We would like to welcome these newly elected members as well as all the new volunteers who have been elected throughout the international network.
The Institution would like to take the opportunity to especially thank all the international volunteers who have stood down this year. Their contribution has made a significant difference to raise the profile of the Institution as well as support the international membership to grow. The work of the volunteers is an essential part of the Institution, without which we would not be achieving the successes we have seen over the last few years, especially in the international arena.
Please see below the candidates who were successful in their bids to become elected international volunteers for the IMechE:
ISB Vice Chair Elections
The International Strategy Board elections for the role of Vice Chair took place in March/April 2021.
ISB Vice Chair – Vinesh Thiruchelvam
Prof Ir Ts Dr Vinesh Thiruchelvam has over 25 years of experience in education/academics, ICT, operations & maintenance, facility management, design and project management serving various industries ranging from building services/property, oil & gas, district cooling plants, co-generation power plants and the ports industry. He has managed deliveries of international projects valued at GBP 1.18 Billion (1998-2012) in the Maldives, India, Russia, Iran, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Vietnam, Brunei, and Malaysia as the Key Accountable Design Engineering personnel. Prof Vinesh has also been an active researcher having obtained industry consultancy/research grants at GBP 5.5 million (2008-2012) and university research grants at GBP 210,088 (2014 to date).
He is currently the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation) and Chief Innovation Officer for the Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation/APIIT Education Group. Prof Vinesh has led or has been part of various Malaysian national driven strategic blueprints for Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, STEM Education, Digital Expert Panel and Engineering/Architectural Graduates. He is a Professional Engineer with the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM), Professional Technologist with the Malaysian Board of Technologist (MBOT) and a Fellow with IMechE. For international volunteer services, Prof Vinesh has been the IMechE Malaysia branch chair (2017-2019), Process Industry SEAR rep (since 2020) and is currently the IMechE South East Asia chair (2019 to date). He was jointly instrumental in making inroads towards the IMechE presence in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Philippines.
Prof Vinesh also sits on the IMechE Education & Skills Strategy Board (EESB) and is the International Chair for ISO TC15/7 – Blockchain Fundamentals. Under the IMechE umbrella he has driven STEM Education in the South East Asia region at high schools (67 nos) and presented/branded IMechE at Symposiums, International Conferences & Engineering Forums (34 nos).
North East Asia Regional Elections
Regional Chair – Chris Cheung
As the Chief Operating Officer - China of CLP Holdings Limited in Hong Kong, Chris is in-charge of a portfolio of diversified assets including coal, hydro, solar and wind generation with an equity capacity of 5,706MW in China.
Chris acted as the Chairman of the Institution's Hong Kong Branch from 2017-2019. He also serves as Member of the Advisory Committee of the ME Department for both the HKUST and HKPU.
Chris has over 30 years of experience in the power industry covering maintenance and overhaul, plant enhancement, technical services, project engineering, development and management, strategic planning, asset management and continuous improvement.
Regional Young Member Representative – Angie Tai
Angie is a System Assurance Engineer in MTR Corporation. Angie earned a Master of Engineering from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Applied Science BASc degree from the University of British Columbia.
Angie currently handles the System Assurance activities for the railway construction projects for civil and E&M systems in MTRC including hazard management, risk assessments and government inspections.
Angie has worked with professional engineers across disciplines and across the world. Her previous consulting or engineering positions has gained her exposure to various engineering industries including oil gas, mining, control system of turbomachinery environment and beverages.
Oceania Regional Elections
The regional elections for Oceania took place in April/May 2021 for the positions of Regional Chair and Young member Representative.
Regional Chair- Leslie Yeow
Re-elected unopposed
After graduating from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Leslie gained engineering, project and programme management experience in electricity generation, banking, and coal mining industries in New Zealand. Going on to eventually manage a business in Papua New Guinea before founding his own company in 2002. Leslie gained further project management experience in electricity distribution in South East Queensland before returning to manage his own business. Leslie is now in semi-retirement and pursuing entrepreneurial activities in addition to volunteering for the Institution. Leslie has volunteered for the Institution for thirteen years and is presently the Chair for the Oceania Region.
Regional Young Member Representative – Nisha Nijhar
Elected unopposed
Nisha graduated from the University of Melbourne in July 2018 with a Master of Mechanical Engineering. Nisha has worked as a Vehicle Architecture Engineer at Ford Motor Company of Australia until December 2019. Moved from Melbourne to Perth to join BHP’s two-year Graduate programme from March 2020. As a Graduate Mechanical Engineer Nisha completed her first eight months in a Fixed Plant Engineering team and is currently halfway through her second rotation in the Rail Track Integrity and Condition Monitoring Team and will be completing her final rotation in the Mobile Equipment Maintenance team looking after mining trucks and dozers!
We welcome all members to join the Institution in congratulating the newly elected Region Representatives for the international network
If you have any questions, please email mary.newton@imeche.org