Advocating green technology and sustainable development

The UTAR International Symposium on Green and Sustainable Technology (ISGST) made another comeback this year at Kampar Campus from 23 to 26 April 2019.

The organising committee, speakers, sponsors and participants

Held for the third time since 2014, the successful symposium was jointly organised by the Centre for Environment and Green Technology (CEGT) parked under UTAR’s Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology (FEGT), Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) and Kobe University of Japan. ISGST this year saw more than 60 presenters comprising postgraduate students from local public and private institutions of higher learning as well as from overseas converging at Kampar Campus to present their R&D findings and experiences of their studies, ranging from green technology to sustainable development.

Aimed at providing a common platform for researchers, scientists, engineers and practitioners not only in Malaysia but throughout the world to present their latest research findings, ideas, developments and applications of green and sustainable technology. This symposium was also an opportunity for the general public to gain insights into how green and sustainable technology could be employed as alternative technologies that could help the world to meet the growing needs of society without damaging or depleting natural resources on earth and prevent any further damage to health and environment.

ISGST 2019 officially launched

The opening ceremony of ISGST 2019 was officiated by UTAR Vice President for R&D and Commercialisation Prof Ts Dr Faidz bin Abd Rahman representing UTAR President Ir Prof Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik. He was accompanied by UTAR FEGT Dean Assoc Prof Dr Yap Vooi Voon, Advisory Board of ISGST 2019 Prof Dr Akihiko Nakayama, Organising Chairperson of ISGST 2019-cum-Chairperson of CEGT Prof Ir Dr Ong Kok Seng, esteemed keynote speakers, namely Assoc Prof Dr Abhijit Chaudhuri from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras), India; Prof Dr Hyoseop Woo from Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Korea; Prof Trong-Ming Don from Tamkang University, Taiwan; Prof Dato’ Dr Alias Abdullah from the International Islamic University Malaysia and Prof Dr Lam Hon Loong from University of Nottingham, Malaysia; FEGT academics, UTAR staff and students and ISGST 2019 participants. 

Prof Ong emphasising the importance of green technology for sustainable development

In his welcoming address, Prof Ong said, “Green Technology is vital for sustainable development to meet the needs of the present generation without comprising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Development of green and sustainable technologies enable significant savings in the use of energy and materials, substitute the use of non-renewable, non-biodegradable or extractive resources to renewable, biodegradable or restorative inputs and reduce or prevent emissions, contaminations and negative environmental impacts. ISGST 2019 is the third symposium since 2014 and it aims to provide a platform for researchers to disseminate knowledge and latest development in the area of green and sustainable technology across international academic fraternity. It also aimed to discuss further on the development, implementation, economic and potential outlook of green technologies.” 

Prof Faidz commending the effort of the organising committee in converging the scholars to share their research experiences in green technology

Complementing the committee’s effort in organising such an imperative platform, Prof Faidz enthused, “This biennial symposium is very much significant and relevant because it is a meeting of minds where esteemed local and international speakers as well as academics, researchers, engineers, scientists, technologists, industrialists, policy-makers and entrepreneurs come together to share findings, views, proposals and applications that could contribute to the fields of green and sustainable technology. It is also very encouraging to note that over 60 papers were submitted for the symposium this time. With an increasing amount of papers submitted following every ISGST that had been organised, it reflects just how much effort and research works have been continuously contributing to the field of green and sustainable technology.”

He added, “I am very pleased to see the continuous success of this international symposium. We are also very honoured to be able to collaborate with Kobe University Japan and UniMAP. With your support, the symposium made its third appearance and marked another milestone. On behalf of the university, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone including the sponsors for making this ISGST possible.”

The ceremony ensued with a souvenir presentation and group photograph session, followed by keynote addresses titled “Coupled Thermo-hydro-chemical and Mechanical Modeling of Reservoir Transmissivity Alteration and Temperature Drawdown”, “Nature-based Solutions for Natural Disaster Risk Reduction – Revived from Old Wisdom of Traditional Ecological Practice”, “Structure and Toughness Improvement of Poly(lactic acid) Blends”, “Leveraging for SDG for Life in Future: Current Challenges and Expectations in Urbanisation” and “Lean and Green Approach to Sustainable Manufacturing”.

Left photo: Prof Faidz (right) presenting a token of appreciation to the first keynote speaker Prof Lam
Right photo: Prof Ong (left) presenting a token of appreciation to the second keynote speaker Prof Hyoseop

Clockwise from top left: Prof Ong presenting the certificate of appreciation to keynote speakers Prof Trong-Ming, Dato’ Alias and Assoc Prof Abhijit

ISGST 2019 hosted six parallel sessions and nearly 150 local and foreign researchers joined and came together to present and share their research efforts. Among the sub-themes presented throughout the conference were ‘Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency’, ‘Environmental Technology’, ‘Green Materials’, ‘Sustainable Development’ and ‘Smart Manufacturing’.

The ISGST 2019 is a key initiative in providing an extensive prospect for researchers and scholars to present their research findings. The successful ISGST 2019 saw the submission of more than 60 papers. The participants of the symposium came all the way from Japan, India, Thailand, Taiwan and Korea while the rest included local educational institutions, UTAR lecturers, staff, postgraduate and undergraduate students.

The main sponsors of the ISGST 2019 were Institution of Mechanical Engineers, PerkinElmer, Interscience Sdn. Bhd (“its”), Anton Paar and IKA.


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