New perspectives on cold-formed steel building products and structures presented at Borneo Engineering Symposium

Miri – 25 July 2012 – Participants of the recent Borneo Engineering Symposium in Kuching, Sarawak, gave their thumbs-up to the success of the event, saying they walked away with new perspectives on the application of cold-formed steel building products and structures and are looking forward to next year’s symposium.

According to the organising chairman, Dr. Lau Hieng Ho, the response to the event was very encouraging, with over 100 participants from throughout Malaysia attending.

“We will definitely organise another symposium next year due to the numerous requests from the participants. They found the symposium very informative and a real eye-opener as the speakers offered many new perspectives on the applications of cold-formed steel,” said Dr. Lau.

Themed ‘Cold-formed Steel Innovations: Green and Viable Structural Solutions’, they symposium was organised by Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) in collaboration with The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM), Sarawak Branch; Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus; and Malaysia Cold-formed Steel Institute (MyCSI). The sponsors for the event were BlueScope Steel (M) Sdn. Bhd. and EcoSteel Sdn. Bhd.

BlueScope Steel Malaysia is the only local manufacturer of both ZINCALUME® steel and TRUECORE® zinc/aluminium alloy-coated steel and Clean COLORBOND® pre-painted steel. EcoSteel Sdn Bhd, based in Kuching, provides comprehensive steel structural and architectural building solutions supporting the needs of the local construction industry.

Internationally renowned researchers from universities and industry professionals who presented at the symposium included Professor Ben Young from the University of Hong Kong; Professor Marios Soutsos from the University of Liverpool; Associate Professor Dr. Lau Hieng Ho from Curtin Sarawak; Dr. James Lim from Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom; and Mei Chee Chiang, managing director of EcoSteel Sdn. Bhd.

Professor Young is a professor with the Department of Civil Engineering at The University of Hong Kong (HKU). He was among the authors of the ‘Hong Kong Code of Practice for the Structural Use of Steel’ for the Hong Kong Government’s Buildings Department, and was involved in the development of the Singaporean standard for ’Cold-formed Welded Steel Structural Hollow Sections’ for the Productivity and Standards Board of Singapore.

Professor Soutsos, meanwhile, is a reader in Structures and Concrete Technology with the Centre for Engineering Sustainability of the School of Engineering at the University of Liverpool. He is a member of the American Concrete Institute and is on the advisory editorial board for Construction and Building Materials, Elsevier.

Dr. Lau Hieng Ho is an Associate Professor with the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering at Curtin Sarawak. He has been carrying out research on cold-formed steel for many years, including studies of cold-formed steel built-up sections, connections and corrosion. He is also a professional engineer (PEng) registered with the Board of Engineers Malaysia.

Dr. James Lim is a lecturer with the School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering (SPACE) at Queen’s University Belfast. His research interests lie in the field of steel-framed structures, particularly portal frames and cold-formed steel. His current research is focused on trying to understand fundamental structural behaviour, for which he employs a combination of numerical modelling and full-scale testing.

Mei Chee Chiang is the founder and Managing Director, of EcoSteel Sdn. Bhd. He has had 18 years of working experience in the construction industry, 16 of which were with an engineering consultancy firm.

The Borneo Engineering Symposium is designed for engineers, contractors, and manufacturers of cold-formed steel building products as well as structural steelworks designers who wish to gain a good understanding of the sustainability of cold-formed steel structures and its durability in fire.

It is also relevant for those who wish to keep abreast with recent innovations in the use of cold-formed steel as a structural material, and other technical advances that have been made in this increasingly important area of building construction.

A section of the over 100 participants who attended the symposium.

Dr Lau Hieng Ho (right) presenting a momento to Mr Ken Wong, Vice President of Blue Scope Steel Malaysia (Marketing).

Dr Lau Hieng Ho (right) presenting momento to Mr Mei Chee Chiang, founder and Managing Director of EcoSteel Sdn Bhd.