Major Hazards Symposium 2024

Mr. Bernard Nee is Deputy President (Industry & Community), Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). He assumed the role on 1 April 2023 after being appointed Vice President (Industry & Community) on 1 Jan 2022. The group is responsible for industry and future sensing, corporate communications, as well as collaborations with companies and agencies for applied learning and research. Bernard actively engages companies, trade associations, government agencies and various interest groups to advance SIT’s mission and vision.

He brings along deep experience garnered from previous leadership roles at the Economic Development Board (EDB), National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Energy Market Authority (EMA). As the Deputy Chief Executive of EMA (2012-2021), he managed over $200 million in energy R&D funding, and forged partnerships with PSA Singapore, Sembcorp Industries, Keppel Offshore & Marine, SP Group and Shell to nurture the energy ecosystem. His team launched the Energy Story (a national blueprint enabling Singapore’s energy transformation), introduced regulatory sandboxes, nurtured a competitive industry workforce and pushed Singapore’s solar and energy storage ambitions. His portfolio also included oversight of EMA’s corporate functions.

Prior to 2012, he was with EDB for 18 years, where he assumed senior management roles as Executive Director in charge of Natural Resources, Strategic and Corporate Planning, as well as the Chief Information Officer. He seeded a team to incubate high-growth clusters that could contribute $1 billion to Singapore’s GDP within 10 years. In 2005, he was seconded to the NRF as the pioneering Director to establish policies, processes, and systems to manage the $5 billion RIE2010 budget.

A recipient of the EDB scholarship, Bernard possesses a Masters in Management of Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and graduated with an MSc and BSc (with University Honours) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

A futurist firefighter who hates fighting fires because every fire alarm is a late call. As one of the three Deputy Commissioners in SCDF, Teong’s cluster focuses on upstream work, including the charting of long-term strategic development for SCDF which entails effecting the necessary cultural and mindset shifts amongst staff to embrace the future of emergency response. He has held several command and staff positions within SCDF and at MHA headquarters, notably as Deputy Commissioner (Future Technology and Public Safety) and Commander 4th SCDF Division and Director of the Civil Defence Academy. 

Teong graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) with a Chemical Engineering degree and a Master of Science (MSc.) in Safety, Health, and Environmental Technology (SHE). He also took another Master of Science (MSc.) in Fire and Explosions Engineering from the University of Leeds, UK. He is a registered Professional Engineer (Chemical Engineering) under the Professional Engineers’ Board in Singapore and obtained professional qualifications (ACTA and DACE) in Training and Learning.

Er. Liang Hong is a professional engineer (chemical), and he currently works as a principal specialist with the Major Hazards Department, Ministry of Manpower, overseeing the safety case regime for major hazard installations in Singapore. He also holds the position of adjunct assistant professor with the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the National University of Singapore.

Liang Hong has over 13 years of experience in process safety, specialising in Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA), process safety management, and safety case development.

Dr. Salim has more than 25 years’ experience in safety, both in the public and private sectors. He is currently leading the Process Safety and Sustainable Systems (PS3) group within ISCE² with an emphasis on Process Safety. His main research interests include PHA methodologies, combustible dust, fires and explosions, battery safety, hydrogen and ammonia safety, hybrid LCA-Safety methodologies and inherent safety for modular process technologies.

He is also active in the development of several national safety standards in Singapore and is also a member of ISOTC 261/WG6 on additive manufacturing EHS. He is also an adjunct Associate Professor with Singapore Institute of Technology, a practicing Professional Engineer, a member of the Workplace Safety & Health Council’s Chemical Industry Committee, an Engineering Accreditation Board Evaluation Team member under the Institution of Engineers Singapore, an Editorial Advisory Board Member for the Journal of Energy and Safety Technology (JEST), and an active reviewer for several Process Safety Journals.

Jon Wilkinson is a Chartered Chemical Engineer and he graduated from UMIST, United Kingdom in 1992. He worked for 19 years in the Petrochemicals industry with BP in UK and China. Jon joined Marsh Specialty Energy & Power Practice in 2010 as a Senior Risk Engineer based in the Singapore office, with a focus on providing risk engineering services to clients in the AsiaPac region for insurance underwriting purposes. He has carried out underwriting surveys in Asia, Australia, India, Africa, Europe, Middle East and North America for refining, petrochemicals, LNG, upstream and renewables (hydrogen and CCS). 

Prof. Goh is the Executive Director of the National Metrology Centre (NMC) at A*STAR and represents the Singapore Government at the quadrennial General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM), the intergovernmental forum that ensures the maintenance and propagation of the International System of Units, a crucial foundation for international trade, safety, and health.

He is the Treasurer on the Executive Committee of the Asia Pacific Metrology Programme and also the Singapore Focal Point for the Expert Group on Metrology under the ASEAN Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation (COSTI). Locally, Prof. Goh is the A*STAR management representative on both the Singapore Standard Council and Singapore Accreditation Council. He also holds an adjunct Professorship with the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University. ​

​Before his move to NMC in 2020, Prof. Goh was Deputy Executive Director of the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, A*STAR, and had held appointments such as Director of the Strategic Research Office and also Head of the Ceramics Materials department. During this period, he was the Covering Focal Point for the Sub Committee on Materials Science and Technology under the ASEAN COSTI.​

​From 2017 to 2019, Prof. Goh was concurrently the Director of Special Projects in the Science and Engineering Research Council, A*STAR, where he scoped future R&D programmes and also oversaw electrification of transport and related matters in the Urban and GreenTech Office. He also represented A*STAR on various working committees such as Land and Liveability, Smart Urban Habitat, and the biennial MND Urban Sustainability R&D Congress. In addition, Prof. Goh was the founding chair of the Singapore Battery Consortium launched in 2019. ​

​In the years before taking up management responsibilities, Prof. Goh led R&D projects under the 1st and 2nd Joint A*STAR-MND Green Building Thematic Strategic Research Programmes and also served as the Programme Manager for the 2nd programme. His research focused on the deposition of functional and electroceramic films and nanostructures which can be utilised in self-cleaning, heat reflection, and also electrochemical applications. Prof. Goh has published 90 papers in peer-reviewed journals and his research has been highlighted by The American Ceramic Society, Plastics Today, Chemical Daily, Asian Scientist, Science Daily, Straits Times and Business Times. He has delivered over 30 invited lectures and has served on the Scientific Advisory Committees of international conferences in Asia and Europe. ​

​Prof. Goh has guest edited for Thin Solid Films, Journal of Solid State Chemistry, Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Surface and Coatings Technology and the Journal of Electroceramics. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Thin Films Society and was previously the Joint Treasurer and Joint Secretary of the Materials Research Society, Singapore.

For over two decades, Andrew Ng has been a dedicated advocate for safety excellence across diverse industries. His journey began with an engineering degree, followed by a Master of Science in Safety, Health, and Environmental Technology from the National University of Singapore.

Andrew's career launched in the high-stakes environment of defense, where safety is paramount. He then applied his expertise in the oil and gas sector, honing his skills in managing complex hazards. Currently, he leads the HSE department at a prominent industrial gas company, where he has successfully implemented several company-wide initiatives, such as life-saving rules. He has established a robust near-miss reporting system that encompasses process safety events to identify and address potential issues and reduce road accidents by leveraging advanced technology and a data-driven risk assessment matrix, which has led to the achievement of zero Loss Time Accident (LTA).

Beyond his current role, he is deeply committed to industry-wide safety advancements. He actively participated in working committees for the Singapore Chemical Industry Council (SCIC) and currently serves on the Safety Advisory Group (SAG) of the Asia Industrial Gases Association (AIGA). His commitment to collaboration fosters a safer future for the industry. 

Dr. SK Mahasin Alam is a Lead Professional Officer at Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore. His current research focuses on hydrogen safety - modelling of hydrogen dispersion (hydrogen concentration decay, accumulation of hydrogen in and enclosed environment, hydrogen plume dispersion length) and flame (visible flame length and width, radiative heat flux) characteristics. He obtained his PhD in computational chemistry from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

His research interests are Na and Li storage mechanisms, diffusion of Na and Li in organic batteries, and electronic properties and diffusion of dopants in doped semiconductors. He also focuses on the structural and electronic properties of Ge & Si nanowires and carbon nanotubes, interactions and reaction mechanisms of surface species on catalyst surfaces using the Density Functional Theory (DFT) method, and photoluminescence properties of graphene quantum dots and polymers using the time-dependent DFT method. Additionally, his interests include Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship studies of biomolecules for their bioactivities, molecular docking, and pharmacophore mapping.

Jaime Lim is a Chartered Engineer and Professional Process Safety Engineer with the Institution of Chemical Engineers. She is currently the Director of the Major Hazards Department (MHD) and the OSH Specialist Department at the Ministry of Manpower. She oversees the safety case regime for the oil and gas industry and leads the implementation of national occupational hygiene, occupational medicine and engineering safety programmes. 

AC Ryan Ong joined the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) in 2005. He graduated from the National University of Singapore in 2004 with a First Class Honours Degree in Civil Engineering on a PSC Local Merit Scholarship. In 2015, he completed a Masters in Fire Safety Engineering from the University of Maryland under SCDF’s sponsorship. AC Ryan assumed the role of Commander Marine Division in December 2020.

As the commander, he oversees the operations and capability development of marine resources to safeguard Singapore’s waters. In April 2023, he also took on the concurrent appointment of Director for the Fire Safety Department. His responsibilities include overseeing the design, enforcement, and regulations of fire safety in buildings and also implementing technological developments to enhance fire safety management.

Dr. Lim Kok Hwa is an Associate Professor and Director, Professional Officers Division (POD) at Singapore Institute of Technology. Over the past decade, he has taught a variety of courses, including Industrial Chemical Processes, and Industrial Chemical and Biological Plant Safety. He is also experienced in emergency/contingency planning, and is involved in many committees dealing with safety matters and safety reviews. He received a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) in Computational Science and Chemistry, and a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from the National University of Singapore. He later obtained his doctoral degree from the Technische Universität München (TUM) in Germany.

Teng Chong Seng is a Senior Professional Officer at the Singapore Institute of Technology, bringing over 40 years of extensive industry experience. He has a distinguished career in leading enterprise resilience, environmental sustainability, workplace safety and health, process safety functions, and business continuity readiness across the Asia Pacific Region. Chong Seng has successfully involved in the startups of multimillion-dollar greenfield projects in semiconductor wafer fabrication and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Throughout his career, Chong Seng has expanded his domain expertise to encompass broader knowledge in the life cycle of supply chain management, and project management. He is actively involved with professional organisation and is the President of the Society of Loss Prevention for Process Industries. He attains the professional membership of Fire Safety Manager’s Association Singapore, and the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment, UK. Chong Seng holds a Master of Science in Environmental Management from the National University of Singapore and bachelor’s degrees in environmental technology (DEAKIN University), and Business Administration (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology).