Institution news
The theme of the event was mix and network, in a novel way. Undergraduates and early career engineers as well as final year school students were mixed with seasoned professionals from a very broad range of disciplines, throughout the room, and encouraged to network together to inspire their career path into the future. This has been a personal passion of our branch chairman Bhushan (Kogi) Oberoi for many years and Kogi has expended a mammoth effort over recent months developing this new and novel idea and must take an enormous amount of credit for inspiring the organising committee and seeing the event through to fruition.
The Event was led by Institution of Mechanical Engineers Singapore Branch with our youngest committee member Hui Xuan Poh leading the event project management along with Committee Members Bhushan (Kogi) Oberoi, Steve O’Connor, Edgar J. Danaraj, Andy Bell and Warren Lim.
Each Institution was encouraged to attend by bringing both Senior and Young Members to the event. These were:-
Institution of Mechanical Engineers Singapore Branch
(supported by IMechE SEAR and represented by Zen Teng)
Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)
The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES)
Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE)
The Joint Branch of RINA & IMarEST (Singapore)
ICE Singapore (Singapore Chapter of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE))
IStructE Singapore Regional Group
Energy Institute Singapore
Royal Aeronautical Society - Singapore Branch
Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers Singapore (SNAMES)
Society of Floating Solutions (Singapore)
Supported by:
Paul Broom Director Political Affairs British High Commission and Bartosz Lubecki Head of MCA British High Commission and IMarEst member
Simon Middlebrough VP British Chamber of Commerce Singapore (BritCham) and CEO Singapore Aero Engines Services Pte Ltd
British Council Director Dr Lissy Vadakel
Industry:
Univac Precision Engineering Ltd Pte Singapore
Aurecon Singapore
Jacobs International Consultants Pte Ltd
Haliburton Singapore Pte Ltd
Students from:
Dulwich College (Singapore)
ITE College West
Nexus International School (Singapore)
The informal part of the event commenced with a buffet dinner as participants arrived after a busy working day in the office.
Kogi opened the formal evening sharing his passion for developing young engineers in this new and exciting way. He was followed by Deputy High Commissioner Alex Bamford, who added to Kogi’s opening with words of support, encouragement and inspiration.
Technical Talks were then provided by final year school students from Nexus International School (Wrist Band for ADHD Students made from recycled materials), ITE College West (Smart Hydroponic Greenhouse supporting Singapore’s 30/30 Agrotech ambitions) and two students from Dulwich College who shared their personal career passions to work in the renewable energy and the smart drone development industries.
Colin Newbery from IChemE then gave an superb overview of the Singapore water system explaining how water is reused and processed as well as controlled during tropical storms and showing that the industry is vibrant and exciting to work in.
IMechE Branch Chair Kogi captured everyone’s imagination with his practical demonstration of the engineering behind the garden hoe (known locally as a Changkol and familiar to all), how it’s use related to Newtons Laws to work effectively and how these same laws applied to many other engineering applications including an aircraft undercarriage. The audience was enthralled with his demonstration of the “magic” of engineering and how engineers are really the “wizards” of the modern age.
Tan Seng Chuan, Chair of the Chartered Engineer’s Board for IES and also President Elect for the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) graced the event with a short overview of the aspirations for the WFEO going forward.
Tan Teck Lee, Chair of IET Singapore Branch who are very good friends of IMechE in Singapore, brought the formal part of the event to a close with a “Scissors, Paper, Stone” networking exercise which proved so successful that it was a challenge to draw it to a close.
At the end, participants were invited to give their feedback and there were so many positive comments about the two way value of Young Members networking directly with Senior Members, a senior IES Member commented that constant contact with younger engineers reminds us that change is always happening and that we must listen and be open to it.