Q&A: Mathew Thomas, 2016 volunteer service award winner

Mathew Thomas is the winner of the institution's International Strategy Board's volunteer service award

Mathew Thomas has been awarded this year’s award for meritorious service by the IMechE’s International Strategy Board for his significant contribution since the establishment of the institution’s Malaysia branch more than 14 years ago.

Mathew has worked tirelessly to assist in the formation of student chapters at major universities and colleges in Malaysia. By the end of this year the number of student chapters in Malaysia will have grown to 18. He also initiated the formation of the Young Members Section (YMS) and often attends its activities and events. He is also involved with the SOfE and design competitions.

The level of involvement has increased since his retirement from 2007. In 2014 Mathew travelled 6500 km fulfilling IMechE duties. The award is in recognition of the voluntary dedication of his personal time and effort.

We talked to Mathew to find out about his work for the institution, his impressions of how engineering has changed and his plans for the future.

Q: What does the award mean to you?

A: It gives me a sense of achievement for contributing so much. It’s great to engage with youngsters at the university level and ask them to join and telling them the benefits of membership. I have also talked to quite a number of young academic staff and young engineers working in industry. I’ve achieved a lot, and take pride that I’ve talked to so many students and future engineering leaders. It gives me a lot of personal and professional satisfaction.

Q: You’ve talked to many students about the benefits of IMechE membership. What do you tell them?

A: I tell them to start their professional development by getting engaged with learned societies and that they should start to develop their soft skills, and that this area will be critical in how they get on in their career.

We have to plant the seed at this stage, so when students come out they appreciate the value of becoming a professional engineer and talk to colleagues and friends about it.

Q: Are you impressed by the students you meet?

A: Engineering has always been a well-respected profession in Malaysia and the number of students going into it is quite large. A lot of people come into engineering with the perception that it is just maths and science. So we help them understand the broader picture of what the engineer’s role is in society.

Q: What advice do you have for young engineers?

A: In the beginning of your career you need to prove your technical skills and focus on the jobs assigned to you. Whilst you focus on the technical aspect of you job you should become aware of the commercial aspect of your company’s business. As you advance into managerial roles you need the softer skills more to work with the engineers and staff below you. You get to develop your soft skills by getting engaged with learned societies like IMechE or any other associations that are relevant to you according to you job requirements.

Q: What was your biggest achievement in your career?

A: After working in the UK I came back to Malaysia to work in the chemicals division of ICI, where my role was in plant maintenance, operations and most recently project management. I turned around a compound fertilizer production plant that was producing half of its design capacity to achieving 118% of its design capacity. The key was working with people, being reasonable and encouraging the team with appropriate rewards and career development opportunities. It took 12 years but we did it while improving product quality, safety standards and adhering to professional standards.

Q: What do you enjoy most about volunteering?

A: I do a lot of professional review interviews (PRI) ). Talking to these candidates at the PRI I have learnt about different sectors of engineering and their specialised knowledge.  Gaining that knowledge and seeing how people achieve the competencies to be a professional engineer gives me a lot of satisfaction and keeps me going.

Q: What are your plans for the future?

A: We can all contribute in various ways, which is why I’m going to take on the South East Asia Regional Chairman’s role for IMechE. I hope to support the delivery of the Institution’s International strategy in the growth areas in this part of the world - Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and possibly others within the south east asia region.