Genetic Engineering News Gave Me $2

Today I received a letter from Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, which is based in New York. Actually, I'm a subscriber of their GEN magazine which is published every two weeks. They send me a hard copy magazine. Well, genetic engineering is not closely related to chemical engineering, but I subscribe the magazine to get some input from other engineering branches. At least I learn something about DNA, RNA, peptide, protein, drug, bioprocessing, biobusiness etc. It's enriching and sometimes confusing to know those tiny, minute, mysterious DNA-RNA stuff.

Back to the letter story. They send me a letter and I opened the envelop. I saw $2 and I'm surprised! I read the title of the letter and it said, "We need your help to measure the value of our publication. Your opinions will allow us to publish an even better resource for you!".

The P.S. was written in red: Please accept the enclosed $2 as a token of our appreciation for your help.

Enclosed in the letter is a 4 pages of "Confidential Survey of our Subscribers". I have not yet fill the survey but I'm going to do it tomorrow.

They provided me with a Business Reply Mail envelop (to be sent to Lewis and Clark Research, US), but I have to pay for the postage because I'm mailing from outside US. On the top right conner on the envelop it is printed: "No postage necessary if mailed in the United States".

Hmmm....I guess, It's OK. I don't mind paying for the postage. However, I think, they should make international reader like me to be excluded from paying for the postage next time. Or is the $2 cost for the postage?

You can check out and get free subscription of GEN magazine online (if you're interested) at www.genengnews.com.

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You Should Love Training and Seminars

I love attending training. I don't care what type of training because I can learn new things and skills. Since I work, I have attended various in-house and outside training as well as other free and paid seminars.

Among the things/new knowledges that I have learned so far are:

- Bleaching earth - chemical composition of the silica alumina solid bleacher...
- Cooling tower/boiler chemical treatment - technique, monitoring, dosing etc...
- Instrumentation/flow meter for plant - Various flow meter principles...
- Preventive maintenance - Need to organize this to avoid expansive downtime....
- Air compressor operation - They have a better improved compressor....
- Chiller operation - ooo..they use that type of freon as refrigerant...
- Shortening plant - Now I know how they make margerine...
- Load cell - Never knew about the technology behind weighing various objects....
- ISO and HACCP training - Now, I'm an internal auditor...
- Lean-Kanban - I learn to improve my working system...
- TQM - There's a lot of other quality system in TQM....
- GC - I learn how to operate a gas chromatograhy hands on
- Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET)- physically challenging training for going offshore...

Well those are just few of hundreds of formal and informal training I have been through. That's why training/seminar is important to develop employees skills and knowledge.

Another good thing that I like when attending training/seminar: "We get souvenirs". So far, I have collected a lot of gives and souvenirs such as pens, t-shirts, note books, key chains, cap, diaries, calenders, mugs, and much more. It's good to get free stuff....isn't it?

*************************************
Coming trainings...

Talking about training, I received an email from Expitris.com (a local training consultant). They will be organizing a training in a few months time. Check out the details below:

Title: "Value Stream Mapping" (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
Date: "2nd - 3rd July'07
Venue: Melia Hotel, Kuala Lumpur,
This program is conducted by an outstanding international trainer Mr. Michael Wader he has an astonishing experience in deploying VSM tools

"Excellent Delivery, Mike is an outstanding trainer, he is very direct when it comes to implementing all the VSM tools. Well Done.!"
Production Manager, Renesas Semiconductor (M) Sdn Bhd

This Program is HRDF Claimable
Note: 10 % discount is applicable if you mention you are a visitor of this Chemical Engineering World blog.

In case you want to contact them for further detail...:
Expitris Worldwide Sdn Bhd (641332-X)
Suites 14-02, Wisma Cosway, Jalan Raja Chulan,50200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel : ++603 - 2072 2233 Fax : ++603 - 2072 2211 www.exww.com / www.expitris.com
Email: expitris@exww.com

*************************************

On top of the above training, I also received another free training invitation from National Instrument - LabVIEW.

LabVIEW Hands-On Seminar in June 2007 (Johor, Malaysia)

Synopsis
Discover the power of National Instruments LabVIEW™ the graphical development environment used by engineers and scientists in virtually every industry. Gain hands-on experience with LabVIEW and learn how LabVIEW graphical development helps you reduce development time and create flexible applications that easily integrate with a wide variety of I/O, getting you to your solution faster.

Don't miss this opportunity to find out more about this software that is revolutionizing test and measurement, data acquisition and control and process monitoring.

Date: 6 June 2007, Wednesday
Time: 2.00pm - 5.00pm
Venue: Sofitel Palm Resort

Allamanda 1 (Club House)
Off Jalan Jumbo
Senai, Johor 81250

Seminar Highlights
- Create a complete LabVIEW application from start to finish
- Develop flexible data acquisition solutions and learn about motion control and machine vision applications
- Control traditional IEEE 488 (GPIB) or serial instruments with LabVIEW instrument drivers
- Connect your application to the network to share information throughout your enterprise and across the Internet
- Use LabVIEW built-in analysis functions including signal processing, filtering, and curve-fitting
- Control a LabVIEW application across the Web - without any additional programming
- Explore various LabVIEW modules and toolsets that boost your productivity, including a test management environment, database connectivity, data logging, and real-time software
- Use the latest technologies, including ActiveX, XML, and multithreading, in your applications

3 Easy Ways to Register
1. Online Registration >> Click here

2. Contact us at Toll Free 1800-887710 or (603) 2070 7710

3. Email to asean.events@ni.com and with the following:

Name
Company
Tel/ Mobile
Email (if not on cc list)

For further info/inquiry, just contact them:

Toll-Free: 1800-887710
Fax: (603) 2078 7710
Email: asean.events@ni.com
Website: ni.com/asean

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Bleaching Earth Bag Support

Everyday is a different day at work in terms of the knowledge I acquired. Learning new things on a daily basis gets me excited. It's not necessary to learn high tech theoretical knowledge like heat transfer between plate heat exchanger or the reaction inside the distillation column. Sometimes, i learn simple stuffs too and that makes me say...."Ooooo, I never thought it was like that....." or ..."That's interesting, why I haven't pay attention on that....".

The past week, I have several assignments to do. One of them is to sketch/draw/design a rack to support a 850kg bleaching earth bag in order to convey them into the hopper on the top of the plant. We don't use bleaching earth bag all the time. We just keep them for back up. However, after a period of time (month++), we need to consume them before the bleaching earth activity and quality deteriorate. Currently, we use a forklift to lift the bag and pour the bleaching earth from the bottom of the bag into a small hopper. The process take 2-3 hours. Within those few hours, the forklift is only occupied for one job i.e. to support the bleaching earth bag and it could not be used for other jobs. To avoid this from repeating, a rack can act as a support for the bleaching earth bag. I made a drawing of the rack. However, in our maintenance meeting, my colleague suggested to use a metal pallet (for packing small drums) as a rack by positioning it upside down. Well, that's not a bad idea at all. I never thought or realized we have metal pellets even though I walk pass through the packing plant everyday.

What we have to do is just put the metal pallet upside down, and cut a circular hole on the center. Then we can place the bleaching earth bag on top of it with the small hopper underneath the upside down metal plate. The small hopper will then convey the bleaching earth to the plant to mix with oil.

Example of the bags that we'll place on top of the upside down metal pallet. There's an opening at the bottom of the bag to pour the bleaching earth. The opening and bleaching earth flow can be throttled by using a rope which comes together with the bag's bottom opening.

Maybe some of you are wondering what is bleaching earth?

Bleaching earth is a highly effective adsorbent essential in the refining process for the purification and decolourisation of edible and non-edible oils, fats, tallow, petroleum jelly, paraffin oil and waxes.

Bleaching Earths are special clays activated by physical or chemical processes. Natural clays are found in special strata and are subjected to various processes such as desegregation in water, treatment by sulphuric acid solutions, filtration, baking, grinding, etc. Efficiency of bleaching earth depends on selecting the right grade and proper blends of the basic raw material, Bentonite obtained from various mines.



Other things that I learned last week:
- PLC, cards, IO points, analog input, analog output, digital input, digital output.
- Blade for the gate valve for my bleaching earth silo have not been change since it was installed.
- Paint remover can be easily applied on a stainless steal pipe to remove paint. Hence the shiny colour of the pipe can be preserved and maintained.
- Rebellious staff in action after noticing he's leave application is rejected!
- Much more....I can recall it now....I'll share other simple and interesting stuff on this daily learning curve....

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Association Memberships

I'm a member of few associations. To name them:

-IChemE (Institution of Chemical Engineers, UK) - Associate Member
-MOSTA (Malaysian Oil Scientist and Technologist Associations) - Member
-UKAN (United Kingdom Alumni Network) - Member
-Bradford University Alumni - Member
-Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Alumni - Member
-BOE (Board of Engineer, Malaysia) - I'm working my way to be a professional engineer

To tell you the truth, I'm not an active member of those associations mainly because I'm too fully occupied with my chemical/process engineering job. It's not easy for me to take leave and attend annual grand meeting or conferences etc. I'm not as flexible as my wife, who is a chemical engineering lecturer/researcher/consultant. However, I keep track on the activities and progress of those associations. It's good to attached ourself with professional associations because we are constantly updated with current news and events. This is very useful to establish our career and networking.

IChemE, MOSTA and BOE membership require some annual fee. For IChemE, luckily last year, they manage to form a local branch in Malaysia and the fees are charged in Ringgit Malaysia currency instead of Pound Sterling (which is more expansive for us....). I have not renewed my membership for IChemE and MOSTA this year. I need to do so as soon as possible.

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Chemical Engineers Commit to Green Ideals

Source: by James Murray, businessGreen

LONDON, May 21, 2007 -- The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) has released a major new report [PDF] detailing how its members can play a key role in developing more environmentally sustainable technologies and committing the international body to supporting the transition towards a low carbon economy.

As a statement of intent it is similar to that made by many other such groups in recent months, but what is significant about this report is that chemical and biochemical engineers not only have a central role to play in developing low carbon technologies, many of them also work for some of the world's most polluting companies.(MORE)

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Some Jobs For Chemical Engineers

I stumbled upon three engineering job vacancies and it might be a good offer for some of you. The first one is located in India, the second one in Malaysia and the third is in Saudi Arabia.
So far, I'm OK with my present job. I'm learning a lot in a daily basis. I'm only going to switch job after I think I've learned enough and need more challenge. What about you....?

If you're interested, you can check it out.

*****************
Title: Senior Flow Assurance/Process Engineer REQUIRED AT INDIA

Post Graduate or Graduate Degree in Chemical Engineering.
Minimum 15-20 years of relevant experience in multi-phase flow assurance/process engineering aspects; out of which 7 - 10 years should have been spent in subsea deepwater oil and gas development projects.

Posted date: 22 May 07
Closing date: 22July 07

Job location: Mumbai, India
Industry: Oil and gas
Nationality: Any
(See Details)

*****************
Title: Production/Process Executives MEGASTEEL SDN BHD, Malaysia

Manage and supervise a shift team in the daily operations of the plant and carry out process simulation, system improvement and plant modification

Requirements:
1. Degree in Mechanical/Electrical/Electronic/Industrial/Chemical Engineering and Pure Science
2. Strong process and equipment troubleshooting skills with knowledge of continuous running plant using DCS

Applicants are required to submit their detailed resume by 8th June 2007 to :

HR & Admin Department
MEGASTEEL SDN BHD
Lot 2319 Kawasan Perindustrian Olak Lempit
Mukim Tanjung Dua Belas
42700 Banting, Selangor

E-mail : hrp@megasteel.com.my (See Details)

*****************

Title: Training Consultant – Chemical Engineering and Refinery Process

Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery (SAMREF)

Provide training, coaching and consultation support to Samref employees in the area of Chemical and the Refinery Process.
Assist in the preparation and administration of the development programs in the area of specialty for engineers and non-engineers, as well as, university/college students. (MORE)

Requirements:
B.S. Chemical Engineering and Formal Training qualification. Master or PhD. Holder in preferred.

Specialized Knowledge:
Refinery process, maintenance and operations. Communication abilities, both written and verbal. Computer skills and good knowledge in engineering software. Course design, develop and conduct.

Previous Experience Required:
10 years refinery/petrochemical overseas experience (preferably Middle-East), seven (7) years of which as an instructor.

Working Knowledge to be Acquired on the job:
To be able to do refinery related T & CD work assignments. To provide Saudi engineers and other Refinery professional employees with technical training tailored for various job targets. (MORE)

About the company

SAMREF is an equally owned joint venture between Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and Mobil Yanbu Refining Company Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation).

Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) is the worlds largest oil producing and exporting company and was established by Royal Decree in 1988 to assume the responsibilities of its predecessor, Aramco that has a history dating back more than 70 years.

Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) is the worlds largest oil producing and exporting company and was established by Royal Decree in 1988 to assume the responsibilities of its predecessor, Aramco that has a history dating back more than 70 years.(MORE)

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Big Cash Awaits Chemical Engineering Graduates

Few days ago, I stumbled across a very interesting article (from Oklahama City Community College site) for chemical engineers. The article was written by David Miller and reveal how good chemical engineers a being paid in comparison with other engineering fields. Read the following article:

Students with plans to complete a bachelor’s degree after leaving OCCC will find that some fields are more lucrative than others.

Salaries in fields such as accounting, computer science, engineering and marketing are steadily rising for those holding a bachelor’s degree. OCCC offers associate degrees in each of those areas.

According to CNNMoney.com, engineering majors are paid the most, followed by marketing, accounting and computer science majors.

In the engineering field, chemical engineers are the most sought after in respect to salary offers. Offers being made to chemical engineers have increased 5.6 percent over the last year to an annual salary of $59,707, according to a study conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

In addition, offers being made to civil and mechanical engineers rose by approximately 5 percent.

OCCC offers a pre-engineering degree, which enables an engineering major to branch out into any engineering field offered by four-year colleges such as the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University.

“In [OCCC’s] pre-engineering program, there are basic engineering science-type courses … Thermodynamics, Rigid Body Mechanics, Strengths and Properties of Materials, and Engineering Practice I,” said Max Simmons, science and mathematics dean.

“All of those can be the fundamental things you need to go on and take the higher-level courses and become an engineer.”

According to NACE, electrical engineering follows chemical engineering with an annual salary of $54,915, up 1.6 percent from 2006. Mechanical engineering is a close third with an annual salary of $54,695, up 5.7 percent from 2006. Although last, civil engineers still make a decent salary at $47,750 per year, up 4.8 percent from last year (MORE).

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Exploration and Production Magazine

Another related magazine (oil and gas) that you can subscribe. Get it now!!!

Why share your copy - when they can get their own?
Tell your colleagues to start their own FREE Subscription.

— Does your copy of E&P magazine look like it spent yesterday
tied to the end of a drill bit?

— Do you find yourself retrieving your latest copy from
a colleague's desk?

— Or... perhaps you'd like to promote yourself off the bottom
of the routing list -- to the top that is?

The answer is simple... get your own... or, better yet, have your colleagues get their own subscription to E&P magazine.

http://www.submag.com/sub/ht?pk=E75HPA

We know each and every issue of E&P magazine contains crucial, cutting-edge coverage of the important technical issues facing petroleum professionals worldwide. And, we know ALL your colleagues would benefit from E&P's in-depth analysis of the technology, technical solutions and strategies being employed daily by other oil and gas companies.

But... did you know that E&P magazine is offered free of charge to ALL oil and gas e&p professionals?

That means ALL your colleagues can have their very own subscription. That's right... all your colleagues. So... if you or someone in your office would benefit from receiving E&P magazine for themselves, simply, forward this email and ask them to click the link below. It will only take a few minutes and, you won't ever have to track down your copy again.

http://www.submag.com/sub/ht?pk=E75HPA

Audrey Miller
Circulation Director
E&P
PO Box 2068, Skokie, IL 60076-7968
www.eandp.info

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Pipeline and Gas Technology Magazine

Why share your copy - when they can get their own?
Tell your colleagues to start their own FREE Subscription.

— Does your copy of PipeLine and Gas Technology look like it's
traveled thru an oil and gas pipeline on its way to your desk?

— Do you find yourself retrieving your latest copy from
a colleague's desk?

— Or... perhaps you'd like to promote yourself off the bottom
of the routing list -- to the top that is?

The answer is simple... get your own... or, better yet, have your colleagues get their own subscription to PipeLine and Gas Technology.

http://www.submag.com/sub/pb?pk=E75PPA

We know each and every issue of PipeLine and Gas Technology contains crucial, cutting-edge reporting of the solutions, applications and technolgies being employed in the pipeline industry. And, we know ALL your colleagues would benefit from PipeLine's uniquely styled, how-to approach to discussing the issues you and other pipeline professionals face every day.

But... did you know that PipeLine and Gas Technology is offered free of charge to all pipeline industry professionals?

That means ALL your colleagues can have their very own subscription. That's right... all your colleagues. So... if you or someone in your office would benefit from receiving PipeLine and Gas Technology for themselves, simply, forward this email and ask them to click the link below. It will only take a few minutes and, you won't ever have to track down your copy again.

http://www.submag.com/sub/pb?pk=E75PPA

Audrey Miller
Circulation Director
PipeLine and Gas Technology
PO Box 2101, Skokie, IL 60076-7801
www.pipelineandgastechnology.com

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For Him, Chemical Engineering Is Easy!!!

This is an interesting story about a young man who chooses Chemical Engineering just because he find it difficult to be a ballet dancer. When I read this article, I just can't believe it. He made chemical engineering look so easy. For me, going through my first degree was tough especially my first year! Do you find Chemical Engineering difficult? Read the article below that was written by DANIELLE SHAPIRO from HERALD NEWS adopted from NorthJersey.com.

WAYNE – Craig Dana spent years as a touring ballet dancer. But that was too hard, so at 22 he decided to try something a little easier: chemical engineering.

......Wayne native Craig Dana graduates Rutgers with an A average and full scholarship to the University of California-Berkeley to pursue a graduate degree in chemical engineering......

"It's the hardest thing I've ever done," Dana said of ballet while sitting in his parent's Wayne living room. His body ached all the time, he was constantly nursing injuries and rehearsals and performances were grueling. "Compared to ballet, engineering was relatively simple. In the end, you're just sitting there with a book in front of you and you have to put in the time studying."

Now 25, Dana will graduate Rutgers on Thursday with a 4.0 grade point average, a full scholarship to pursue a post-graduate degree at the University of California-Berkeley and, according to his girlfriend, Lisa Lomovasky, 24, a revelation.

"I knew he was smart ... I didn't know what he was capable of; it's shocking," she said. (READ MORE)

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NEW!!! Check Out:
Chemical Engineering Conference
Chemical Engineering Business
Chemical Engineering Associations

CITECT Control System Seminar

I received an email from events-asia@citect.com informing about a Tech Update Seminar that will be held soon (see far below).

In case you are not familiar with Citect, here's a brief introduction:

Citect is the leading global provider of industrial automation, facilities automation, real-time intelligence, & next generation manufacturing execution systems (MES). Citect has been providing global business solutions, engineering services and software to the automation market for over 30 years. Specializing in the delivery of innovative, reliable and cost effective solutions, Citect connects people in business and industry to real-time information in ways that improve business strategies and decisions. My plant is using Citect control system.

The email I received from events-asia@citect.com:

Citect Asia will hold a series of complimentary Tech Update seminars across SE Asia in late June, early July.

We will also be launching the Citect Asia Users Group at the Tech Update. The Citect Asia Users group will provide an important environment for users of Citect products to exchange ideas, obtain assistance on technical and management issues, and keep abreast of new product developments.

As seats will be limited at all locations, I am attaching preliminary details of dates and locations. Reservations can be made by emailing your name and the preferred seminar date to:

events-asia@citect.com

Please take advantage of this advanced notice to reserve your place now and avoid disappointment.

Yours Sincerely

Michael Preston
Business Development Director, South East Asia

Citect Pte Ltd
Singapore

Tel +65 6482 2212
Fax +65 6482 2252
www.citect.com

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NEW!!! Check Out:
Chemical Engineering Conference
Chemical Engineering Business
Chemical Engineering Associations

Guess What This Is?

Slowly guess what this item is. If you scroll quickly, you'll miss the suspense in guessing what the equipment is.

a


b

c


d


e


f

a: Motor - the bearing has broken. It's vibrating.
b: Blade holder removed from the motor using hydraulic clamp
c: Blade holder
d: These are the blades
e: Looks like a fan
f: It's a cooling tower fan...

Did you guess correctly??

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Some Updates from an Engineer

The past few days were very busy days for me. However, I tried to get a few minutes off from my hectic activities (event at night! after work...) to post something here. Let me just share few things that I did today and yesterday at work (and after work) not in particular order:

- Watching, witnessing, experiencing the civil, construction job performed at my work place. I learned interesting stuff about how the civil work to expand, upgrade and modify a plant is made. Instead of normal irritating noisy piling, I saw quite smooth hydraulic piling and the machinery involved in running the operation. It's impressive.

- Meeting with suppliers. Today and yesterday, I received a visit from two different suppliers from the same niche area (both of them are competitors...). Usually, we don't really entertain suppliers, but both that came were worth the time. We learned and discussed in order to improve our work. We exchanged informations and ideas as well as shared experiences. It were a fruitful discussion.

- My cooling tower fan was dismantled because it vibrates. A 20 tonne crane was used to lift the 7 bladed fan down to the maintenance workshop. It's a new experience looking and inspecting the fan closely. This is what we call "Preventive Maintenance".

- Supervising practical student. This is another area that I'm covering as well. I made a format/guideline for him to study, research and investigate. He work his way according to my guideline. Every end of the day, we shall sit together and discuss his work/progress. In order to develop his communication skill and improve his second language, I asked him to converse with me in English (he's a Malay). I hope he will learn as much as possible within these 2 months practical training period.

- New Heat Exchanger. I ordered a new set of heat exchanger and it would arrive from German in two months time. I'm checking on the perfect location to install the heat exchanger. I have to consider the piping work (civil work) and flow of oil. Parts and materials for the heat exchanger must also be finalized such as ball valve, temperature gauge, pressure gauge, pipes, expansion below, insulation, RTD, mass flow meters and others....It's challenging, interesting and fun....

- Managing/thinking about my manpower problems. This is a real head-ache. No wonder there's a saying, "It's easier to handle 100 cows compared to handle 1o peoples". Each of them have different behavior and attitudes. However, only very few of them continuously have disciplinary problems. The others are good. I'm calling for a meeting tomorrow to discuss and find a way to eliminate social and disciplinary problems within my down line staff.

- Report preparation. This is a daily routine activity. However, I have not yet completed the monthly report because I'm still waiting for the costing report from accounting departments.

- Supervising design project. I'm also supervising a final year design project from a local university (few months back, my colleague (a lecturer) asked me a favour to be an allied supervisor from industry....). I received the report just now and I'm checking it at home (at night after work). I'm going from line to line and page by page. I'm impress with the report. However, there are still few errors here and there. I just reached page 37 out of 78. Got 41 pages to go through.

- I received an email from a reader of this blog (you know who you are... :). He's currently working on his final year design project entitled "The production on hydrocarbon based methanol". I'm not really aware on this. However, I'll try and check it out. I'll get back to you as soon as I get some valuable informations related to the topic. By the way, anybody who knows and have expertise on the title can share ideas and information here. You can put something in the comment box. We can help each other here....

Well...there's more....but, I need to take a break and continue reading/checking the final year design report.

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He Converts Pollution into Profits

How does he do it? He simply converts unwanted or waste into a valuable useful product. Have you ever imagine it before? Have you ever thought about the possibility? Check out how this chemical engineer academician cum scientist realized it. This post is adopted from progressiveengineer.com.

Strike up a conversation with Israel Wachs, and you'll find him enthusiastic and ready to talk about his latest project. You can't blame him. A chemical engineering professor at Lehigh University, Wachs has discovered a process that could help paper mills save millions of dollars a year by converting methanol, a pollutant, into formaldehyde, a useful product. Any chemical engineer would relish this.

But that doesn't explain all the giddiness. Wachs envisions taking his process a step further and applying it to other industries, and it has him speaking like an ecologist. He calls it an environmental solution that could change the business approach to making pulp from timber and help achieve sustainability. Continue reading...

Fire Risk Assessments Blog

I received a comment/statement from my previous post - "Going Offshore IV".

Anonymous (...I wish you have given me your name...) from United Kingdom, is maintaining an interesting blog related to Fire Risk. The blog is packed with fire risk, fire protection, fire safety and various other fire related informations. This are important stuff that engineers should know, especially to avoid accident/explosion when dealing with hazardous material or extreme working environment.

A fire risk assessment helps you to identify all the fire risks and hazards in your premises. You can then decide to do something to control them.

Among the articles in the Fire Risk Assessments blog.....
1. Fire Types & Fire Extinguishers
2. United Kingdom: Fire Departments
3. New Fire Safety Rules
4. Steps Needed For Fire Risk Assessment
5. Steps Are Needed To Save Lives
6. Fire Safety Engineering
7. Safety Rules: Fire Risk Assessment

Check out Fire Risk Assessments: http://fireriskassessment.blogspot.com/

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Chemical Engineering Job Seeking Sites

As I browse through the net, I found two job seeking sites which might be helpful for those chemical engineering student and/or practicing chemical engineers to search for other job.

One of the site is related to oil and gas - check out InfoOil.com. InfoOil careers delivers new worldwide oil and gas jobs daily, including oil rig jobs and oil field jobs. Onshore and offshore oil jobs are available in Engineering, the Geosciences, Drilling, Health, Safety, and the Environment. It's all available right here on InfoOil Careers .

The other site is ExpatEngineer.net, which specially gives access to the best jobs and faster career progression. ExpatEngineer is the world's most comprehensive engineering recruitment portal, so start exploring and see what possibilities you can engineer!

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Updates From Cameron Highlands

It has been one week since I last posted in this blog. I was quite busy for the past few days. The Cameron Highland trip was good and short. We did not cover the entire tourist attraction places. We have very limited time. My wife have to do her job/task, visiting and evaluating the site inside the forest where a damn will be built and electricity will be produced (Environmental Impact Assessment project [EIA]). My wife, like me, is still busy (or busier than me!!!) and could not find her time to share her experience here. I believe she'll post some of her findings and experience very soon.

That Sunday morning, she traveled with her team of consultants and experts with a Land Rover.

While being miles away from my working place, as a process engineer, I still have to know what's going on in my plant. My supervisors will call and update me with the plant progress. Sometimes, I'll call them to make sure everything is running smooth. I'm already used to that kind of responsibility.

Strawberries - Planted using fertigation technique

A closer look to the plant

While my wife was was temporarily away, I brought my kids, Ikhwan and Marsya to Cameron Agro-Tourism park. It was a nice, cool and pleasant place to be. It's good seeing the strawberries and various vegetables planted via fertigation system (a combination between fertilizer and irrigation). Through this system, the plants rate of growth can be controlled and speed up besides ensuring its quality. I took the opportunity to see and inspect the fertigation system set up which include pipings, pumps, valves, water tanks, blending tanks etc. I hope I can apply and use the fertigation system to grow vegetables when I have some piece of land and some capital in future.

Thought For The Day
Today, you do not find peace anywhere in the world. You see only pieces! In fact, people are breaking their own hearts into pieces. How then can peace be acquired? There is only one solution to this problem. Love God. Have faith in God. Surrender to Him. Dedicate your whole life to God and carry on every activity of yours as an offering to Him. Let all your activities be helpful to others. Help ever, hurt never. If you wish to be always happy, always pray for the welfare of others. This is the real spiritual endeavor.

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Chemical Engineer to Wed Prince of Perak

This is a local news about a very successful chemical engineer who is going to marry the prince of Perak (Raja Muda of Perak). When the news was recently announced in the TV, I did not notice that she's a chemical engineer. I knew about it from the newspaper and after reading few sites in the internet. She has a very good career track record as a chemical engineer (I'm really impressed, read more below...) and she should definitely be a role model for all junior and student chemical engineers (especially for female). The following writing was adopted from New Strait Times.

.....Zara Salim Davidson is a first-class honours graduate in chemical engineering, a certified lifesaver, a state swimmer, a member of her school’s squash and tennis teams, and, now, she will be married on May 17 to one of the country’s most eligible bachelors — the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah. Zara, 34, was born in Ipoh on March 22, 1973, the youngest and only girl of four children, to William Davidson and Sharifah Azaliah Syed Omar Shahabudin.

Her bio-data, released by the national news agency Bernama, says Zara has a strong interest in foreign languages. Her early schooling was at SMJK Convent in Ipoh which she represented in squash and tennis from 1988 to 1990.

She also represented her home state Perak in swimming between 1981 and 1987. After completing her A-levels in 1992, she left to study chemical engineering at Nottingham University — by coincidence, also the alma mater of her father-in-law to be, Sultan Azlan Shah.

The Sultan of Perak read law at Nottingham and was conferred the Bachelor of Laws degree in 1953 before being admitted to the English Bar in 1954.

Zara excelled in Nottingham University. She won the top student award for her final year project and graduated with first-class honours in chemical engineering in July 1995.

Zara joined national oil company Petronas in December 1995 and was a member of the team responsible for successfully establishing the Kertih and Kuantan integrated petrochemical complexes, whose foreign partners included BP, BASF, Dow Chemicals and Mitsubishi.

She went on to become a project analyst in the Petronas Petrochemical Business Unit and was part of the core team developing the Petronas brand essence, which now forms part of the Petronas global branding strategy.

Zara left Petronas in November 2001 to become account manager at Formis Network Services Sdn Bhd and later was made vice-president of partnerships and alliances at Formis (Malaysia) Berhad, a technology-based company, between 2003 and 2005.

For the last two years, Zara, an avowed adventure sports enthusiast, was managing director of Forthwave Consulting Sdn Bhd, a hydrocarbon technical engineering and software development company in Kuala Lumpur......

Read more from Bernama News

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Break + Consultation Work

Tomorrow, my family and I will be heading to Cameron Highlands in Pahang, Malaysia. We are going there because my wife and her team of experts will be conducting a site visit in order to work on an "Environmental Impact Assessment" (EIA) project (a damn will be built in the forest in that area). I know very few about her work. I think she'll explain about the project later.

Cameron Highlands is one of my favourite place. It's cool, beautiful, peaceful and relaxing. There are a lots of colourful roses and delicious strawberries. Last time we went there (three of us) was almost 4 years ago. Tomorrow, it will be the six of us (myself, my wife, 3 kids + our maid).

During our last visit, we went to BOH TEA plantation and factory. We toured the tea factory and learn all about the processes. It was very amusing, interesting and enriching. I'm not sure whether we are going to have ample time to visit the factory again.

Thought for the day......shared by my senior production executive colleague.
"Anyone who dons a physical body cannot escape the vicissitudes of life. No one can avoid hardship in this world. Death follows birth and with the same certainty misery follows happiness. One should remain equal-minded in happiness and sorrow, gain and loss, victory and defeat. Pleasure is an interval between two pains. Human life is for the purpose of investigating the supreme reality and not merely for eating, drinking and procreation. Hence, every human being must make an effort to know his inner nature and understand his true identity."

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My Production and Process Engineering Duties

It's May and I have to prepare the monthly production report for April as fast as possible. I don't want to delay them anymore and make others' suffer waiting. I'm trying my best to work smart and systematic.

Today, I was presented with a practical student (chemical engineering course) from a local university for me to guide. He'll be around for the next 9 weeks. I'll be exposing him to the plant processes, processing parameters (steam, electricity, water, air, bleaching earth etc), supporting units (such as boiler, cooling tower, heat exchanger etc), oil quality monitoring and testing and much more. I introduced him to the morning shift and gave him a short basic tour in the plant. Then I left him in the control room for him to interact with the supervisor and operators (having some informal learning process). I also gave some 15 minutes short basic on-site practical explanation on various types of valves (ball valve, butterfly valve, globe valve etc).

Related post about valve: Butterfly Valve

My manpower is another area that really concerns me. Unacceptable disciplinary problems from few operators made me very irritated! I don't understand why they treat their rice bowl lightly?!! I have given some short verbal talk and advice to related person. If the problem continues, I shall introduce some harsh action, possibly a "warning letter" or "domestic inquiry". I hate to do this, but this is really part of my job as a process engineer. As engineer we do not just take care of those technical and report stuff, but social - manpower issue as well.

Some of them expressed their dissatisfaction after receiving their bonus and annual salary appraisal letter. Some of them smiled. I can guarantee those who diligently work and maintain excellent disciplinary record a good increment next year. I'll do my best to fight for those who deserve.

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