Overview

National Chemical Engineering Exposure Camp (NCEEC) 2022 was organised by IChemE-UM Student Chapter, recognised by the Ministry of Education (MoE) Malaysia and partnered with Palm Oil Processing Special Interest Group (POPSIG).

Pictured from top to bottom: Vincent Tiang Soon Thai (Roadshow Director at POPSIG), Liu Jun Jie (Committee at Programme and Protocol Department in NCEEC), Hong Jing Yu (Vice Director of NCEEC), Saw Xukai (Director of NCEEC), Gan Kai Ying (President of IChemE UM SC 2021-2022).

Objectives

The programme aimed to facilitate the exposure of pre-university students to Chemical Engineering course, profession and UMSC.

Speeches

Dr Mahar Diana binti Hamid, Head of Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Malaya
Dr Mahar Diana first expressed her appreciation to all committee of NCEEC. She added that this event provided a platform for all pre-university students to get a better insight on what chemical engineering is.

Professor Ir Dr Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Development), University of Malaya
Professor Abdul Aziz highlighted that chemical engineers play important roles to scale up the production to meet global demand. Chemical engineers are responsible to convert raw materials into useful products that improve the quality of life. 

Gan Kai Ying, President of IChemE UM SC 2021-2022
President Gan first expressed her sincere gratitude and warmest welcome to all the guests and participants. She mentioned that the inspirations to organise the NCEEC were to provide a general overview of a Chemical Engineering degree to the pre-university students and the diverse career options with a Chemical Engineering degree, hoping the participants will gain useful advice and information in selecting their future pathway. Compliments were given to the organising committees for all the hard work and effort in making NCEEC 2022 a huge success despite all the obstacles faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

POPSIG sharing session

During the session, Roadshow Director at POPSIG Vincent Tiang introduced upstream, midstream and downstream processing in palm oil (PO) sector.

At upstream, planting, cultivation and harvesting using drone technology are conducted to collect fresh fruit bunches (FFB). Refinery and processing of PO was conducted at midstream. The products are then transferred to downstream for hydrogenation, interesterification and fractionation to produce RBDPO.

Vincent shared that crude palm oil (CPO) achieved RM8,000 per MT, the highest price in record. Despite record-high revenue, he commented that more chemical engineers are needed to advance mechanisation, improve processing and incorporate sustainability practices.

Chemical engineering as profession

Dr Hanee Farzana Hizaddin first shared her interest and passion in chemical engineering. She commented that the course is about problem solving about chemical plant and processing using physics and mathematics.

Tan Ren Chii shared his experiences in Food and Drink industry and demonstrated the application of chemical engineering at work. He emphasised the importance of scale-up processing to meet the global supply.

Surabhi Nambiar addressed several public misperception in oil and gas sector. She underlined that every profession exposes to different extent of risk at work, while safety is paramount and always enforced at work.

During forum session with UM alumni, Gilvest Anak Matthew (final-year student at UM), Chiang Chin Ning (semiconductor sector) and Samuel Yeoh (oil and gas sector) shared their university life with the participants. The session was moderated by the Head of Department of Programme & Protocol at NCEEC Devin Chen Yung Kang.

Document

View the summary (PDF) of the event.

Best post-event report award

Congratulations to Hong Jing Yu and Previnah A/P Loganathan from the University of Malaya for being awarded POPSIG Best Post-event Report Award. The report will be published in POPSIG Newsletter Issue 19 (2022).

Acknowledgement

POPSIG appreciated the organisation provided by IChemE-UM Student Chapter and NCEEC organising committee at the University of Malaya.

POPSIG gratefully acknowledges the sponsorship for Post-event Report supported by Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC).