SYNOPSIS

It is a no secret that the number of women in leadership in the C-suites and top management roles is a far cry especially in the technical industries where the overall representation of women is far lower than men. Women continue to face unequal pay, gender barriers and internal biases at the workplace. Earning the same level of respect and recognition as male colleagues can be a difficult and frustrating experience for women, not only at entry level roles, but also in senior roles. Senior-level and top management roles in businesses remain dominated by men.

IEM Women Engineers (IEMWE) is committed to carry out a research on the participation of women in STEM, particularly in the engineering industry. The aim is to discover the challenges that impede higher representation and explore efforts that can be undertaken in bridging this gap. The research will also establish the skillsets required for a woman engineer to attain leadership to the top management and board directorship. Women Engineers on Board: The Leadership Transition webinar are being organized as part of the research initiatives.

Key takeaways

• Insight into women's issues and enhanced understanding of women engineers' challenges
   and roles in current landscape;
• Gain valuable insight into skillsets requirement to get to the top management and thereafter,
   on board;
• Planning for future of organizations and individuals in addressing this gender disparity;
• Develop a more constructive use of leadership power, allowing for more effective behaviour
   and results as a leader;
• Learn how to make a positive impact on the engineering industry and communities;
• Pursue new challenges along the leadership journey;
• Become a more effective change agent, facilitating an increase in positive results from
   senior-level initiatives.


BIODATA OF PANELIST

Panelist: Ir. Anita Shafie, Ir. Zainab Kayat, Prof. Dr. Sumiani Yusof, Ir. Sharifah Azlina
Moderator: Ir. Mah Siew Kien


1) Ir. ANITA BINTI MOHAMED SHAFIE
    Pengarah Jabatan Kerja Raya WP Putrajaya

Ir. Anita has been serving in the government for over 24 years. She has recently been elected as Director of JKR WP Putrajaya. She holds a Master Degree in Asset& Facilities Management from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Johor in 2011 and Bachelors Degree in Engineering in Civil Engineering in 1994. She is a specialists in structure, road and project & asset management engineering and provides technical advisory services on issues related to structures, roads, assets and projects. Ir. Anita is a structure experts who has successfully issued the IBS 2020 Catalog, precast specifications, Load Bearing Blockwork specifications for use by the Civil and Structural Engineering Branch.


2) Ir. ZAINAB BINTI KAYAT
    Custodian Engineer - Process Design & Group Technical Authority (Process), PETRONAS

Zainab is a registered BEM professional Ir engineer and a Fellow IChemE who has 38 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry and currently is Head for Gas & LNG. She has executed process design and engineering and execution of PETRONAS gas processing and petrochemical plants. She took to Engineering Management for PETRONAS international undertaking several major projects. She is the appointed Group Technical Authority in downstream process engineering providing steer, governance and oversight on technical integrity of facilities operations and major projects.

Zainab is a subject matter expert in gas processing and mass transfer/distillation who have developed patent for improvements in a distillation downcomer distributor, innovated a vapor horn feed distributor for a vacuum distillation tower of Melaka Refinery and vertical inlet distributor for a horizontal wet gas separator in Gas plant and supplied trays under technology collaboration to the tallest column, the propylene splitter in Pengerang Refinery and petrochemical complex.She held the chairmanship of the Technology Readiness Level Committee 2 (TRLC2) throughout 2016 to 2019, maturing more than 30 inhouse technology. She is currently driving upstream Sand solutions innovations which includes integrated sand removal hardware, sand erosion control and Sand Advisor software.

Zainab is the key engineer in the framework development and Review of PETRONAS Technical Standards and has led the establishment of Technical Standards for Unconventional (TS-U) for Petronas Energy Canada Limited. She is also the focal lead for the Circular Carbon and Hydrogen Economy, and Smart City Waste Management.


3) PROF. DR. SUMIANI YUSOFF
    Director, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences (IOES), University of Malaya

Sumiani Yusoff, Professor Dr., joined the Faculty of Engineering, UM in September 1990, specializing in Environmental Engineering and Management. She obtained her PhD in Environmental Engineering and Management from UM, MSc in Public Health and Environmental Control Engineering from University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom and Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Hons) from Universiti Teknologi
specifications for use by the Civil and Structural Engineering Branch.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM Currently, she is the Principal Investigatorof UM Zero Waste Campaign while helming another mandate as Chairperson of Ecocampus and Sustainability Committee.


4) Ir. Sharifah Azlina bt. Raja Kamal Pasmah
    Executive Director / Chief Executive Officer of HSS Engineers Berhad

Ir. Sharifah Azlina bt. Raja Kamal Pasmah graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (Memphis,US) and Master of Business Administration (Cardiff, UK). She is the Executive Director and Group Chief Operating Officer of HSS Engineers Bhd. (HEB), the Chief Executive Officer of HSS Integrated Sdn. Bhd., HSS Engineering Sdn. Bhd. and BIM Global Ventures Sdn. Bhd. HEB is Malaysia’s largest homegrown engineering consultancy, with a group workforce of 1000 employees, operating from offices in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, Chennai and an associate office, CHSS, in Dubai.

Ir. Sharifah Azlina is instrumental in the successful listing of HEB on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange in 2016 where she serves as the Board of Director until now. She has led numerous iconic projects locally and internationally, in sectors of urban infrastructure, transportation planning, roads/highway and rail/transit systems over her 32 years of experience within the consultancy industry.

Ir. Sharifah Azlina is a Professional Engineer with Practicing Certificate with the Board of Engineers, Malaysia, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia, the only woman Council Member and currently the Honorary Secretary of the Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia (ACEM), an ASEAN chartered Professional Engineer and a member of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, UK. She is a Principal Interviewer for IEM’s Professional Assessment Examinations and a member the Engineers Act committee under the BEM. In 2019, she was appointed onto the Industry Advisory Panel for Civil Engineering discipline at Monash University, Malaysia.


MODERATOR

Ir. Mah Siew Kien

Ir. Mah Siew Kien is the Appointed Corporate Member of Women Engineers Section, The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia. She has started serving in the Women Engineers Section since 2014 in many different roles. She is passionate about promoting education and careers in science, technology and engineering. She is very active in STEM advocacy works, helping to raise STEM awareness in encouraging young people, especially girls, to consider engineering as a career choice. She is an Electrical and Electronics Engineer by qualification