IChemE Malaysia Awards 2014 winners announced

Chemical and process engineers from some of Malaysia’s leading universities enjoyed a successful evening at the second Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Malaysia Awards 2014, held at the Grand Millennium Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

The IChemE Malaysia Awards form part of an exclusive series of events across the world – including ceremonies in Singapore and the UK – to celebrate excellence, innovation and achievement in industries such as oil, gas, water, food and pharmaceutical sectors.

Monash University Malaysia, Curtin University and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia won six of the seven award categories presented, with the University of Malaya highly commended in two of the categories.

The major winner was Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), who were victorious in three of the categories including the Process Safety Award¹ sponsored by MMI Engineering and the Sustainable Technology Award² sponsored by PETRONAS. UTM's Ahmad Fauzi Ismail won the Innovator of the Year Award³ sponsored by DNV GL.

There was further good news for UTM, with their award-winning ‘Integrated Distributed Energy Application Software (IDEAS)’ sustainable technology entry being shortlisted for the IChemE Global Awards 2014 being held on 6 November in the UK.

Monash University Malaysia was presented with the Education and Training Award⁴, sponsored by PETRONAS, for their ‘Public participation for sustainable growth’ entry. Patrick Tang Siah Ying, a lecturer from Monash University Malaysia was awarded the Young Chemical Engineer in Academia⁵ prize, sponsored by Shell.

Curtin University took the honours in the Petrochemical Processing⁶ category, also sponsored by PETRONAS, for their ‘Gas Processing Plant and Uncertainty’ submission.

Syed Mohd Faiz B Syed Mohd Fuzi, an MG3 scheduling executive at PETRONAS Penapisan (Melaka) Sdn Bhd, was crowned Young Chemical Engineer in Industry⁷, sponsored by Talisman Energy.

Last year's inaugural IChemE Malaysia Awards was attended by royal guest of honour, HRH Raja Puan Besar of Perak Tuanku Zara Salim, D.K.S.A, D.K.A., who is now known as HRH Raja Permaisuri of Perak.

It was a successful 2013 for Malaysian chemical engineering and PETRONAS in particular, who went on to win three further IChemE Awards at the global ceremony in England, including the top prize of 2013 Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemical and Process Engineering.

Professor Geoff Maitland, IChemE president, said: “Congratulations to all the winners for their success, and also the other shortlisted entries that came so close to winning a highly prized IChemE Award.

“After a fantastic first IChemE Awards in Malaysia last year, the judges have been impressed with the quality of entries once again.

'This year's event has been a fitting occasion to showcase the chemical engineering talent in Malaysia and we would like to thank all our sponsors, including event partner PETRONAS, for their support and commitment to the profession.'