FOUR well-known establishments in Penang were major winners at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Prestige Lecture & Award Dinner (PLAD) 2022 in Kuala Lumpur recently.
The prestigious awards ceremony was held at Aloft Hotel on Feb 18 after being postponed last year due to a clash with the 15th General Election.
Out of the 11 Industry Excellence Platinum Awards, Penang won four of them. They were Greatech Integration (M) Sdn Bhd, Motorola Solutions Malaysia, Plexus Manufacturing Sdn Bhd and Exabytes Group.
The award is a recognition of a company’s significant contributions to the advancement of science, engineering or technology which has made a positive impact on human, environment or social needs, originality and innovation, applications of engineering and technology principle and economy.
Greatech emerged as the biggest winner as its chief executive officer Datuk Tan Eng Kee won the Malaysia Outstanding Industry Captain Award and the company won one of the Platinum awards.
This individual award is to recognise a leader who has made an exceptional contribution that has a significant and positive impact on the industry as well as the community.
As Tan was unable to join the event, Greatech’s chief financial officer Koay Lin Lin received it on his behalf from Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang.
Also present to receive the Platinum award from Chang on behalf of their respective companies were Solomon Lothu (Motorola Solution vice-president and managing director of Penang Operations and Country Manager), Chuah Cheng Leong (vice-president – human resources, Plexus) and Cheong Peng (vice-president of Digital Sales Exabytes Network Sdn Bhd).
The accolade given to Tan was not a surprise.
After receiving a certificate in mechanical engineering in 1991, he has been involved in the field of automation since 1993 and plays an important role as an adviser and motivator for SMEs, especially in the solar, electric vehicle battery, life science and semiconductor sectors.
Accordingly, he was appointed as a committee member in the Management Council of the Penang Skills Development Center (PSDC) from 2020-2021 and a committee member of the Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association (MSIA) from 2021-present to further improve performance, quality skills and talents of Malaysian human resources.
In terms of corporate social responsibility, Tan always provides financial assistance to educational institutions to expand the knowledge of the younger generation in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics as well as welfare centres. He also provided financial help to the Penang General Hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the record, he donates an average amount of RM1 million every year to corporate social responsibility activities, and a total of more than RM7 million in recent times.
On top of his outstanding achievements and contributions, he was awarded the State Loyalty Award in 2021. With his leadership, Greatech was named Forbes Asia’s Best Under A Billion 2022.
The other Platinum award winners were Bakau Nag Project PD&T/GPD (Petroliam Nasional Berhad), AGMO Holdings Berhad, Aerodyne Group, Deloitte Business Advisory Sdn Bhd, EITA Power System Sdn Bhd, Gentari Sdn Bhd and QL Maxincome Sdn Bhd.
There were two other award categories, namely the Industry Excellence Gold Awards and the Industry Excellence Silver Awards.
The Gold award winners were Angkasax Innovatin Sdn Bhd, Emerging EPC Sdn Bhd, FMEFAMAX Engineering (M) Sdn Bhd, AR Eastern Sdn Bhd, Consolidated Legend (M) Sdn Bhd, Imagine AI Sdn Bhd, PEN Konsult Sdn Bhd, Hasilwan (M) Sdn Bhd, GSPARX Sdn Bhd, AFA Technologies Sdn Bhd, DF Automation & Robotics Sdn Bhd, Itxotic Sdn Bhd, Opus International (M) Berhad, TNBX Sdn Bhd and Eftech Drilling Solutions Sdn Bhd.
Meanwhile, Lingkail Sdn Bhd, Smart Rack System Marketing Sdn Bhd, Wangi Lai Plt and She Empire Sdn Bhd were adjudged the Silver award winners.
There were a number of prominent people present at the ceremony, including British High Commissioner to Malaysia Charles Hay, Ir. Academician Emeritus Professor Tan Sri Dr Chuah Hean Teik, Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT) president Datuk Dr Siti Hamisah Tapsir, Malaysia Invention and Design Society (MINDS) president Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Dr Augustine S.H. Ong and Ooi Tze Min, the political secretary to the minister of MOSTI.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix courtesy of IET Malaysia