11th Asia Pacific Confederation of Chemical Engineering Congress
A J Banks bursar Phanida Saikhwan reports from Kuala Lumpur, August 2006
The Asia Pacific Confederation of Chemical Engineering Congress is held every two years. This year’s Congress attracted over 1000 delegates, ranging from early-stage research students to well-established researchers and industrial practitioners. The delegates came from a range of scientific and engineering disciplines, including applied mathematics, physics, chemistry and food science, as well as civil engineering. The industrial observers and presenters came from both universities and engineering companies.
Three plenary sessions shared the theme of ‘Innovation sustaining future business’, and they all touched on the application of new subjects such as nanotechnology. The first session, refuelling the world, and the last, from waste to wealth, addressed similar environmental problems, with the focus on likely solutions. Various aspects of cleaner technologies ranging from biofuel to management of natural resources were discussed.
| The work proved many traditional beliefs wrong, for example, consuming food high in fibre does not lower the risk of colon cancer |
The second plenary session, food for health, demonstrated new technologies in food research and production. For me, the best talk in this session was the study of the effects of starch on colon cancer. The work proved many traditional beliefs wrong, for example, consuming food high in fibre does not lower the risk of colon cancer. The real explanation for the lower rates of colon cancer found in Asia is that the starch eaten there is resistance starch (which requires little digestion in the small intestine). The talk concluded with recommendations for the use of redesigned starch in bread and other products consumed in the West.
The afternoon sessions focussed on research work ranging from fundamentals of chemical engineering, eg fluid dynamics, separation and reactors, to applied science, eg environmental and food science. I found that more attention was paid to the production of new food products rather than finding solutions to the existing problems in food processing.
Very few presentations were on my own research area of fouling, though this may be because the milk industry is not very large or significant in the region. Nevertheless, my presentation on the work in the cleaning of food fouling layers using modified surfaces was well received. As expected, modified surfaces were new for researchers in Asia Pacific (my presentation was the only one to mention the use of this coating technology). About half of the questions I received were on modified surfaces, and the rest on the technique I used in my study. This particular technique was developed within my department and a few members of the audience suggested further applications.
The conference also coincided with the Chemical Technology Exhibition and a showcase detailing the achievements of the Malaysian chemical industry. The exhibitors were academic institutions, engineering organisations, research centres and companies.
I met many other researchers, including some from my homeland of Thailand, who were interested in discussing their research exchanging opinions on each other’s work. These contacts will be useful in forming collaborations in the future when I am back in Thailand working as an academic.
Phanida Saikhwan (pictured left)
University of Cambridge
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