PETALING JAYA: Attracting and nurturing talented individuals in the field of engineering will drive the country’s innovation, address complex challenges and maintain Malaysia as a leader in technological advancements, said Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) president Professor Jeffrey Chiang Choong Luin.
He stressed that commitment towards sustainable engineering and fostering a skilled workforce will ensure the region’s continuing progress and show resilience in the global arena.
To achieve all of this, he said, government and industry need to focus on encouragement not just at university level, but in schools as well, as the country is lacking students who opt for science subjects.
“To reach the target, an initiative should be started through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. This encouragement will set the future of engineering for the country,” Chiang said at the soft launch of the Conference of Asean Federation of Engineering Organisations (Cafeo 42) on Friday.
Chiang emphasised the need for the government to increase the compensation level and offer more monetary incentives to encourage local talents to continue working in the country rather than them venturing abroad to seek better wages,
“With delivering more knowledge on engineering for early level in schools, to upgraded wages and grant incentives for the local talents, we will see a huge interest in the field coming up in tandem to the government’s target,” he said to the recent call of having to train 60,000 skilled engineers for the semiconductor industry.
Meanwhile, IEM announced that Malaysia will host Cafeo 42 from Oct 22 to 24, 2024, at the Sabah International Convention Centre in Kota Kinabalu, nine years after the conference was last hosted by Malaysia in 2015.
In conjunction with the soft launch of Cafeo 42 on Friday, Chiang stated that hosting the conference is a great pride for Malaysia as it represents an opportunity to showcase Malaysia’s advancements in engineering and technology and highlight the country’s commitment to sustainable development.
“Malaysia’s engineering community has made significant strides in recent years, this conference will reinforce the country’s position as a hub for engineering excellence and innovation in Asean, where international collaborations will be fostered and technological advancements will be the drivers of economic growth,” he said.
“Cafeo will appear as the testament to the engineering community, as a collective commitment to excellence and innovation, where it will push the boundaries of what is possible. Cafeo provides the engineers with a broader perspective on opportunities faced by the profession,” added Chiang.
