President and CEO make Asian trip

On 3 September, the IHEEM Hong Kong Branch Committee, led by Branch chairman, PL Yuen, held a one day symposium at the Nikko Hotel in the district of Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, which was attended by over 130 delegates, and sponsored by 15 companies. Following a welcome from PL Yuen, Raymond Chan, President of the Hong Kong Institute of Engineers, gave the opening presentation, after which Greg Markham gave a keynote address on ‘Healthcare Developments in the UK’. Speakers from Hong Kong, Australia, Germany, the US, and China, then contributed their own presentations on a wide variety of topics linked to the conference theme – ‘Modern Healthcare Engineering’. These included photocatalytic oxidation for gas-phase air cleaning, the new Chinese code of air cleaning techniques in hospitals, and low carbon hospital design. While in Hong Kong, the President and CEO, accompanied by Branch Committee members, visited the University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and the HKIE (Hong Kong Institution of Engineers). Discussions focused on support for local university courses and CPD. and building an alliance between the universities and the Institute to provide a ‘supply chain’ of qualified engineers to address the growing demand from the healthcare engineering sector. In Singapore, a joint IHEEM/CIBSE symposium at the Singapore Management University on 5 September, led by CIBSE Singapore Branch chairman, Hsieh-Min Loy, examined ’Modern Healthcare Engineering Systems – status quo and issues’. Greg Markham gave the opening presentation comparing issues being addressed in the UK with those in Asia. Two key themes emerged – the need for the ‘professionalisation’ of facilities management as a key discipline within the healthcare engineering sector, using BIM as a driver, and the need to address the healthcare needs of an ageing population in many countries. The so called ‘Silver Tsunami’ would, he said, lead to a substantial increase in demand for healthcare provision to tackle dementia and other chronic diseases – in turn requiring a combination of improved design, enhanced technology, reduced energy and carbon consumption, and improved efficiencies in managing estates, to keep costs at a manageable level. At the IFHE Council meeting in Malaysia, Greg Markham presented a paper on the use of social media to enhance the work of membership organisations, and Julian Amey gave background on how IHEEM had researched and prepared a ‘Five-year plan’. The IFHE Council announced that the next IFHE Congress will be held in Buenos Aires in October 2014. The IFHE Council meetings in Kuala Lumpur were held alongside a large conference and exhibition organized by BEAM, which focused on ‘Empowering Facility Management in Healthcare Engineering’. Opened by Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak, the conference covered ‘Global Trends in Healthcare Engineering’, a topic introduced by IFHE President, Ole Rist, and, among other trends, reflected the rapid rise of Malaysia as a destination for ‘health tourism’. Julian Amey added: “IHEEM members resident in Asia attended events in each of the countries visited, and I am delighted to report that 10 applications for student membership have already been received.”