KUCHING – Chemical engineering students Hanna Maizura Binti Mohd Noor Hazrin, Tiffany Ang Jia Ning, Chan Liang Wen and Fitra Dhiafallah Akbar etched a name for themselves in the industry when they won the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Palm Oil Processing Special Interest Group (POPSIG) Articles Honorarium awards.
Under the theme “Correcting the Misperception on Palm Oil,” their articles shared insightful information about palm oil while also urging the active involvement of academia, industry, and professionals towards a better acceptance of the product.
For her article titled ‘Valorisation of Wastes from the Oil Palm Industry,’ Hanna Maizura hoped it can shed some light on the various methods available for the valorisation of biomass produced by the palm oil industry in Malaysia. Valorisation is the process of reusing, recycling or composting waste materials brought about by the production of palm oil. The process turns these waste materials into useful by-products such as alternative fuels or other sources of energy.
For Tiffany Ang Jia Ning, she is confident her article would not only help readers gain a better understanding of palm oil but would also present itself as one of the worlds more important crops due to its many versatile usages. Authoring the article has also given the 2nd year chemical engineering student the opportunity to explore new industry knowledge about palm oil.
Chan Liang Wen concurred with Tiffany in that misconceptions about palm oil abounds. “These misconceptions need to be corrected so that palm oil can have a wider application in the future,” he added.
“I am surprised when I was informed that we were being awarded the honorarium,” shared Fitra Dhiafallah Akbar, who acknowledged that the award is indeed an honour. Fitra also is looking forward to getting more opportunities to participate in such events in the future as it helped him apply his skills and knowledge on the subject matter.
According to Dr Elaine Yeu Yee Lee, writing for renowned publications such as POPSIG’s newsletter help students step out of their comfort zone, and apply knowledge and critical thinking in addressing a real-world problem.
“It is also a wonderful opportunity in that our students can explore what makes an effective piece of persuasive writing to produce thought-provoking article pieces,” she said.
The Palm Oil Processing Special Group (POPSIG) Articles Honorarium awards were sponsored by Desmet Balestra and the Malaysian Oleochemical Manufacturers Group (MOM). Winners were presented with an Honorarium of RM200 cash prize and a Certificate of Recognition from IChemE POPSIG. Winning articles will be published in IChemE’s POPSIG newsletter.
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