Guest lecture gives Curtin environmental engineering students a better picture of environmental management system

Miri – 29 August 2022 – Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) recently hosted an online guest lecture by Dr. Hannah Ho, Principal Consultant of ConsultLead Sdn. Bhd., a Kuching-based management services and business consultancy, for its final-year environmental engineering students and lecturers.

The lecture titled ‘Introduction to Environmental Management Systems’ was in relation to the ENEN 4003 Environmental Integrated Design Project, a capstone unit for final-year environmental engineering students, and thus was very relevant to the students’ learning. The unit allows students to integrate their knowledge and skills in various environmental aspects with real-world engineering practices in a real-life project.

Dr. Ho has over 24 years’ experience in environment-related fields. As the principal consultant at ConsultLead, she specialises in environmental quality standards such as ISO 9001 Quality, ISO 14001 Environmental and ISO 45001 Occupational Health & Safety, CIS 21 Ready-Mixed Concrete (Production, Conformity, and Transportation & Delivery Criteria for Producers), ISO 22000, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), GMP Food Safety Management System in various industries.

In her lecture, Dr. Ho gave a brief introduction to the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System, which is the most widely used standard for Environmental Management System (EMS) in the world. The standard requires businesses to identify and manage the environmental aspects and impacts resulting from their operations, products and services, and assists them to manage ecological risks effectively and improve environmental performance.

She also shared with the students some global environmental issues such as air pollution, waste generation, water pollution, habitat destruction and degradation, and food supply problems.

Dr. Ho said the lack of knowledge of pollutants, legislative control and management commitments, and society’s generally poor attitude towards environmental control are factors leading to negative environmental impact. She encouraged the students and academics to think globally and act locally to protect the environment and the world’s limited natural resources.

Dr. Vera Loo, senior lecturer in Curtin Malaysia’s Department of Civil and Construction Engineering and the ENEN 4003 unit leader, said the lecture was very beneficial to the students and academics as it gave them a better understanding of how the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System is applied in different companies. She said it was encouraging to hear how the system enables companies to reduce waste and costs, which in turn results in better environmental performance.

Meanwhile, Dr. Tan Yee Yong, coordinator of the environmental engineering programme at Curtin Malaysia, said industry connections are very important to learning and teaching at Curtin Malaysia and guest lectures by industry practitioners like Dr. Ho not only give students first-hand insights into industry practice but the knowledge gained also helps ensure they are industry-ready when they graduate.

Curtin Malaysia offers Curtin University’s Bachelor of Engineering in Environmental Engineering, which provides a broad scope of environmental engineering, including water treatment, solid waste management, and domestic and industrial wastewater treatment. Graduates of the course 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.

It is a four-year honours course 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 and the courses it offers, visit its website at https:// www.curtin.edu.my or look for Curtin Malaysia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn or Tik-Tok.

Dr Ho (right, top row) and Dr Loo (left, top row) with students in a screen grab from the online guest lecture