Independent Non-Executive Director

Dr. Ir. Samad Bin Solbai was appointed to the Board on 25 May 2012. He is a registered Professional Engineer and Fellow of the Instituition of Engineers, Malaysia. He is an Independent Non-Executive Director of TH Heavy Engineering Bhd.

He has a wide, hands-on experience in the fabrication of oil & gas platforms projects. Dr. Samad’s employment career included 13 years in academia (including as an Associate Professor and Dean of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia) and more than 20 years in the Oil & Gas Industry. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge, M.Eng. Sc. in Materials Engineering from Monash University, B.Eng. (Mechanical) from Caulfield Institute of Technology and Graduate Diploma in Islamic Studies from the International Islamic University, Malaysia. He also attended Advanced Management (Executive Programs) courses at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and GE’s training centre at Crotonville, New York.

Prior to his retirement from full-time employment, Dr. Samad was the CEO of PT. Gunanusa Utama Fabricators, Indonesia from 2005 to 2011. He also held a number of key positions in oil & gas related companies including nine years in the Sime Darby Group as Group General Manager of the Oil & Gas Division of Sime Darby Berhad and CEO of Sime Sembcorp Engineering Sdn Bhd. Dr. Samad was the Group Managing Director of Shapadu Corporation for a brief period of 18 months from mid1999.

Dr. Samad is currently a director of a number of private companies in Malaysia including Carrier International (M) Sdn Bhd and THHE Fabricators Sdn Bhd.

Dr. Samad is also an active motivational speaker and regularly gives lectures on Fundamentals of Management to young engineers, organized by the Board of Engineers, Malaysia.