Professor Syed Zubir from the School of Architecture, Planning and Surveying of the Universiti Teknologi Mara, who has had a distinguished academic career as well as practical experience, has been awarded the Eminent Scientist Award of the Wessex Institute of Technology.
This Medal is given annually by the Board of Directors to colleagues who are not only excellent researchers and teachers, but also people of the highest integrity.
Professor Zubir received his first degree in architecture from the Universiti Teknologi Mara and continued his studies at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, followed by a Master in Urban Design and Planning at the well known Pratt Institute in New York. After this, he completed a PhD at Sheffield University in the UK.
His main scientific publications deal with Urban Design and Malaysian Architecture, including the importance and value of heritage sites and vernacular elements in contemporary design. He has been equally prolific in the field of Architecture teaching and is renowned for his mentoring of young architecture students.
Professor Zubir’s work came to the attention of Wessex Institute when he participated in the Sustainable City Conference that took place in Siena in 2004. He later contributed with a paper to the 1st International Conference on Ravage of the Planet held in 2006 in Patagonia, also organised by Wessex Institute.
The Meeting, which was opened by a Nobel Prize Winner, produced an important Declaration that referred to the need to prevent further deterioration of the environment and applying the principles of sustainability in urban design and architecture. The Conference was reconvened again in Kuala Lumpur in 2011 under Syed’s chairmanship. His association with Wessex Institute led to a further meeting, also held in Malaysia, and co-chaired by him in 2013 on a topic of The Sustainable City, Urban Regeneration and Sustainability. A subsequent Conference on Energy and Sustainability in 2014 marked one of the many initiatives in which Wessex Institute has had the pleasure of collaborating with Professor Zubir.
Professor Zubir is author of many papers and publications and serves on the Editorial Boards of several prestigious Journals, including some published by WIT Press, the publishing arm of the Wessex Institute.
He is also an excellent teacher and supervisor. WIT had occasion to help him organise a visit to several European Architectural Heritage Centres in 2014. The participants were able to achieve the maximum benefit from a tour that took them to several countries, in addition to visiting WIT Campus in the New Forest.
