Meng Wai Woo keen to use ANZFChE role to boost the profession and regional ties

MENG WAI WOO, the new chair of the Australian and New Zealand Federation of Chemical Engineers (ANZFChE), has committed to shining a light on the profession and strengthening ties in the Asia-Pacific region.

Woo, who is an IChemE member and chair of the institution’s New Zealand Member Group, said he wants to use his year heading ANZFChE and the Chemeca conference it organises to raise the profile of chemical engineers.

ANZFChE was formed in 1997 and has five joint member organisations including IChemE, the industrial division of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, and the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand.

“One of the primary functions of the federation is to provide oversight on the continuity of the Chemeca conference,” said Woo. “I would like to ensure that the Chemeca conference will be an important platform for the chemical engineering profession in this region and to promote the success of our members.

“I would also like to strengthen our collaborative ties with other engineering organisations such as the Asian Pacific Confederation of Chemical Engineers.”

The 2024 Chemeca conference is being jointly hosted with IChemE’s regional safety conference, Hazards Australasia, in the Gold Coast, Australia from 29 September to 1 October. It includes a workshop on AI in education and research, and sessions on bioprocessing, hydrogen safety, and disruptive technologies. It will also host the final round of a “hackathon” where students will pitch a proposal for how to provide an alternative fuel infrastructure solution to expand and interconnect Australian or New Zealand clean energy hubs.

Woo completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the National University of Malaysia in 2010 and is associate professor of chemical engineering at Auckland University in New Zealand. Throughout his career he has been involved in food powder research and applying computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation techniques for processing.

He added that in his role as chair of IChemE’s New Zealand Member Group, one of his focuses would be “to increase chemical engineering’s visibility in schools so that we will get more students joining the pipeline into the profession”.