SYNOPSIS

As you listen during this talk, you will discover that the presentation contents could not have been written by any of the latest AI technology as the cross-discipline complexity and the intricately interwoven logic that has been applied to the subject matter, makes it impossible. The confusion in the subject matter that is being discussed arose because of certain fallacies that have become a norm when we address the engineering and the engineer’s issues in Malaysia.

In summary, there are 17 fallacies that will be covered during this talk, that contribute to the above topic in a complex, intertwined and tedious manner that takes persistence over time to alleviate. The believe that any single entity that was created from a single or limited set of objectives and with a limited set of jurisdictions can solve the engineer’s problem, is only taking on a futile effort based on a dream and imagination. The Malaysian engineering problem requires nothing less than the very government intervention itself with all its authority, resources and jurisdiction. This is what differentiates other countries from us, and we have to decide whether to be the hunters or be hunted in the global engineering field.

In using sophisticated languages, grammar, innuendos, cross discipline perceptions, and puns, I have avoided addressing the root cause of the Malaysian Engineering education failure and the subsequent sub-quality of its product. However, during the talk, I will propose practical, viable and realistic solutions to the problem raised.  Just as in life and death, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, therefore let us begin the journey to that very light with this talk and make progress with the subsequent discussions that will arise. For the purpose of this talk, I have broadly classified the issues into i) circumstances / global trends, ii) employers, iii) academia and iv) the engineers themselves, only to sub-class each with detail reasons that justifies a solution for them.

It is hoped that this talk will be a spring board for feedback, dissenting opinions, alternative perspectives, introduction of better solutions and a focus point of the various stakeholders towards a “common page” for the Malaysian engineers to gain back their rightful place among the international engineering elites.  


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Ir. (Dr.) S. Vignaeswaran PEPC has more than 40 years of working experience in the electrical, computer, IT, SCADA, project management and tendering field. He has been involved in state-of-the-art applications which includes operational technology (OT) cyber-security from the 1990s. He has an Electrical Engineering degree from Monash University (Clayton, Australia), MSc in IT/BIS from University of Keele, UK and a PhD in CyberSecurity from Alabama, USA. He continues to publish cutting-edge research papers in the Engineering, IT, Computer Security and Project Management fields. These have been based on his role as the Client’s HOD (Electrical & Automation) in a RM 8 billion Saudi Arabian project.  His venture into the Smart City market segment consolidates his expertise in the Electrical, Automation, Project Management etc, among others. It is his ambition to bring Smart Cities into reality while opening up new market segments for Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) specialists. He is currently involved in the research of a state-of-art utility automation, IT and engineering systems that applies AI and pre-emptive decision-making models with innovative solution approaches. This is in addition to fulfilling his personal CSR via MoHE and MoHR by improving and developing new engineering and IT syllabuses for future engineering and IT students. He has set up MALAYSIA SMART INTELIGENT TECHNOLOGICALLY INTEGRATED CITY (MySITI) special interest group under the MALAYSIAN SOCIETY FOR ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (MySET) to realize his hopes via complementing and supplementing other interested parties’ objectives, both locally and internationally.