Prof. Lim Kok Hwa

A/Prof. and Director, Professional Officer Division
Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore

A/Prof Lim emphasizes the importance of prioritizing safety and security risks concurrently in the digital age, as they are more intertwined than ever before. He notes that practitioners have traditionally viewed safety and security as separate systems, and that both communities worked separately using their respective terminologies and frameworks. However, a top-down approach can be taken by identifying services and functions that require protection. Safety instrumented systems (SIS) and other control and mitigation barriers have cybersecurity vulnerabilities that must be addressed, as these vulnerabilities represent reduced reliability. He suggests that one possible interface between the cybersecurity risk assessment and the Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) risk assessment process is to focus on cybersecurity escalation associated with barriers that have cybersecurity vulnerabilities. A/Prof. Lim research interests are Process Safety, Cyber-physical System Safety; Engineering Education; QSAR Analysis of Biological Activity; Computational Chemistry and Material Sciences; as well as Heterogeneous Catalytic Reactions and Surface Sciences. A/Prof. Lim has published over 200 International Peer Reviewed Journals, Conferences’ Proceeding and invited talks. He has been invited as Editorial Board Member of scientific journals and act as judge for various competitions. A/Prof. Lim is frequently invited as speaker/ panellist in local and regional seminars/ conferences on Process Safety. He helped to organize various annual local seminars/ conferences (e.g. Major Hazard Symposium, Safety Case Symposium, etc.) with industries and professional societies. A/Prof. Lim was the organizing chair for World Engineers Summit 2019 and 2021. A/Prof. Lim Kok Hwa is currently the Director, Professional Officers Division and faculty member of Food, Chemical and BioTechnology (FCB) Cluster in Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) (https://www.singaporetech.edu.sg/directory/faculty/kok-hwa-lim). A/Prof. Lim completed his BSc. 1st Class Hons (Computational Science and Chemistry) and MSc. (Chemical Engineering) in National University of Singapore. He obtained his Doctorate from Technische Universität München (TUM). A/Prof. Lim is a registered Professional Engineer, Chartered Engineer (Chemical & Process Engineering) and Adult Education Professional. He is the Course Director and trainer for the Specialist Certificate in Process Safety in SIT. A/Prof. Lim is currently serving as Council Member and Fellow of The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES). A/P Lim acted as Member of the Board of Inquiry, Technical Expert and Member of Workgroup to various agencies on safety related matters.