History of ISA Malaysia
ISA Malaysia officially was established in 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was the brainchild of Sharul Rashid after he visited a forum in Florida back in February 2016.
V.R Harindran, PETRONAS, Former Group Technical Authority (GTA), became ISA’s first president in 2017 and served the organization until 2021. He is currently the Head of Instrument at PRefChem and has 36 years of experience in oil, gas, and petrochemicals. He was the PETRONAS Group Technical Authority in Instrument & Control was holding various management positions at Malaysia LNG and PETRONAS Methanol. He has a B.Sc. In Electrical & Electronics Engineering, UK and M.Sc. In Technology Management, UK. He is a TUV certified Functional Safety Engineer, Associate Professor at University Technology PETRONAS, a Malaysian & ASEAN registered Professional Engineer, and a Chartered Engineer, UK.
In that same year, the ISA Malaysia held its 1st ISA Malaysia Automation Conference and Exhibition on 28th & 29th November at Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur
In the years following, ISA Malaysia continued to expand its products and services, increasing the size and scope of the ISA conference and exhibition, developing symposia, standard and offering professional development.
Sharul Rashid, PETRONAS Group Technical Authority & Custodian Engineer, became the second and current ISA President. He has more than 30 years of experience in instrumentation & control for oil & gas, gas liquefaction, and petrochemical plants including pipeline transmission network.
He is a Steering Committee member for JIP33 (IOGP), Co-Chair Certification Working Group (OPAF), Vice-Chair Instrument Automation Standards Steering Committee, Vice-Chair ISAGCA (ISA Global Cybersecurity Alliance) and Steering Group of IEC OF2 for Smart Manufacturing. He is the “Expert” ISA IEC 62443 Certification in Cybersecurity.