The Institution Of Engineering Malaysia @ Southern

The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (Southern Branch) is one of the largest Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) branches in terms of membership and is amongst the earliest to be set up by IEM to cater to members who reside outside the Klang Valley.

It was officially registered with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) on the 18th August 1971 with its official address at Sultan Ismail Power Station, Lembaga Letrik Negara (LLN), Johor.

The Branch Committee in the early years largely consisted of engineers from government departments such as the Public Works Department (JKR), the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID), Lembaga Letrik Negara (LLN) and a few from the private sectors consulting engineers.

In the early years, it was common for IEM branches to operate without any fulltime secretariat staff and they had no permanent office for many years. The “branch office” was effectively the workplace of its committee members, usually the office of the Chairman or Honorary Secretary.

In the mid 1980’s, IEM (Southern Branch) with the support of IEM headquarters, managed to raise funds to acquire a 3-storey commercial shop lot as its permanent office. The office, located at 24-B, Jalan Abiad, Taman Tebrau Jaya, 80400 Johor Bahru, has been the home of IEM (SB) ever since.

IEM (Southern Branch) has played an important role in promoting the engineering profession among our members and society. Our membership as of 2019, stands strong at 5388 members, of which 15% consists of corporate members. The remaining 85% comprises of graduate and student members.

We have been actively organizing activities that benefit our members and fellow engineers. These include technical talks, seminars, charitable works, social activities and technical visits including visits to engineering sites and facilities in Johor Bahru and Singapore.

IEM (Southern Branch) maintains a cordial relationship not only with the Johor state government but also with other professional bodies such as the state’s Malaysian Bar Council, the southern chapter of Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM), the Johor Master Builders Association (JMBA), Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), Malaysian Institute of Planners (MIP), Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (REHDA), The Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (RISM), The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) and the Asian Concrete Construction Institute (ACCI), Singapore.

IEM (Southern Branch) representatives have also been appointed by the state government as ex-officio members in the local councils of Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru (MBJB) and Majlis Bandaraya Iskandar Putri (MBIP). This is a testimony of recognition by the government towards the contribution of IEM(SB), particularly in Johor Bahru.

Our Young Engineers Section (YES) has also been very active in recent years with the involvement of the two IEM student chapters namely Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai, and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn (UTHM), Batu Pahat. The management of both universities have been supportive of IEM (Southern Branch) and have been promoting IEM (Southern Branch) to the academic staffs and engineering students.

IEM (Southern Branch) with its 48 years of experience will continue to play a pivotal role in promoting the advancement of science and engineering, and to contribute for the betterment of the engineering profession particularly in the state of Johor.