Curtin Sarawak Engineering Lecturer wins another Prestigious Award

Miri – 8 October 2008 – Only last month, Electrical/ Communication Engineering & Computing lecturer, Terence Tan was awarded Curtin Excellence and Innovation in Teaching (EIT) Award 2008 by mother-campus in Perth, Australia.

This time, Dr. Aaron Goh of Mechanical Engineering Department has been selected for 2008 Young Scientist Award by American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC) International Rheology Division.

AACC International is an international non-profit organization of members who specialises in the use of cereal and grains in foods. The award is to recognise Aaron’s outstanding research in rheology and texture as related to cereal based products.

“Rheology is the study of how materials deform and change shape when an external force is applied to them,” Aaron says. “Understanding the rheological behaviour of material has a wide implication on food products. For instance, rheology is related to how we can make a thick but pourable ketchup or how crisp a potato chip is when we bite or how stable the bubbles in the bread are when the bread is being baked,” he further adds on.

Aaron obtained his education at Imperial College London where he first received a BEng in Mechanical Engineering (1998) then a PhD in 2002.

In 2002, Aaron was awarded a Research Fellowship from Royal Commission for Exhibition of 1851 to conduct his postdoctoral research at Imperial College London. Previously, he had already won the Unwin Prize for best PhD thesis in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Curtin Sarawak is proud of Aaron’s achievement and will continue its focus to support lecturers and students in their quest for excellence.

Curtin Sarawak School of Engineering had recently organised a debate session titled “Engineering soft skill is more important than technical know-how.”

Final year Mechanical Engineering student, Johan Mohamad comments, “The debate session truly stimulate our ideas as students. The preparation involved a lot of brainstorming, we truly enjoyed being able to share knowledge with the opponent team. After all, there is never an end to education. We should always be hungry for knowledge.”

As part of Curtin Graduates Attributes, students are encouraged to utilise their knowledge to be research smart, critical and creative thinkers as well as effective communicators.

Curtin Sarawak Dean, Dr. Joan Gribble exclaims, “Our students are trained to be independent not only in academic as well as social life. The University is proud to produce graduates who are in high demand. Statistics show that 83% of Curtin graduates are employed within three months upon completion of studies.”

Curtin Sarawak School of Engineering is also organising CUTSE (Curtin University of Technology Science & Engineering) International Conference 2008 on 25 November. Academics and tertiary students are encouraged to attend the conference.
For more information on CUTSE, log on to http://s44937.p1679.sites.pressdns.com/cutse2008/index.html.