ASEAN’s resolute commitment to sustainable development and climate protection agenda took centre stage during the 9th Regional Conference on Chemical Engineering (RCChE) organized by the UTM Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering (UTM-FCEE) in partnership with the Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT) and the AUN/SEED-net office in Bangkok.
AUN/SEED-net, or the ASEAN University Network/Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network is a project funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
From 21 to 22 November, UTM-FCEE brought together 436 participants from 44 organisations (37 Universities, 7 industries and government agencies) and 16 countries, including from 8 ASEAN countries to the 9th Regional Conference on Chemical Engineering (RCChE) conference and pre-conference events.
RCChE 2016 is considered as the biggest of the RCChE conference series since its inception in the year 2007.
RCChE 2016 showcased the state-of-the-art developments on chemical engineering technology and research that address the 21stst century global grand challenges of sustainable development across the world in general, and those confronting the ASEAN community in particular.
Themed “Inspiring ASEAN Sustainability Through Chemical Engineering Innovation”, the RCChE 2016 demonstrated the strong partnership and commitment of ASEAN researchers, academic community, industries and policymakers in contributing towards sustainable development.
In the effort to build capacity and inculcate research and innovation culture among the young generation, the RCChE 2016 was organized together with the UTM-FCEE’s Postgraduate International Symposium on Chemical and Energy Engineering (POISChE 2016).
A prominent highlight of the RCChE 2016 is the launching of the ASEAN Partnership in Research on Energy Sustainability (ASPIRE) by the conference chair, Professor Dr Zainuddin Abdul Manan on the first day of the conference.
Spearheaded by the UTM-FCEE, ASPIRE represents a community of practice among ASEAN researchers that aims to drive collaborative research, innovation, technology transfer and capacity building in the sustainable use of energy among the ASEAN stakeholders and community.