IWA Development Congress - Pre-conference Workshop

Gave a talk at the pre-conference workshop at this year's IWA Development Congress, in Kuala Lumpur Convention Center. Topic was on career development for Young Water Professionals (YWP). Those interested to be part of YWP can get in touch with Ms. Fran Lucraft (bottom last pic). After this, will be attending the Specialist Group Leaders Meeting on Thursday and maybe even the Gala Dinner later that night.

Visit by Prof. Vethamony from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, India

We recently had the pleasure of a visit by Prof. Vethamony from NIO, India who is a specialist in coastal wave processes. His PhD student, Mr. Renjith, was attached to myself a few months ago, to learn dynamic water quality modeling. The visit by Prof. Vethamony this time round, is to formally initiate collaborative ties between BERU, IIUM and NIO. Prior to arriving in IIUM, Prof. Vethamony was in NUS for a good two weeks.

Water quality modeling of course, is one of the key areas for collaboration and we've identified other good potential areas as well. Myself, Prof. Vethamony and Mr. Renjith are now working together to develop a water quality model for the west-coast of India. Whilst in IIUM, Prof. Vethamony was kind enough to give a couple of lectures on coastal modeling and on research opportunities at NIO.

Further to our research collaboration, Prof. has invited me to visit NIO, which I will probably do sometime next year. They say Goa is a really beautiful place :-)

National River Water Quality Monitoring Seminar

Alas, attached are some pics from the ASMA/DOE River Water Quality Monitoring Seminar, held about two weeks ago at Heritage Hotel, in Ipoh, Perak. Attendees were mostly very senior Department of Environment (DOE) officers, from all over the country (almost every state), including the Director of the Marine and River Water Quality Unit, Tn. Hj. Hashim Daud. Besides, myself, three other distinguished speakers also gave talks at the seminar, including Prof. Dr. Maketab Mohamed (UTM), Dr. Abdul Rani Abdullah (VP of PiCorp) and Mr. Ardi Bakhtiar (Manager of ASMA WQ Dept.). It was a very interactive session, as the attendees posed many technical and scientific questions; we were more than happy to share whatever humble knowledge that we had.

Tn. Hj. Hashim address the participants - Day 1

Participants - Day 1

Dr. Rani giving his lecture - Day 1

Prof. Maketab giving his lecture - Day 1

My lecture (backshot) - Day 2, beginning of the seminar

My session again - Day 2, towards the end.....

(yes, jacket is off again, for mobility :-))

Gift from DOE/ASMA - Day 2

Dr. Rani giving his lecture - Day 3

River Water Quality Modeling Workshop at ENSEARCH

Some pics from the recent water quality modeling workshop we conducted at the Environmental Management and Research Association of Malaysia (ENSEARCH). Participants mostly consisted of environmental consultants, engineers and researchers. Mr. Renjith, my attachment student from the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India also attended the workshop. The first day of the workshop was conducted by Prof. Dr. Maketab Mohamed, focused mainly on QUAL2E, whereas I conducted the second day of the training on QUAL2K. Both of us has a pretty tight schedule that week, as Prof. Maketab had to attend a round table meeting with the Prime Minister in his capacity as MNS President, right after his session finished. I on the other hand was not around on the first day, giving a talk to senior DOE officers in Ipoh, Perak at the National River Water Quality Monitoring seminar (pics to come, hopefully) and the next day after this workshop, I had to be in Putrajaya assisting UTM IBD at their MSc quality improvement program. I will be conducting another workshop on water quality parameters in September at ENSEARCH; watch out for it! Those who are interested to attend, kindly get in touch with the ENSEARCH secretariat.

Participants from various segments of the environmental industry

More Participants

Prof. Maketab with his signature smile :-)

Attentive participants listening to my talk on QUAL2K

(guy in the last row, green shirt is Renjith; all the way from NIO, India to learn modeling)

My jacket was off half way through the workshop (on the chair); for mobility's sake, needed to rid as much weight off my shoulders as possible :-)

Training on Water Quality Modeling (2 Days) @ the Environmental Management and Research Association of Malaysia (ENSEARCH)

For more info, click here. ENSEARCH website : http://ensearch.org.

SYNOPSIS

The Enhanced Stream Water Quality Model (QUAL2E) is applicable to well mixed, dendritic streams. It simulates major reactions of nutrient cycles, algae production, benthic and carbonaceous demand, atmospheric reaeration and their effects on dissolved oxygen balance. Besides developing total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), it can also be used in conjunction with field sampling for identifying the magnitude and quality characteristics of non point sources.

QUAL2K (or Q2K) is a river and stream water quality model that is intended to represent a modernized version of the QUAL2E model (Brown and Barnwell 1987). QUAL2K is now implemented within the Microsoft Windows environment. It is programmed in the Windows macro language: Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Excel is used as the graphical user interface.

Please bring your laptops with Windows Operating System

TRAINERS :

Ir. ZAKI ZAINUDIN

B.Eng. (Chem.), CEnv. (UK), M.Sc. (Env. Eng.), P.Eng. (Chem.)

Registered EIA Subject Consultant

Dr. MAKETAB MOHAMED

BSc. (Microbiology), M.Sc. (Env. Health), Ph.D. (Watershed Science)

ABOUT THE TRAINERS :

Ir. Zaki Zainudin is an Academic Fellow at the Bioenvironmental Engineering Research Unit (BERU), Kulliyyah of Engineering, IIUM. He is a member of the International Water Association, Watershed and River Basin Management Specialist Group and also serves as a management committee member of the Water Resources Technical Division, Institution of Engineers Malaysia. Ir. Zaki is a renowned environmental consultant with vast experience and expertise in the area of water quality assessment and modeling, having led and played key roles in numerous environmental projects, including monitoring exercises, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and special stand-alone environmental studies nationwide. He has conducted various workshops and talks on water quality and modeling at both local and international venues and is often a source of reference for various organizations on surface water quality management, such as being an expert panelist for government and private organizations.

Dr. Maketab Mohamed is a well-respected environmental figure in Malaysia and is currently Director of the Environmental, Occupational, Health and Safety unit in UTM, Skudai. He is often a source of reference for various parties involved in environmental management and conservation such as the Department of Environment (DOE) and AlamSekitar Malaysia (ASMA). Being a certified EIA Consultant, Dr. Maketab has contributed his services in many development projects, namely in the composition of numerous EIA reports, participated and written close to 50 papers presented at various seminars and conferences, as well as conducting numerous pro-bono community services. His primary areas of interest and expertise include water quality assessment, river water quality modeling, watershed rehabilitation, ecological analysis, and morphology. He is also currently the President of the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS).

Killer landslide hits Hulu Langat orphanage

From The Star Online :

KAJANG: A landslide hit an orphanage Saturday afternoon killing 13 and leaving three still buried.

Firemen and villagers managed to pull out nine soon after the landslide hit Rumah Anak Yatim Hidayah, Madrasah Al-Takwa, Jalan Felcra Semungkus, 14th mile, Hulu Langat, near Kajang at 2.30pm.

At 10.45pm, a boy was pulled out alive after being buried for over eight hours.

Rescuers rushing one of the injured children to the ward at Ampang Hospital

The dead and alive have been sent to the Ampang and Kajang Hospitals.

"Two landslides occurred simultaneously. All the victims did not have time to escape," said Selangor CPO Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah at a press conference at 6.45pm.

A total of 49 students and caretakers were there but 24 escaped unhurt.

The back portion of the orphanage where the landslide occurred

The orphanage was partially buried by the landslides at about 2.30pm on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Deputy IGP Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said that rescuers were being hampered by wet soil and rain.

He also appealed to the crowd of onlookers to stay back and allow the rescuers to do their work unimpeded.

Bernama reported that in ALOR GAJAH, Malacca, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalildirected the Social Welfare Department and the 'Skuad Sayang' (Caring Squad) to provide immediate assistance to the orphans and family of the victims.

"I will get in touch with the police to obtain detailed information and the actual cause of the landslide so that my ministry can take follow-up action to assist the victms," she said.

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For the first time in a very long time I am speechless. I feel sick to be part of a society/system that allows development of an orphanage on a hill-side which is susceptible to land-slides. MARK MY WORDS : THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO POINT FOR US TO HAVE THE LONGEST, LARGEST, BIGGEST, TALLEST..... BUILDING, BRIDGE OR WHATEVER IF WE ARE GOING TO PUT THE LIVES INNOCENT CHILDREN, ORPHAN CHILDREN AT RISK...... ALL OF OUR PROGRESS..... DEVELOPMENT...... SUCCESSES COUNT FOR ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.....