PENANG, which is known as one of the most industrialised states in Malaysia, encourages the rise of more engineers.
“I hope many youngsters will be inspired to become engineers, as we need more engineers not only in Penang but also Malaysia as a whole,” said state Works, Utilities and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari at the launch of the IEM (Institution of Engineers Malaysia) Young Engineers National Summit 2019 today.
”We want to work towards becoming an advanced and developed country with high income economy as well as having high skilled workers and professionals,” added Zairil.
“Penang, being the Silicone Valley of the East, hosts a large number of world’s largest tech corporations employing thousands of engineers in our free industrial zones.
“We have many young engineers both local and foreign working here, especially in Bayan Lepas, Penang Science Park and Batu Kawan.
“This means apart from having many opportunities to ply their trade, they can also develop themselves further.”
The IEM Young Engineers National Summit 2019 (NATSUM 2019) is an annual meet up between the nation’s young engineers and students for team building activities and knowledge sharing.
Every year, each IEM branch nationwide will take turn to host NATSUM and this year the baton is passed to the IEM Penang branch.
This summit also coincided with the annual Engineering Week organised by IEM Penang branch and its Young Engineers Section.
The Engineering Week is held every year to spread awareness among the public about the role and contributions of the engineering fraternity towards society.
Apart from that, Zairil stated that there will be many opportunities for engineers in Penang in years to come.
He said the state government is always supportive of the STEM (Science, Technology,Engineering and Mathematics) initiatives in the state.
Also present were IEM Penang branch chairman Yau Ann Nian and IEM council member Dr. Ng Soon Ching who represented the IEM president.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Nur Amirah Husna Roslan