SYNOPSIS

• Lightning terminates on the surface of Earth at an average of 45,000 strikes per day, equating to over 16 million strikes a year. In an average year, this fury of nature costs billions of dollars (USD) worth in damages including considerable number of fatalities and injuries to personnel.
• Over the years, technologies have largely migrated from the Electrical- Analog era to the Digital-Electronic age with electronic components becoming smaller with better efficiency. While technology has advanced rapidly, the means to protect these high-tech applications sadly lag behind.
• Despite the known problems and dangers associated to lightning strikes and the increasing secondary effects it causes to high-tech facilities, the lightning protection solution to this day is still very much based on the two-and-half century old practice of deploying conventional Franklin Rods as lightning arrestors. There is a growing imbalance between the rate of technological advancement and the means to protect them.
• The course will provide an overall understanding of Lightning, its impact and the advanced total lightning protection solution (includes Direct Strike Protection, Surge Protection and Grounding) provided by Hitachi.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

1) Dr. Zen Kawasaki

Dr. Zen Kawasaki has more than 30 years of experience as an educator in Universities. He holds the position of President in the International Committee of Atmospheric Electricity (ICAE) and is also a member of IEE Japan, American Geophysical Union and Meteorological Society of Japan.

Over the years, he has been developing a wide variety of remote sensing systems such as lightning mappers and precipitation radars, and studying mechanism of lightning discharges and their related phenomena with his own developed observation equipment.

He also participated in the development and study of the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) aboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) as a principal investigator in Japan and clarified the relationship between lightning discharges and thunderstorm characteristics. Furthermore, he designed his own VHF broadband lightning sensors for space. These sensors were launched in 2009 and 2012, and they succeeded in recording VHF emissions from lightning discharges in space.

He has been awarded for the following:
• The Research Award in the Society of Atmospheric Electricity of Japan
• The Technical Progress award for the First Success of Laser Triggered Lightning in the Field Experiment in the Institute of Electrical Engineering of Japan
• The Progression Awards in the Laser Society of Japan
• The Technical Progress Award for the development of the small satellite “Maido-1” and lightning observation in the Institute of Electrical Engineering of Japan

He is a member of the following committees:
• President of International Committee of Atmospheric Electricity
• Member of American Geophysical Union
• Member of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
• Member of Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineering of Japan
• Institute of Electrical Engineering of Japan
• Member of Meteorological Society of Japan

Dr Kawasaki has also published more than 200 papers on International Journals and Proceedings of International Conference.


2) Ms. Ong Lai Mun

Ms. Ong Lai Mun has more than 12 years of experience in conducting audit services and undertaking projects related to lightning protection, surge protection and grounding. The countries of these projects include Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand, Korea and Vietnam.

She has a Master in Electrical Engineering from Universiti Technologi Malaysia, specializing in the research of lightning protection. She is currently pursuing her PhD on Atmospheric Discharges in Uppsala University, Sweden.

Over the years, Lai Mun has also accumulated a vast experience serving clients across several industries:
• Oil & Gas (some of the clients include Petronas, Shell, Mitsui Chemicals, ExxonMobil and SCG Chemical)
• Telecommunication (i.e. Ericsson, Celcom, MobileOne, Globe Telecom)
• Broadcast Communications (i.e. Smart Digital, Jaring, Measat)
• Theme Park (i.e. Universal Studios Singapore, Resorts World at Sentosa).

Lai Mun has also publish technical papers for international conferences such as:
• International Conference on Lightning Protection (ICLP),
• International Symposium on Lightning Protection (SIPDA),
• International Power Engineering Conference (IPEC)
• Association of Engineering Education in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Conference (AEESEAP).

She has been awarded the status of Associate Asean Engineer (AAE) by the Asean Federation of Engineering Organisations (AFEO) and is also a member of the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia.