My Industry to Academia Research Journey And Energizing Innovations Among Malaysian Engineers

In this talk, the author would like to share her research journey from industry to academia, first in Malaysia and then in United States. She was fortunate to receive a strong science & mathematical education in Malaysia, trained as an engineer at University of Malaya, worked with a team of talented R&D engineers at Motorola Communication Sectors Sdn Bhd in Penang before she went to United States for graduate studies. In United States, again she was fortunate to have several mentors who helped to inspire her to conduct great research first in industry and then in academia. She will first share her research journal from Malaysia to United States. Next, based on her experience, she will share some main ingredients one needs to cultivate to conduct great research, e.g., curiosity, diligence, and perseverance. Subsequently, she will also share her thoughts on how industry leaders, academic leaders and Malaysian government can collaborate to energize innovations among Malaysian engineers as well as young generations aspiring to be our next generation engineers. Cultivating curiosity in STEM fields at young age, providing opportunities for high school students to appreciate science through solving real life problems with college students, and creating opportunities for faculty members in STEM fields to spend sabbatical semesters at top universities or industry R&D laboratories to horn their skills are necessary steps to energize innovations among Malaysian engineers.

Comparison of Pistia Stratiotes and Lemna Minor Plants Potentials in Bioremediation of Domestic Wastewater

Phytoremediation is an eco-friendly and cost-effective biotechnological method of wastewater treatment that involves the use of plants. In this research work, the potentials of Pistia stratiotes and Lemna minor aquatic plants in treatment of wastewater was examined. The two plants were cultivated in the wastewater sample for a period of 10 days. Water quality parameters (turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), phosphate, ammoniacal nitrogen and nitrate) tests was subjected on the untreated (influent) and treated water (effluent) samples at a detention time of 24 hours. The outcome of the analysis demonstrates that P. stratiotes effluent achieved a reduction efficiency of up to 91.9%, 68%, 79.6%, and 71% for turbidity, phosphate, ammoniacal nitrogen and nitrate, respectively. Whereas for L. minor treated water samples, the highest reduction efficiency for turbidity, COD, phosphate, ammoniacal nitrogen and nitrate was found to be 87.2%, 46%, 48.7%, 83% and 56%, respectively. Hence, the overall outcome obtained indicate that P. stratiotes performed better in improving the quality of domestic wastewater compared to L. minor plants.

Development of A Comprehensive Model for Erosion and Sediment Control towards Good Water Governance: UKM Campus as A Watershed Model

This study was carried out to develop a whole ecosystem-based erosion and sediment transport control management system of UKM Campus Watershed which is a sub-basin of Langat River Basin catchment. This is done through the development of an Erosion and Sediment Control (ESC) model for the UKM campus watershed that includes localised technology, information and communication system, as well as awareness and community participation for the greening and rehabilitation of UKM Campus. The management system was developed to give a strong participatory element and to ensure that the model will be placed into a user friendly context to make data input and model operation simple for stakeholders with limited resources and training in the use of the models. The application of hydromulching (bioengineering technology) is adopted as part of the ESC study by using the local components to recover most landslides occurred in UKM Campus. It is also as an option where the post-landslide restoration works involving conventional civil designs are costly and sometimes not practical at remote sites. Therefore (due to cost constraints), the remoteness of the sites and low risk to lives and property, bioengineering was the option taken for erosion control, slope stabilization and vegetation establishment.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND COMPUTER VISION – A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN?

After becoming independent in 1957, Malaysia continued as an agricultural country but quickly grew into a manufacturing nation in a relatively short time. Literally from nowhere, the manufacturing sector now commands more than 38% of the nation’s GDP overtaking the agriculture sector which commands just slightly above 7%. In addition to the multinational manufacturers who are mainly in the electrical and electronics sectors, there are also other smaller producers who produce for the rest of the world. Nevertheless in order to compete, they cannot just rely on manual labour whether local or foreign, to produce high volume and high quality goods at a competitive price. With intense competition, even the old way of making many products to satisfy the global appetite for good products from both the brick-and-mortar shops to your huge online shops is no longer adequate. Manual operations in the manufacturing process can come in various forms, ranging from the very simple but monotonous and repetitive to the highly complex or sophisticated. In the quality department many of the local manufacturers have chosen to use human labour to ensure their quality is maintained. For many of these highly repetitive but relatively simple tasks, the human operators need to be properly trained for an appropriate length of time before they can perform effectively. Other than the intelligence of these operators, their ability to detect deviations from the desired patterns are also utilised. And this is where artificial intelligence and computer vision can help. The term artificial intelligence was first coined at the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence by John McCarthy in 1956. While there are many definitions, Ray Kurzweil, an American inventor and futurist defines it as machines that perform functions that require intelligence when performed by humans[1]. On the other hand, computer vision deals with how computers can gain high-level understanding from digital images or videos. From the perspective of engineering, it seeks to understand and automate tasks that the human visual system can do. This paper shows how artificial intelligence combined with computer vision can be used to improve productivity and effectiveness in three different areas.

VOLUME CHANGE BEHAVIOUR OF BANTING CLAY BY THE CONCEPT OF EFFECTIVE STRESS AND SHEAR STRENGTH INTERACTION

Effective stress and shear strength interaction which the stress – strain curves and mobilised shear strength envelope explained the actual volume change behaviour of the soils. The interaction that useful in prediction of stress – strain curves and unique relationship between Effective Mobilised Minimum Friction Angle and Axial Strain is important to predict the settlement at any effective stresses include the effective stress that not conducted in laboratory test. Consolidated drained triaxial test is conducted for saturated Banting CLAY and the volume change behaviour of Banting CLAY is presented from the concept of effective stress and shear strength interaction with the establishment of unique relationship between effective mobilised minimum friction angle with respect to axial strain and prediction of stress – strain curves for the saturated Banting CLAY.

THE TWENTY NINETH PROFESSOR CHIN FUNG KEE MEMORIAL LECTURE

Landslides are a ubiquitous natural hazard in mountainous terrain and often lead to human casualties in urban settlements and along transportation corridors. Given the adverse topographical and climatic setting, both Malaysia and Hong Kong are vulnerable to rain-induced landslides. For example, the 1996 Keningau debris flow in Sabah recorded the highest level of fatality (>300 deaths) for a single landslide in Malaysia. Upon the loss of more than 150 lives in three disastrous landslides in the 1970s, the Hong Kong Government established the Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO). In striving to achieve its missions of saving lives and facilitating sustainable development, the GEO has made notable advances over the years in the understanding of initiation and propagation of landslides, masterminded the implementation of a systems approach to manage landslide risk holistically, championed the development of novel methodologies for landslide risk assessment, and pioneered new design approaches for landslide prevention and mitigation works. This paper highlights the successful application of innovation and technology in advancing slope engineering practice andmanaging landslide risk. The prospects of the geotechnical profession entering into a new era of making further transformational advances through a wider use of innovation and emerging technology are discussed.

PHYSICAL MODELLING SIMILITUDE : A STUDY OF SEDIMENT DEPOSITION IN RESERVOIR

Changes in rainfall pattern, rapid urbanization, infrastructure development and uncontrolled agricultural activities have been found as major sources to contribute to excessive reservoir sedimentation problem in Malaysia, thus significantly shorten the design life of a reservoir. Hence, reservoir functions have deteriorated, such as reduction in power generation capacity, additional lateral load affected to dam stability and decrease in storage capacity for flood control. The objective of this study is to model, simulate and propose alternative method for sediment removal control in Ringlet Reservoir. The construction of physical model of Ringlet Reservoir took place in the Hydraulic and Instrumentation Laboratory, National Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM), with geometric similitude of 1:30. Three different average recurrent intervals (ARI) of 1, 5 and 100 were tested at Sungai Habu and Ringlet. Groyne was identified as a control mitigation structure for sediment control, and a total of 23 groynes were constructed. Physical modelling execution explicitly showed the gross deposition and erosion is linear as the return period rose. Bed sediment for a 100 year ARI was eroded more than that of 1 and 5 year ARI, due to local scour resulting from the flow transition from fixed bed to mobile bed. At Ringlet, sediment was deposited mostly before the first check dam for 1 year ARI. For 5 and 100 ARI, sediment was further transported before the second check dam. Finding in Habu, showed morphological changes was due to the local flow. The movement of bed sediment at the end of Habu, were deposited much early before the check dam, thus not travelling further downstream. Geometrical similitude of this modelling was carried out successfully, and gained recognition from the Malaysia Book of Records as the Biggest Hydraulic Model.

ASSESSING DROUGHT CHARACTERISTICS OF MELAKA BASIN USING JOINT METEOROLOGICAL AND STREAMFLOW INDICES

In this study, drought occurrence in the Melaka basin has been assessed using the meteorological and hydrological drought indices. A continuous rainfall and streamflow data of 40 years were used for drought analysis. Results show that in terms of meteorological drought index, the severe drought occurred in 1986-1988. The streamflow drought index indicates that the extreme drought occurred in 1982-1984. Further analysis based on seasonal precipitation and streamflow data shows that there is no drought for 79% of the time for the period 1960-2000 where there are hydrological records. For most of the dry and wet seasons, it is more likely that the frequency of occurrence of hydrological droughts only is higher than the frequency of occurrence of meteorological and hydrological droughts simultaneously or only meteorological droughts.

GROUND IMPROVEMENT AS ALTERNATIVE TO PILING – EFFECTIVE DESIGN SOLUTIONS FOR HEAVILY LOADED STRUCTURES

Well-designed ground improvement options without compromising on stringent design criteria may effectively replace conventional foundation solutions for a wide range of applications involving heavy loads and structures sensitive to settlement. Case studies illustrate the application of different ground improvement methods used in different projects and soil conditions by adopting of advanced design considerations to achieve optimal solutions for the project and customer benefit. Beneficial returns in terms of lowering construction costs and shortening construction time with consistency in quality are discussed where applicable in relation to the required capabilities and experiences of an organisation to deliver the alternatives. Opportunity management gives the chance to achieve the project scopes for the client by optimizing cost, time and quality and recommendations are summarised to foster the chance to identify optimal geotechnical solutions.

DEVELOPING ENGINEERING WORKFORCE, DESIGNING A BETTER FUTURE

In this paper, various trends and challenges facing the world, due to the coming of the new Digital Revolution or commonly known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, are discussed. These include urbanisation and inequality in wealth distribution, clean air and clean water, food distribution, energy, global warming and climate change, aging population, and physicalspace and cyber-space security. To tackle the challenges, we require new ideas and inventions which will only be possible with excellent knowledge workers. New technological breakthroughs will require brand new skill sets, particularly Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skill sets, in the engineering workforce. Good engineering workforce (engineer, engineering technologist and engineering technician) is considered as the driver for the success of any nation in this globalised world. The paper also touches on the challenges faced by future engineers vis-à-vis globalisation and mobility of engineers, and what skills young engineering graduates should acquire to face the challenges. Some issues and challenges of STEM education in Malaysia are also presented. What is important now is for the educators to train future graduates who can embrace life-long learning and possess strong basic fundamentals of natural sciences and engineering, and who are ready-to-evolve rather than graduates who are just ready-to-market as many of the graduates will be entering a whole new sea of employment. Finally, the paper deals with the mobility of the engineering workforce globally and how the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) as a professional body could work with the institutions of higher learning and the Ministry of Education in the training of the required engineering workforce.