About IEM (Penang Branch)

About IEM Penang Branch

 

Glorious Historical Establishment of IEM-Penang

 

After the successful formation of The Institution of Engineers Malaysia in 1959 as the professional learned society, registered with the Registrar of Societies, for the promotion and advancement of the engineering profession nationwide; a resourceful initiative was subsequently proposed for a similar setup to cater to the needs of fellow engineers in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. IEM-Penang, originally

established as the IEM-Northern Branch, was officially formed on 11th March 1967 with Ir. Ng Sui Cam as the Inaugural Chairman with 23 active branch members from the various northern states of Peninsular Malaysia namely Penang. Kedah and Perlis (Straits Echo, March 14 1967). In 2017, the membership of IEM-Penang, according to IEM-HQ, has increased exponentially through the years and presently there are about 2000 active members of this prestigious engineering institution in the State. A recent statistical survey also by IEM-HQ indicated that the engineering membership for this Branch is ranked the top 5 in Malaysia. The establishment of this (EM Branch fulfils the long felt need for a regional engineering professional learned body aimed towards the promotion and advancement of the science and art of engineering and also to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas related to al branches of engineering in Northern Peninsular Malaysia. The first coordinating office of the IEM Northern Branch activities was at Lebuh Bishop (Bishop Street) in the heart of George Town's vibrant business and financial district.

 

Impressive Landmark Progress of IEM-Northern Branch

Following the historic successful establishment of IEM-Northern Branch in 1967, the pre -cursor to IEM-Penang, various activities were subsequently actively carried out successfully by various prominent IEM Northern Chairman from 1968 to 1944 namely Ir. Lee Yin Siong, Ir. Hardial Singh, Dato' Ir. Kam U Tee, Dato' Ir. S. Theraviam, Ir. Wiliam Ng Jit Chye, Ir. S. H. Thavaraj, Ir. K. S. P. Sundram, Ir. Wong Lim Chin, Dato' Ir. J. Ponnudurai, Ir. Prof. Madya Noel Monerasinghe, Dato' Seri lr. Dr. Le Yow Ching and Ir. Tay Soon Chuan for the benefit of al fellow engineers in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. For the past 17 years of active service since its setup in 1967, the (EM-Northern Branch Secretariat has always been sited at the respective IEM Branch Chairman's office.

In 1984 (EM-Northern Branch Chairman Dao' Ir. Tan Chong Meng launched the IEM-Northern Branch Building Fund to initiate the need for IEM-Northern Branch to have their own permanent building for their Secretariat. In September 1988 the (EM-Northern Branch Chairman Ir. Mustafa Zahariman secured from the State, at a token rental, the landmark permission to use Kelab lham as the Branch's Permanent

Secretariat. At that time, the Kelab lham premises of IEM-Northern Branch was shared with the professional architect institution namely Pertubuhan Arkitek Malaysia (PAM-Northern Chapter). For the continuous benefit of fellow engineers, after the successful establishment of IEM-Northern Branch's permanent Secretariat Building at Kelab lham, fellow engineers also saw the setting up of the Engineering Library within the Secretariat Building which was finally completed in November 1989.

Efforts have been made then and also til today to always continuously improve the range of technical books for reference by the members. With the aim towards further dissemination of the latest engineering information and technology to regional engineering members, another development in the first quarter of 190 is the launching and circulation of the (EM-Northern Branch's first technical Newsletter.

Under the leadership of the then IEM Branch Chairman Ir. Kor Chan Wah, a memorable landmark international conference namely the high-impact 8th Conference of ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisations  (CAFEO) was initially successfully jointly-organised by (EM-HQ and the IEM-Northern Branch at Hotel Equatorial in Penang from 12th to 14th February 1990. The theme of the 8t CAFEO International Conference was Technological Development in ASEAN - Issues and Options' The paper presentation of 51high-impact technical and practical was presentations ranging from civil, mechanical to electronics impressive. The Conference was also supported by 200 participants from all the ASEAN countries which is most encouraging. The Penang State Government was also most supportive of this international event through their generous sponsorship of the Cultural Night event during the Conference Farewell Dinner for the respective international delegates.

1990 also marked another major step forward for this IEM Branch via the setup of the Penang Skils Development Centre(PSDC) with IEM honoured as the "Founder Member' and designated a privilege seat on PSDC's Management Council. Subsequently in October 1990, Universiti Sains Malaysia also invited this active IEM Branch to serve on their Study Board to to asist in the setting up of Research Centres for the respective engineering specializations at the university. Owing to their renowned expertise, 1991-1992 1EM Branch Chairman Ir. Cheng Ming Kai and Ir. Chong Sin Nin were specially appointed to the high status Civil  Engineering Advisory Committee of Politeknik Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzamShah formed under the directive of the then Ministry of Education with the aim towards strategic development of the polytechnic. 1991 was another busy year for IEM Northern Branch via the organisation of the IEM/ICE Joint  Conference complemented by several technical visits in Penang from 4l"to 6t" March 1991. The respective (EM Chairman Ir. Dr. Koay Ban Hing, Ir. Liaw Yew Peng. Ir. Goh Hong Seong, Ir. Ooi Boon Bow, Ir. Thean Kah Kong and Ir. Chong Chee Yoong and Ir. Le So Cheran also pro-actively further progressed the engineering activities of IEM-Northern Branch by their contributions of expertise towards the Penang State Government, Penang Heritage Resource Committee and the then Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) with the objective to further developed the skills and expertise of the State aimed towards further engineering excellence, national development and sustainable industrial advancement.

In 2002, Ir. Addnan Mohd. Razali provided the much needed leadership as the Inaugural Chairman when IEM Northern Branch was officially renamed as 1EM Penang Branch, or popularly identified in the engineering community as IEM-Penang. 2002 was also another landmark year for 1EM-Penang with the Oficial Opening of the new self managed Secretariat Office at the picturesque seaview-facing Northam Venture Building at Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah. Several IEM-Penang projects were carried out primarily for fellow engineers in Penang whilst til today still catering to the technical needs of engineering colleagues in the neighboring states of Perlis, Kedah and the northern region of Perak.

During his much appreciated tenureship as 2003-2004 IEM-Penang Chairman, Ir. Dr. Goh Teik Cheong initiated the innovative 'Engineering Career Camp' and 'Evening Talk' projects. The purpose of the 'Engineering Career Camp' project is to expose students and teachers to engineering career profession by bringing them to the work places of engineers for actual site experience on the daily duties of an engineer. The first camp was successfully held on 4 November 2004. The event was attended by 20 Lower Six students and accompanied by four teacher-counselors from five prominent secondary schools. IEM-Penang also started to organize evening talks for fellow members to attend short presentations by various speakers which were held after office hours so that the members can attend easily after work. The topics are primarily technical in nature on all aspects of engineering; however informative non-technical topics are also presented for the benefit of the engineers in the region. A minimal fee is collected from participants as a token to just cover some administrative and refreshment expenses for the respective sessions.

2004-2006 IEM-Penang Chairman Ir. Vincent Tan Huei Meng also had an active term on various networking projects with several prominent institutions which included a high-profile link-up to the newly established Engineering Campus of Universiti Sains Malaysia at Nibong Tebal, Penang. Other achievements of Ir. Vincent Tan include the close engineering expert collaboration with the State Government and various Government agencies on relevant technical projects and activities beneficial to fellow engineers in Penang and the regional states of Perlis, Kedah and Perak.

Some of the successful IEM-Penang landmark projects with the goal for elevating the engineering profession towards another level of World-Class Professional Excellence under the leadership of Dato' Professor Ir. Dr. Eric Goh as 2006-2008 IEM-Penang Chairman working closely with every individual resourceful colleague in IEM-Penang Main Committee and the then IEM-Penang G&S Committee include the design and organisation of the inaugural and most challenging 'Recent Innovations in Engineering (RIE) Conference'  project, initiation of the informative "Distinguished Engineer Legacy Lecture Series' aimed towards the dissemination of priceless expertise and life-long work experience of very senior and experienced engineers to aspiring new and practicing engineers, lr. Liaw Yew Peng successfully gave the first IEM-Penang Distinguished Engineer Lecture based on his experiences on 'Engineering Achievements in the Construction Industry - Penang Bridge' during the 2008 IEM-Penang AGM), succesful co-organisation of IEM-Penang Conference Organising Committee with IEM-HQ the 'Worid Engineering Congress (WEC) Conference which attracted eminent International Speakers from over 50 countries worldwide; implementation of the "Jurutera Emas Recognition Scheme' for fellow senior engineers, via lower event registration fees, based on their pro-active contributions towards the further advancement of the engineering profession in Malaysia and worldwide; inaugural setup of the IEM Student Chapter at USM and UITM for the benefit of university students towards industrial networking. professional linkup and subsequent career development; and also complemented by organizing more than 70 valuable engineering activities. This feat has been acknowledged by the then IEM President and IEM-HQ that IEM-Penang is the most active Branch for that year.

IEM-Penang continues to progress further under the chairmanship of 2008-2010 IEM-Penang Chairman Dato' Ir. Lim Kok Khong, 2010-2012 Chairman Ir. Ng Sin Chee, 2012-2014 Chairman Ir. Paul Phor Chi Wel and 2014-2016 Chairman Ir. Dr. Mui Kai Yin who also actively promoted and Organized many activities for the benefit of fellow engineers. The "Northern Builders' book launched on 26th March 2011 by YB Dato' Lee Kah Choon, was graced by the then IEM President Datuk Prof. Ir. Dr. Chuah Hean Teik and supported by 10 fellow engineers who were also all present to share in this memorable and meaningful occasion. Under the leadership of Ir. Paul Phor Chi Wei, as CAFEO Organising Chairman, CAFEO 33 was successfully organized by IEM-Penang in collaboration with IEM-HQ and held at Equatorial Hotel, Penang, Malaysia from 22nd  to 26th November 2015. This is the second time that Penang successfully organised and hosted CAFEO since the initial organisation of CAFEO 8 in 1990. Malaysia is the Chair of AFEO for 2015 until the conclusion of CAFEO 33. The theme for CAFEO 3 is “From Light to Bytes: ASEAN Engineering Evolution and Future Challenges” with more than 120 delegates supporting this high-impact event. CAFEO 33 provides a forum for regional engineers to share and exchange experiences and expertise to create awareness and understanding of recent developments and trends in the field of engineering and technology within the ASEAN region. In total, there were 70 technical papers from representatives  comprising all the countries in ASEAN. CAFEO 33 grand Closing Ceremony coincided with the memorable IEM-Penang Annual Anniversary Diner.

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