Thursday, April 16, 2009

50th Anniversary Celebrations Kick Off in Kuching

This morning saw the launch of the IEM 50th Anniversary celebrations with the officiating of the International Conference on Engineering and Education in the 21st Century (ICEE) in Kuching, Sarawak. To give added value for the participants, the Opening Ceremony was made into a 3 in 1 function, viz. the opening ceremony of ICEE, the launching of IEM’s 50th Anniversary Celebrations, and the conferment of the IEM Honorary Fellowship to YAB Pehin Sri Tan Sri Hj Abdul Taib Mahmud, the Guest of Honour and Chief Minister of Sarawak.

In my speech, I thanked YAB Pehin Sri and the Government of Sarawak for granting IEM Sarawak a piece of land on which will be built a Centre of Engineering Excellence. Then on behalf of IEM, I proposed that this Centre should be dedicated to the development of post-graduate engineering study and cutting-edge research and development programmes in renewal energy, so as to provide solutions to real world engineering challenges particularly in the areas of renewable energy, energy conservation, green energy, and water resources.

I further suggested that the Centre can be an integral part of the human capacity building programme of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE), the regional development corridor for the state of Sarawak. On our part, IEM will tap on our international network to secure the active involvement of local and international experts to contribute to this Centre. We will also seek to align this Centre with outstanding universities both local and abroad, and to work closely with international organisations such as UNESCO.



This IEM proposal was very warmly received by YAB Pehin Sri and over an extended lunch after the opening ceremony, YAB expressed a desire that the Centre work closely with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. Council has appointed Past President Dato’ Lee Yee Cheong to chair the Centre’s International Advisory Board and Dato’ Lee will also look into an action plan to kick-start the project with the proviso (typical of IEM!) that there should be no financial liability to IEM.

KA

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