Having worked for GEC for 25 years, NF decided to set up his own company as a specialist consultant in power systems protection and control. Working with his established network he also offers sales and marketing services to utilities and manufacturing sectors across Asia Pacific and in the UK. He also offers technical training to engineers in these industries in what is a very specialised field. He feels it is important to pass on his technical skills to the next generation of power engineers.

While NF was studying for A-levels in his home town of Sandakan, he won a Shell scholarship to study for a diploma in electrical power engineering at technical college (now the University of Technology, Malaysia) in Kuala Lumpur, West Malaysia. Having saved up whilst at technical college, he was able to continue his studies in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland, where his diploma qualified him for direct entry into the third year of the degree course.

Having obtained a 1st Class Honours degree, he won a scholarship to continue his studies with a PhD, but decided to submit his research as an MSc due to its academic nature.

NF started his professional engineering career by joining GEC in Stafford as a power systems protection engineer handling projects with both UK and worldwide power utilities and industries. Having acquired the technical competence to become a Chartered Engineer, NF moved from GEC’s engineering department to the commercial department and took up a tour of overseas duty based in Hong Kong to develop GEC’s business in the Asia Pacific region.

In order to keep his technical knowledge up-to-date, NF also started a part time PhD programme with the University of Bath in power systems protection, gaining the PhD 20 years after his masters, an achievement of which he is particularly proud.

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NF joined the IEE (now the Institution of Engineering and Technology) whilst at the University of Strathclyde, having been encouraged to do so by his lecturer. Although initially NF wasn’t aware of the role that a professional body plays or how it could help him in his career, he maintained his membership. He then discovered that he could become chartered through the IEE, achieving his CEng qualification in the minimum time possible. NF was keen to achieve professional recognition and status as an engineer, particularly because within a corporate environment much of the kudos went to the sales team who clinched the deals, not the engineering team that actually carried out the work and developed new systems.

In 1988, the IEE established a Local Network in Hong Kong and NF was invited to join the founding committee. Since joining the committee, NF has also been a professional registration advisor in Hong Kong, conducting interviews for those hoping to gain CEng and training interviewers. NF has represented the IEE on ECUK’s International Advisory Panel and has also served as a Trustee of the IEE for four years (2001-5), helping to set the strategy and direction of the Institution as a whole, a role which he found interesting and challenging.

NF has always considered the Institution’s work towards professional recognition vital. By developing individual engineers, the Institution of Engineering and Technology can ensure that standards remain high, thus maintaining the standing of the profession. When engineers finish their degree in engineering, they enter the profession but this doesn’t mean that they are actually an engineer. The CEng qualification recognises that an individual engineer has not just the academic knowledge but also the necessary competence to work as a professional engineer. The Institution also requires all members to constantly update and maintain their knowledge, a fact which NF considers important and encourages through his role as a membership advisor.

NF has found the networking opportunities that the Institution offers very useful throughout his career, particularly as it enables all members to mix together no matter where they are in their careers or how senior they are.

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