SYNOPSIS

I have come across that many of the cadets/junior engineers in the oil palm industry raised the same questions to me. These questions are not complicated but having the same sound and smell as below (inclusive but not limited to….)

- What is our key role actually in the palm oil mill? Fail to see the development of professional
- What are our daily tasks? Our roles seem to be less important as most of the daily jobs are done
  by the sub-ordinates or technical staff. Life seems to be boring.
- What can we learn in palm oil mill? Things in the factory seems to be very simple and not
  challenging at all. Our key role is not obvious.
- Life in the palm oil mill seems to be meaningless and boring as the factory is set up/located in
  the remote area/rural area. Need to find alternatives SOONEST.

Palm oil mill is classified as one of the essential industries-its roles have become more significant and drawn more attention FROM THE PUBLIC particularly during this Movement Control Order (MCO) and RMCO now.

The curiosity from the public is: What qualification one must obtain in order to be ‘surviving’ in this industry, particularly to be ‘surviving’ during this challenging period as the pandemic Covid- 19 is still around us and have affected the global economy seriously. To certain extend, people have concerned about the unemployment rate.

I wish to say here that the fundamental of knowledge (engineering knowledge particularly) again gives the good start for every single matter. We shall not forget about the real roles of an engineer in their job function. They are of course paid to carry out their duty and make sure he/she to fulfill the given job function. No testing ground. No guessing games. This is of course also what our “mother body”-IEM always promoting and encouraging all of us to practice.

Hence what sort of secret weapon (paper qualification, working experience, attitude, self motivation, management knowledge, public relationship, legal knowledge, engineering knowledge in various discipline….) an engineer needs to have? What sort of career advancement and ultimate goal they may achieve eventually?

How success a real palm oil mill engineer can go? How far they can transform to carry different roles (policy makers, enforcement officers, entrepreneur, consultants, competent contractor, technology providers or the mill owner)? Any holistic career path towards this direction?

Want to get better understanding about the Professional Development of an Engineer in the Palm Oil Milling? See you in this virtual technical talk.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Ir. Hor Kok Luen (P.Eng, PEPC, MIEM, First Grade Competent Steam Engineer, ASEAN Engineer, APEC Engineer, International Professional Engineer) graduated from University of Science Malaysia (USM) in 2001. He is holding the Bachelor of Degree (Hons.) in Mechanical Engineering.

He has more than 20 years of working experience in the palm oil mill & related downstream industries, inclusive of biogas power plant and biomass plant. He has vast experience in palm oil mill design, mill upgrading and mill troubleshooting as well as palm oil waste handling & management.

As holding the qualification as Competent First Grade Steam Engineer (JKKP, Malaysia), currently he is performing his professional service by taking the responsibility and challenges (overall mill operation) for a well-established palm oil group of company which owns 100 tons per hour capacity palm oil mills, plantations and subsidiary plants, which aggressively embark involving in palm oil mill processing, long fiber plant, short fiber plant, organic waste water treatment plant design & management ,biomass power plant, biogas capturing plant, CHP plant and of course green energy generation for grid connection (Feed in tariff) besides islanded unit for in-house consumption. The speaker is a corporate member of The Institutions of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) in Mechanical Discipline. He is also a Registered Professional Engineer with Practicing Certificate (PEPC) with the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM). He is a qualified ASEAN Engineer (AE), APEC Engineer and International Professional Engineer MY_E_00573. Currently he is the Chairman of Agricultural & Food Engineering Technical Division (AFETD), The Institutions of Engineers Malaysia, IEM.