13th September 2023: Advancement in Electrical Insulation for HV Equipment

By Dr. Thien Yee Von (TAR UMT)

On September 13, 2023, the IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society organized a webinar titled “Advancements in Electrical Insulation for HV Equipment.” This webinar was accessible to the public and had been approved by the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) for 4 CPD hours. The event took place on the Microsoft Teams online platform and featured three distinguished speakers. Associate Professor Eur. Ing. Ir. Ts. Dr. Lau Kwan Yiew from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia delivered a technical presentation on “Fundamentals and Progress in Electrical Insulation Materials,” while Ir. Ts. Mohd. Azraei bin Pangah @ Pa’at from TNB Research Sdn. Bhd. shared insights on “Condition Health Assessment for Medium Voltage Power Cables.” Mr. Muhammad Rasyidi bin Zainal Abidin from TNB (Distribution Network) presented his technical talk on “Insulation Diagnosis for Oil-immersed Transformers (Present and Future).” The webinar attracted approximately 63 participants, primarily composed of engineering students, lecturers, and professionals from various related industries.

This webinar brought together experts and professionals from the field of electrical insulation to discuss the latest developments and innovations in high-voltage (HV) equipment insulation technology. Participants had the opportunity to gain insights into cutting-edge research, materials, and techniques aimed at improving the performance and reliability of HV equipment, such as electrical insulation materials, transformers and cables. The webinar aimed to foster knowledge exchange and promote advancements that enhance the safety and efficiency of electrical systems in various applications. The webinar also served as a platform for DEIS to promote the society and its activities, in order to encourage more membership from public and those interested in the areas of dielectrics and electrical insulation for high voltage applications.

24th June 2023: Inspiration Night 2023 – Awarded the 2022 IEEE Malaysia Outstanding Small Chapter

By Dr. Thien Yee Von (TAR UMT)

On the 24th of June 2023, the IEEE Malaysia Section organized an Inspiration Night 2023, graced by the presence of the guest of honor, YB Datuk Arthur Joseph Kurup, Deputy Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI). The dinner was a prestigious event that brought together professionals and experts in various engineering and technology fields. During the event, outstanding individuals and organizations were recognized and honored for their significant contributions to the industry. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of awards to deserving recipients who have made remarkable achievements in their respective areas of expertise, making it a memorable and inspiring celebration of excellence in the IEEE community. The IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS) Malaysia Chapter has achieved a significant milestone by being awarded the prestigious 2022 IEEE Malaysia Outstanding Small Chapter Award with great pride. Congratulations to the DEIS Malaysia Chapter Team for their unwavering dedication, which has led to us receiving this award.

Time : 5.30 pm – 10.30 pm

Venue : Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur Hotel

12th – 15th June 2023: Asia-Pacific International Conference on Lightning (APL 2023)

By Assoc. Prof Ir Dr Norhafiz Azis (UPM)

For the first time, Malaysia has been given the honor of hosting the prestigious APL 2023 conference which took place successfully in Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia. This 4-day lightning-based conference was organized by the IEEE Power and Energy Malaysia Chapter and supported by the IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society Malaysia Chapter at Ombak Villa on 12-15 June 2023. With the nickname “Crown of Lightning in the World”, the organization of APL 2023 is seen to coincide with its time and location based on the significant impact caused by lightning in terms of safety and protection to the public, property and livestock. APL 2023 has strong support from the Malaysian Energy Commission (ST), which is also the Platinum Sponsor of this conference. This coincides with ST’s role as the Regulator for the Energy and Gas sector in Malaysia and the enforcement of the Compliance Directive to MS IEC 62305 – Protection Against Lightning under the Electricity Supply Act 1990 (Act 447) issued in January 2020 and it is now a legal requirement for all Lightning Protection System (LPS) installations in Malaysia. Apart from ST, this conference is supported by agencies such as the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM), Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), African Center for Lightning and Electromagnetics Network (ACLENet), South Asian Lightning Network (SALNet) and Malaysian High Voltage Network (MyHVnet).

The organization of APL 2023 received a very proud response where a total of 113 articles were received involving the participation of 170 people from 18 countries dominated by China, Malaysia and Japan. A total of 60% of the articles were contributed by academics, 35% from industry and 5% from government agencies/NGOs in 14 tracks/subjects. Apart from the oral and poster presentations, the uniqueness of APL 2023 is the two (2) Panelist Sessions namely Best Practices in Lightning Protection and Women in Energy/ Young Professionals. The next APL 2025 conference will be organized in Bali, Indonesia and will be hosted by Gadjah Mada University and Padang Institute of Technology, Indonesia. 

Invited Keynote 1: Carlo Alberto Nucci (Professor, University of Bologna, Italy)

Title: Lightning-originated overvoltages appraisal for distribution lines

Invited Keynote 2: Bo Zhang (Professor, Tsinghua University, China)

Title: Recent progress in experimental research on lightning transient characteristics of high voltage power grid in China

Invited Keynote 3: Mary Ann Cooper, MD (Emerita Professor, Director, ACLENet, USA)

Title: Lightning injuries – Their cause and some solutions

Venue: Ombak Villa Langkawi, Malaysia

Organizing committee with Dato Ir Ts Abdul Razib Dawood (CEO ST), Emerita Prof Mary Ann Cooper, MD (Illinois University @ Chicago) and Prof Bo Zhang (Tsinghua University)

Prof Ir Dr Mohd Zainal Abidin Ab Kadir with CEO ST, which also the Keynote Speaker for  APL 2023

Delegation from Energy Commission whom attended APL 2023

Group photo of APL participants 2023

1st June 2023: Visit to UITM High Voltage Lab

By Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Hazlee Azil Illias (Universiti Malaya)

The Head of Universiti Malaya High Voltage Laboratory (UMHVL), Associate Professor Ir. Dr. Hazlee Azil Illias, who is also the Chair of IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS) Malaysia Chapter and the Counselor of IEEE Universiti Malaya Student Branch, visited the High Voltage Laboratory at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam on 1 June 2023. The main objective of the visit was to gain a better insight into the lab at UiTM so that further improvement can be done on UMHVL.

Venue: UITM Shah Alam, Malaysia.

7th June 2023: Technical talk – Recent Trends in Transformer Technology: Application, Research, and Opportunity

By Dr. Thien Yee Von (TAR UMT)

The IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS) Malaysia Chapter technically supported a technical talk on “Recent Trends in Transformer Technology: Application, Research and Opportunity” organised by the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UniMAS). The technical talk on recent trends in transformer technology proved to be a valuable and informative event. It successfully disseminated knowledge, facilitated networking, and encouraged participants to embrace innovation in this critical area of electrical engineering.

Title of technical talk: Recent Trends in Transformer Technology: Application, Research and Opportunity”

Presenter/Keynote: Ir. Ts. Dr. Mohh Aizam Talib (Head of Head of Advanced Diagnosis Services TNB Labs Sdn Bhd)

Audience: Members of HV Research Group, Lecturers, postgarudates students, 4th year students of Department of Electrical and Electrical & Electronic, Faculty of Engineering , UNIMAS (around 25 people)

Time : 2.00 pm – 3.30 pm

Venue : Active Learning Space, Faculty of Engineering, UNIMAS, Sarawak

16th January 2023: IEEE DEIS Malaysia Chapter 2023 AGM

By Ir. Ts. Dr. Wooi Chin Leong (UniMAP)

The 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the IEEE DEIS Malaysia Chapter was successfully held on 16 January 2023, at TNB Lab and Microsoft Team concurrently. The meeting was attended by active members of IEEE DEIS Malaysia Chapter and chaired by Chapter Chair Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Nor Asiah Muhamad. The meeting began with an opening remark by the Chair, followed by the endorsement of the 2022 AGM minutes and the presentation of the chapter’s activities. Next the Treasurer Dr Amir presented account matters. The meeting continued with the election of the 2023 committee members of DEIS Malaysia Chapter, summarised as follows:

Chair
· Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Hazlee Azil bin Illias (University of Malaya)
Past Chair
· Assoc. Prof. Ir.  Ir. Dr. Nor Asiah Muhamad (Universiti Sains Malaysia)
Vice Chair
· Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Norhafiz Azis (Universiti Putra Malaysia)
Secretary
· Ir. Ts. Dr. Wooi Chin Leong (Universiti Malaysia Perlis)
Treasurer
· Ts. Dr. Nik Hakimi Bin Nik Ali (Universiti Teknologi MARA)
Executive Committee
· Ir. Ts. Dr. Wong Jee Keen Raymond (University of Malaya)
· Dr. Kuan Tze Mei (Universiti Tenaga Nasional)
· Ts. Dr. Mohd Shahril Ahmad Khiar (Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka)
· Assoc. Prof. Ir. Ts. Dr. Muhammad Saufi bin Kamarudin (Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia)
·  Dr. Thien Yee Von (TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY)
· Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd Fairouz Mohd Yousof (Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia)

The new Chapter Chair, Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Hazlee Azil bin Illias, later delivered her welcoming speech to the new committee line-up and made a brief planning for the activities in 2023. Dr. Hazlee is hopeful that DEIS Malaysia Chapter will continue to contribute actively in the field of dielectrics and electrical insulation and looking forward to lead the DEIS Malaysia Chapter to a greater height.

2 November 2022 Mini Automatic Solar Tracker Design Challenge 1.0

By Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Hazlee Azil Illias (Universiti Malaya)

From 21st October 2022 to 2nd November 2022, the IEEE Universiti Malaya Student Branch (UMSB) had successfully organized Mini Automatic Solar Tracker Design Challenge 1.0, which was held at the Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya. The event was also co-organized by IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS) Malaysia Chapter and supported by IEEE Malaysia Section. The event was launched by the Counselor of IEEE UMSB, Associate Professor Ir. Dr. Hazlee Azil Illias from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya.

In this activity, participants were required to build a prototype of a mini automatic solar tracker that is smart, low cost and efficient from 21st October 2022 to 2nd November 2022. They were given free time to construct the prototype. The prototype was able to track the sunlight movement to harvest possible maximum energy. Six groups of participants, which consists of up to 3 members in every group, participated in this program.

On 2nd November 2022, all participants demonstrated their prototype in front of the judges and visitors who came to the demonstration day of the prototype. The assessment by the judges covered the prototype and the participants’ soft skills. Visitors took the opportunity to visit the demonstration day and were amazed with the prototype demonstrated by the participants.

15 June 2022 DEIS IEEEMY Presence at the Research and Innovation Engineering Day 2022 (RADIATE 2022)

By Ts. Dr. Mohd Shahril Ahmad Khiar

The Research and Innovation Engineering Day 2022 (RADIATE 2022) was organized by Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FKE), Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) on the 15 Jun 2022. The Malaysia IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS) committee members would like to congratulate Group S1-1 on receiving the “Anugerah Khas Industri” sponsored by Malaysia IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS) during the Research and Innovation Engineering Day 2022 (RADIATE 2022). Ts. Dr. Mohd Shahril Ahmad Khiar (right) represented IEEE DEIS Malaysia Chapter to present the “Anugerah Khas Industri” to the representative from Group S1-1 IDP during RADIATE 2022.

22 September 2022 Utilising Nanoparticles for Liquid Insulation Applications

By Ir. Ts. Dr. Wong Jee Keen Raymond

A research talk entitled “Utilising nanoparticles for liquid insulation applications” was delivered by Dr. Mohamad Zul Hilmey Makmud, from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) on 22nd September 2022. The talk was part of the research visit activities by Dr. Zul Hilmey at the Universiti Malaya High Voltage Laboratory (UMHVL) at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya.

22 July 2022 Lightning: Safety and Understanding

By Ir. Ts. Dr. Wooi Chin Leong

The Faculty of Electrical Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis in collaboration with IEEE DEIS Malaysia Chapter and R10 “reaching the local initiative” implemented a knowledge sharing with local community named “Lightning: Safety and Understanding” and in local terms Kilat: Permahaman dan Keselamatan. Most of the community live near the paddy field and are highly exposed to lightning threats. However, the community lack knowledge in lightning safety and protection. With the explanation of lightning safety and protection, the community will be able to understand the importance of lightning protection and what should be done during a lightning thunderstorm.