Wong.

The talk was followed by presentations by 16 final-year Bachelor of Civil and Construction Engineering and Bachelor of Environmental Engineering students on the outcomes of their final-year projects. They presented their technical research findings as well as potential opportunities to advance engineering knowledge through their projects. The presentations were conducted in three parallel sessions in hybrid mode.

The projects involved aspects such as sustainable construction materials and technology, innovative structural systems, risk assessment, wastewater treatment, microplastic and climate change.

Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Science, Professor Tuong-Thuy Vu, commended the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering for the successful conference. He said it was good to see students, academic staff and industry practitioners being able to interact face-to-face again, at the same time embracing the new normal by conducting some of the conference activities in hybrid mode.

Meanwhile, final-year student Yap Qi Nam said the students benefitted greatly from the conference and were grateful to the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering for organising it. They were also appreciative of the information shared by Ir. Wang, which they said would be useful to them in their future careers.

Curtin Malaysia offers Curtin University’s Bachelor of Engineering in Civil and Construction Engineering, which equips students with the knowledge and skills to apply scientific and technological principles to the design and construction of infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water supply and wastewater treatment systems, tunnels, power projects, offshore structures, and commercial and industrial buildings. They also acquire an understanding of the properties of construction materials and construction methods.

The Bachelor of Engineering in Environmental Engineering, meanwhile, provides a broad scope of environmental engineering, including water treatment, solid waste management, and domestic and industrial waste water treatment. Graduates can find employment in areas such as environmental impact assessment, air pollution prevention and control, environmental monitoring and management systems, environmental consultation, soil erosion prevention, noise monitoring and control, recycling systems and oil spill recovery.

Both are four-year honours courses accredited by Engineers Australia (EA) and the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM), and recognised by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA).

For more information on Curtin Malaysia, visit its website at https:// www.curtin.edu.my or look for Curtin Malaysia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn or Tik-Tok. More information on the Faculty of Engineering and Science can be found at https://engsci.curtin.edu.my/.

Assoc. Prof. Wong presenting a momento to Ir. Wang after the guest lecture.

Ir. Wang giving his guest lecture to the students.