B CUBE December 2014 B CUBE December 2014

B Cube First Issue, 2014 December 2014 Edition

116

Jim Henson, the creator of “The M u p p e t s ”

once said, “If you care about what you do and work hard at it, there isn’t anything you can’t do if you want to” and that quotation reminds us to someone who does her work with lots of care and passion and that person is none other than our very own Assistant Rector of Kampus Rekreasi Bukit Besi (KRBB), Associate Professor Dr. Khlipah Ibrahim. The feeling of wanting to know more about her makes us to conduct this exclusive interview and regardless her busy schedule, she had given us the opportunity to share our findings with the readers of B Cube (Bukit Besi Bulletin). Associate Professor Dr. Khlipah Ibrahim was born on 26th September 1960 at Kampong Seberang Tuan Chik, Kuala Terengganu. In 1967, she went to Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Tunggal and a year later, she moved to LKTP Jerangau (currently known as Felda Jerangau) and went to Sekolah Kebangsaan LKTP Jerangau for her primary education. For the next three years, she attended Sekolah Menengah Sultan Sulaiman Kuala Terengganu and in 1977 until 1978, she had her secondary education at Sekolah Menengah Sains Terengganu, which is currently known as Sekolah Menengah Sains Sultan Mahmud. In 1979, she attended lower six at Sekolah Menengah Sains Kelantan, Pengkalan Chepa (known as Sekolah Menengah Sains Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra at the present time) for a short period and when she received her MCE result, she was offered to pursue her study in the United States. She studied at Indiana State University for five years, where she received her BSc in Mathematics in 1982 and MSc in Mathematics in 1983. When she returned to Malaysia, she served Diploma and Advanced Diploma School of Engineering, ITM Shah Alam, from July 1984 until December 1990. Later, in 1991, she got the opportunity to serve UiTM Dungun as a lecturer at the Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematics and in 2009, she received her PhD in Operation Research from Universiti Sains Malaysia. In July, 2013, due to her tremendous performance, she was appointed to be the Assistant Rector at KRBB. Knowing her family helps us to understand more about her characters. During her sophomore year, or to be précised, on 8th January, 1981, she got married to the love of her life, Associate Professor Hj. Ahmad bin Hj.Aziz, who is also a lecturer at UiTM (Terengganu) Kampus Dungun and they are blessed with three sons and four daughters. Her eldest son, who was born in May 1982, possesses a degree in Mechanical Engineering and is currently working as an engineer at FMC, Singapore. Her second child, a daughter, has a degree in Medicine and is serving as a doctor in Pusat Kesihatan Mentakab. The third child, who is also a female, has a degree in Electrical Engineering and is currently running her own business. The fourth and the fifth children are both males and own a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Medicine respectively. The fifth child is currently serving at Hospital Sultan Ahmad Shah, Temerloh. The sixth and seventh children are females and possess a degree in Chemical Engineering and Accounting respectively. The youngest child is currently working as an account executive.

More blessings are given to light up her life with the addition of her ten grandchi ldren, six girls

and 4 boys. Despite her busy schedule, she never neglects her duty as a wife and as a mother. Her children’s success in education proves that education is given a great emphasis in her family. When asked about the challenges that she has encountered in her life, she described the challenges in three categories: challenges faced during her study for her doctorate, challenges to establish the campus and challenges in human resource development. While she was doing her doctorate, experiences in teaching the foundation courses of mathematics and statistics at UiTM Dungun did not equip her with enough knowledge for her PhD courses and she had to recall the formula and the symbols used in mathematics which she did not apply in her teaching for quite some time. Furthermore, she did not have a strong foundation in conducting a research and reporting it in written form and to make the situation to be more complicated, there were no research and writing courses offered before she furthered her study. Unlike in today’s situation, she feels that lecturers are very lucky because they are given courses in doing research and reporting the research findings. Despite the challenges, she is very grateful to have a strong support from her husband and children.

Holding the most important position in KRBB, she realizes that she has to face challenges in establishing the campus. First of all, she wants to achieve KRBB aims which one of them is, with the ambience and the learning facilities provided at KRBB, to produce intellectuals who are healthy physically and spiritually, and also to have a stable emotion. Furthermore, initiatives should be planned together, involving all KRBB staff and students, in order to achieve the standard of a recreational

campus. Secondly, she hopes that KRBB, which is located in a rural area, could be the center of reference by people from all walks of life, especially the people from the state government and the surrounding community. Moreover, she needs to encourage research in learning and teaching in order to support the mission of UiTM Terengganu to be the East Coast MIT. The third challenge that she has to face is to develop human resources. She is determined to ensure that all KRBB staff always adhere to the rules and regulations, including the working hours, work ethics and the dress code. Moreover, she has to ensure that the staff always put efforts in enhancing their skills and expertise, hence to be more proactive and also to be involved actively in all KRBB activities, regardless the activities are organized by the staff, students or society. As far as the lecturers are concerned, she is determined to see that lecturers are involved actively in research and writing, have the willingness to contribute their expertise in giving trainings to all the staff, and to be the role model to the students in the dress code and punctuality. Last but not least, she feels that it is a great challenge for her to see all KRBB staff could perform their duty sincerely and to regard their duties, especially which are not in their job scope and are done outside the working hours, as their charity.

Exclusive Memoirs: The Lady Who Starts the Ball Rolling at KRBB

by:Dr. Khlipah Ibrahim, Nor Ashikin Yusof, Norkamruzita Saadon and Wan Azrina Wan Azaman

THE EDITORIAL BOARDChief Editor(BM):Name: Norkamruzita SaadonPlace of birth: Kuala LumpurDate of Birth: 1st JanuaryEducation background:Master in Engineering (Chemical), Univ. Kebang-saan MalaysiaMaster in Educational Technology, Univ. Putera MalaysiaBachelor in Chemical Engineering, Technical University of Nova Scotia, CanadaDiploma in Engineering, St. Francis Xavier Uni-versity, Antigonish, Nova Scotia.Areas of interest: Renewable energy, Catalyst engineering &Educational technology

Chief Editor (English):Name: Halimaton @ Nor Ashikin Mohd YusofPlace of birth: Kuala LumpurDate of birth: 15th AugustEducation background:MSc TESL, Universiti Kebangsaan MalaysiaPostgraduate Diploma in TESL,UiTMBachelor in Bus. Administration (Hons), UiAMAreas of interest: Communication skills, Computer-aided language learning, Grammar and Educational psychology.

Editor (English)Name: Wan Azrina Wan AzamanPlace of Birth: Kota Bharu, KelantanDate of Birth: 9th DecemberEducation Background:Master in Education TESL, Universiti Teknologi MalaysiaBachelor of Education (Hons) TESL, Universiti Teknologi MARAAreas of Interest: Language Teaching Methodology, Grammar and Education Psychology

Editor (Bahasa Melayu)Name: Nursyazni Mohamad SukriPlace of Birth: Kuala Besut, TerengganuDate of Birth: 10th DecemberEducation Background:Master in Science Mathematics, Universiti Sains MalaysiaBachelor of (Hons) Science Mathematics , Uni-versiti Teknologi MARAAreas of Interest: Computational Mathematics and Numerical Mathematics

Editor (BM):Name: Nurul ‘Uyun AhmadPlace of birth: Batu Pahat, JohorDate of birth: 23rd NovemberEducation background:Master in Bioprocess Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MalaysiaBachelor in Chemical-Bioprocess Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MalaysiaAreas of interest: Sustainable material development, Food formu-lation and shelf-life study.

Editor (BM)Nama : Helmisyah Ahmad JalaludinTarikh Lahir : 23 Februari 1983Tempat Lahir : Kajang, Selangor.Pendidikan:Masters of Science in Mechanical and Materials Engineering, UKM.Bachelor in Mechanical System Engineering, Gunma University.Areas of interest : Pemindahan haba, Pendidihan, Tenaga, Automotif, Tribologi.

Layout/Graphic/Editor(English)Name : Hanith IskandarDate of Birth : 10th June 1967Place of Birth : Kota Bharu, KelantanEducation Background : Masters of Education (TESL), Universiti Teknologi MaraBachelor In Education TESL (Hons), Universiti Teknologi MaraDiploma In Education (TESL), Institut Perguruan Sultan IdrisAreas of Interest :Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), Adult Educa-tion, Second Language Acquisi-tionand Teaching Methodology

Editor (English)Name:Mohd Ikram Bin Mohd Nor RizanPlace of Birth: Ipoh, PerakDate of Birth: 9th May 1982Education Background:Master in Postcolonial Lit-erature in English, Universiti Kebangsaan MalaysiaBachelor of Education (Hons) TESL, Universiti Teknologi MARAAreas of Interest: Nation and Naration, Popular Culture, Orientalism as well as Teaching Methodology and Psychology

Editor (BM)Nama : Mohamammad bin AbdullahTempat Lahir : Kuala Terengganu, TerengganuTarikh Lahir : 16 Mei 1963Pendidikan ; Masters of Science,UNiSZABachelor in Chemical Engi-neering, UPMAreas of Interest :

B CUBE December 2014 B CUBE December 20142 15

Words from the Chief Editors

“Let’s write, academicians!” We are so thankful to Allah, the most gracious and the most merciful, for giving us the idea to come up with an in-house bulletin for UiTM (Terengganu)

Kampus Rekreasi Bukit Besi, or known as KRBB. The idea popped out when we just moved to our new campus in June, 2013 and only now, we managed to make it a reality! The name was unanimously agreed by all the

committee members, which in mathematical symbol, it is known as “B3”, the acronym of “Bukit Besi Bulletin”. The idea of having an in-house bulletin on our own came up when we realized that no matter where we are, even in a quite remote new campus, we, as academicians, need to have an avenue for us to share our thoughts and ideas. Otherwise, the knowledge will be lost! Academicians cannot run away from “writing”, no matter what the excuses are because through writing, academicians can share and spread their knowledge widely and the knowledge can be used and developed further.However, writing is an arduous task since it requires knowledge, writing skills, time and passion. In our opinion, for academicians, the first two factors are not the obstacles to write but the last two factors may be the most obvious “enemies” but these two can be encountered by having an in-house bulletin, which allows academicians to share ideas in a simple manner, where no rigid format is required to be followed and the academicians are given the choice of using either English or Bahasa Malaysia in their writing so that they can have the freedom to express their ideas comfortably. Moreover, writing in a bulletin

does not require a lot of time because it is only for one or two pages. Also, a bulletin helps academicians to grow their interest in writing because once we start writing, the interest keeps growing, especially when we see our writing is published and shared with others…and that happened to us once in a long time ago and we are so grateful that we managed to develop our passion in writing through our written work in the bulletin. Therefore, we hope by having this “B Cube”, KRBB lecturers will make writing to be one of our cultures here. To our patron, Dr. Khalipah Ibrahim, thank you so much for the never ending support and to all the committee members, who have volunteered themselves to be in the committee, thank you for your hard work in making B Cube to be in existence.

Warmest regards,

Norkamruzita Saadon The Chief Editor (Bahasa Malaysia) Halimaton @ Nor Ashikin Mohd YusofThe Chief Editor (English)

Chief Editor (English) Editors (English) Halimaton @ Nor Ashikin Binti Mohd Yusof Hanith Bin Iskandar Editors (Bahasa Malaysia)Advisor Wan Azrina Binti Wan Azaman Nursyazni Binti Mohamad Sukri PM Dr. Hjh Khalipah Ibrahim Mohd Ikram Mohd Nor Riza Nurul ‘Uyun Binti Ahmad Chief Editor (Bahasa Malaysia) Helmisyah Bin Ahmad Jalaludin Norkamruzita Binti Saadon Layout/Graphic Mohammad Bin Abdullah Hanith Bin Iskandar

Advisor’s ColumnAssalamu’a laikum wbr to all B Cube readers,Finally, Kampus Rekreasi Bukit Besi (KRBB) has its own in-house bulletin and I’m so thankful to Allah for allowing

this dream to come true! Congratulations to all the committee members of B Cube for all the countless efforts that they have put forth in order to provide an avenue for KRBB staff, specifically academicians, to inculcate their writing and reading skills.Indeed, having an in-house bulletin will help to boost the writing and reading skills, which are very essential skills needed in every academician. Time is one of the greatest enemies that the academicians have to fight with when writing is concerned and, I believe, by having our in-house bulletin, the problem of “time”

can no longer be an excuse because the academicians can contribute any article between one to two pages, which will not demand a lot of time. The nature of our bulletin, known as B Cube (Bukit Besi Bulletin), in publishing short articles will allow the academicians to share their thoughts and knowledge with everyone in a simple, interesting and relaxing manner and at the same time, their writing skills can still be cherished.I pray and I hope that writing will be part of the cultures in our campus and in shaa Allah, I will give my greatest support to B Cube so that this bulletin will be continuously published as planned.Last but not least, let 2015 be filled with lots and lots of writings and publications from all of us in KRBB and may Allah bless all B Cube committee members for all their hardwork.

Thank you.

B Cube Advisor,Associate Professor Dr. Khalipah Ibrahim,The Assistant Rector,

Much has been discussed and said about the importance of classroom communication, but very little research, as well as approaches, has been introduced in order to achieve it.

Old-fashioned approach in teaching usually puts the teachers as the core of the learning process. The teachers act as the leader or dictator who dictates the knowledge transfer and the pace of the process. In contrast, students nowadays need to be confronted in different ways. The learning process itself needs higher, more complex, level of cognitive processing. This can be achieved by having tasks or activities which include the students interact in class with their teachers and among themselves to solve ill-structured problems with several potential answers. These more complex learning tasks require high-level cognitive processing; that is, critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making. According to King (2002);

High-level cognitive processing involves making inferences, drawing conclusions, synthesizing ideas, generating hypotheses, comparing

and contrasting, finding and articulating problems, analyzing and evaluating alternatives, monitoring thinking, and so on. (p.33)

From the definition presented above, it is clear that interaction in the classroom is the best possible way for the teachers to encourage higher level thinking. This is because, certain patterns of communication allow students to engage in the learning process while making sense of the knowledge shared by their instructors. Hence, it is vital for the teachers to be able to create a conducive communicative environment.

Good classroom communication should really be an interaction among the students instead of all the individual students talking to the teachers. Getting students to know each other is important as it will stimulate their interaction with each other. The ultimate goal of classroom interaction is for the students to construct knowledge through meaning making, so it is important for the teachers to focus on the idea presented by the students rather than the accuracy of their language use. This is explained in context by Mehan (1990), “communication involves the production of socially acceptable speech, which includes, but is not limited to, the production of

grammatically correct sentences” (p.3). “Socially acceptable speech” in the quotation means that the context of discussion should be the focus of the learning process. This is because, critical or high level thinking needs the students to apply their own knowledge or point of view to decide if something is right or wrong. But this does not imply that students can be involved in the interaction by simply giving ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Hence, explanation and elaboration of the ideas should be encouraged with the guidance from teachers.

Teachers’ role in classroom interaction is quite limited as they act more as the facilitator in the discussion. The idea is to make sure that learning process is made by the students themselves, not fed to them by teachers. Put differently, the answers to any situation or question given are discovered by students rather than delivered to them. This is important so the students can develop “the ability to identify, interpret and apply appropriate tools and concepts from participating disciplines relevant to the problem at hand and to an adequate level for task completion” (Woods, 2007, p.859). In order to accomplish this, rhetoric inquiries, which the answers are already recognized by the teachers, are out of the question. Student’s thinking and interaction should be dictated by a particular type of question posed by teachers. Different kinds of question starters promote different types of cognitive processing. According to King (2002);

The question starters are designed to prompt students to engage in several forms of cognitive activity: review and consolidation of their understandings, checking their comprehension, constructing new knowledge, and monitoring how well they are thinking and learning.” (p.35)

In short, questions asked in starting an interaction for classroom communication must be mind-provoking in a sense that they are not memory-based where students are asked to recall their memory. This is because, asking and answering thought-provoking questions compel students to actually think deeply about the subject-matter, integrating it with prior knowledge while engaging with new knowledge. Thus, the role of teachers in classroom communication activities is as the facilitators who guide students to perform high level thinking by asking questions which will incite their aptitude and understanding.

References

King, A. (2002). Structuring peer interaction to promote high- level cognitive processing. Theory into Practice, 41(1), 33-39.

Mehan, H. (1980). The competent student. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 11(3), 131-152.

Woods, C. (2007). Researching and developing interdisciplinary teaching: towards a conceptual framework for classroom communication. Higher Education, 54(6), 853-866.

by Mohd Ikram Mohd Nor Rizan

Classroom Interaction

B CUBE December 2014 B CUBE December 201414

THE EFFECT OF HYDROGEN PEROXIDE PLASMA EXPOSURE ON SAPPHIRE GLASS SURFACE

Helmisyah Ahmad Jalaludin1, Shigeaki Inada21Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, MARA Univ. of Tech., Bukit Besi Campus, Terengganu.

2Inada Plasma Research Laboratory, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, Japan.

A short cylinder of transparent sapphire glass with a diameter of about 30 mm and a thickness of 8 mm was used as a stage of collision of a water droplet with a diameter of about 4 mm. The normal condition of sapphire was compared with a hydrogen peroxide plasma exposed sapphire in term of the static contact angle by the droplet. The water droplet was distilled and dropped with a temperature of 16oC from a nozzle at a height of 65 mm at room temperature.

Figure 2 and 3 show the angle of the static contact angle of a water droplet taken on the horizontal side using a camera. The angle of static contact of droplet was measured using angle software for the normal sapphire and the sapphire irradiated with hydrogen peroxide plasma. Comparing the respective surface, sapphire irradiated with hydrogen peroxide plasma has a greater contact angle rather than that of the normal sapphire. It can be concluded that the sapphire irradiated with hydrogen peroxide plasma has a better surface wettability.

Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Prof. Dr. Shigeaki Inada, Mr. Tadahiro Ishige, and Dr. Manabu Nakagawasai for their supervisions and assistances in the research at Energy 2, Inada’s Laboratory, Gunma University.

Bibliography

Helmisyah, A.J. & Inada, S. (2008). Behaviour of bubbles generated on heating surface by droplet collision. (Unpublished Thesis of Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical System Engineering). Gunma University.

Inada, S., & Yang, W.J. (2002). Heat Transfer in Two-Phase Flow, Experimental Techniques. Heat Transfer, 3, 89.

Inada, S., & Yang, W. J. (1993). Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 36(6), 1505.

Figure 1 Part of Experimental Apparatus Figure 2 Contact Angle of Normal Sapphire (Angle: 45)

Figure 3 Contact Angle of Hydrogen Peroxide Plasma Irradiated Sapphire (Angle: 30)

3

Do you realize that being a lecturer promises you with lots of challenges? Throughout our teaching experiences, we face different kinds of “challenges”, which some people refer the

word as “problems”. However, we refuse to use the word “problems” since the word reflects negative meanings, which eventually, will give us stress and everyone knows that too much stress can harm our health! By using the word “challenges”, we feel that we will be more motivated to overcome the situation and the challenges give us more benefits and make us to be wiser. Why are lecturers (or educators or teachers) expected to encounter “challenges” in their career? This is due to the nature of the job which deals with students, who have different kinds of behaviour. Humans are created intricately, and each has different attitudes and these attitudes will be reflected in the learning process and can deter the acquisition of knowledge. Therefore, to ensure that all learners are involved in the learning process, the lecturers have to understand the learners and their style of learning. What are learning styles? According to Ellis (1985), they are consistent ways in which a person thinks, conceptualizes, organizes and remembers information. In other words, learning styles are simply different ways or approaches of learning that students apply. Understanding our students will facilitate the lecturers to prepare their teaching methods which can help learners to acquire the knowledge easily. A well-known and widely-used model of learning style is Fleming’s Visual-Auditory- Kinesthetic (VAK) model, which discusses three types of learners and they are:

1) Visual LearnersThese learners learn through what they see. They need to see visual displays, such as pictures, diagrams, power point slides, illustrated textbooks, videos and other forms of visual aids in order to acquire the knowledge easier and faster. They even learn through observing their lecturers’ body language and facial expressions and this is the reason for these learners to sit on the front line in their classes as to avoid any obstructions, especially from their friends’ heads. Therefore, having this type of learners in our class requires us to prepare for visual aids and our body language and facial expression also play an important role in our teaching. Otherwise, our visual learners will get bored and the learning process may not be successful.

2) Auditory LearnersThese learners learn through listening, for examples, through discussions, lectures, seminars and talks. They learn best through listening to the tone of voice, the pitch and even the speed of the speech. Written information alone may have little impact on their learning. Thus, to help this type of learners,

lecturers need to do activities like discussions and seminars in order to help the auditory learners in their learning process.

3) Kinesthetic LearnersThese learners learn best by moving, exploring or doing something

and sitting still for a long period may deter the acquisition of knowledge. They can get bored if no active movement is done in the class. Hence, lecturers need to get the students involved in the lesson by having activities which require the students to move, for example, students are required to do a demonstration or a role play for a particular topic. Doing some movement activities helps this type of learners in their learning. Why do we need to know our learners? When we know them, we are able to prepare our lessons well and our learners will not feel bored in the class and their interest in the subject can be instilled. As a result, learners can excel in their learning and at the end of the semester, we, as their teachers, can smile broadly to show our satisfaction in helping our students. To all lecturers out there, before you go to sleep today, recall all the behaviours that your students have demonstrated in your class. Do you think that you know who are your students?

References:Ellis, R. (1985). Understanding second language acquisition. Oxford, England:Oxford University Press.

Tips for educators:Who are our learners?

By: Nor Ashikin Mohd Yusof and Norkamruzita Saadon

B CUBE December 2014 B CUBE December 2014

National Chemical Engineering Symposium (NACES) adalah sebuah program yang bertaraf antarabangsa yang melibatkan penglibatan pelajar-pelajar

kejuruteraan kimia di seluruh universiti di Malaysia. Program ini menawarkan pertandingan di dalam pelbagai kategori seperti “Power Point Presentation”, “Video Presentation”, “Case Study”, “Chemical Engineering Challenges” dan “Plant Design”. Program ini diadakan bertujuan untuk merapatkan hubungan silaturrahim antara mahasiswa/i daripada pelbagai universiti yang mempunyai pelbagai kaum iaitu Melayu, Cina dan India. Selain itu, program ini diharap dapat melahirkan mahasiswa/i yang seimbang dari segi jasmani, emosi, rohani, intelek, dan sosial di dalam diri mahasiswa/i.

Pada 8 November 2013, UiTM Pulau Pinang telah menjadi tuan rumah bagi NACES 2013 dan UiTM (Terengganu) Kampus Rekreasi Bukit Besi (KRBB) telah menghantar 26 orang peserta untuk menyertai di dalam kesemua kategori yang dipertandingkan. Program ini dijalankan selama tiga hari dan melibatkan seluruh universiti di dalam negara termasuk institusi pengajian tinggi awam (IPTA) dan juga swasta (IPTS). Walaupun pelajar-pelajar adalah pelajar-pelajar dari program diploma, mereka tidak gentar bertanding dengan pelajar-pelajar dari program Sarjana Muda dari unversiti yang lain. Semangat seperti ini telah berjaya membantu pelajar-pelajar untuk memenangi hadiah di dalam dua kategori, iaitu “Case Study” dan “Chemical Engineering Challenge”. Di dalam kategori “Case Study”, Nur Amalina Binti Abdul Halim, pelajar dari Fakulti Kejuruteraan Kimia semester 4, bersama-sama dengan ahli kumpulannya (terdiri dari pelajar-pelajar dari pelbagai universiti) telah berjaya mendapat tempat pertama di dalam kategori ini. Walaupun beliau adalah satu-satunya pelajar KRBB di dalam kumpulannya, Nur Amalina telah berjaya menunjukkan keyakinan diri serta semangat berpasukan yang baik sehingga berjaya meraih kemenangan di dalam aktiviti ini. Satu lagi kejayaan telah dirangkul iaitu di dalam kategori “Chemical Engineering Challenge” di mana pasukan KRBB telah berjaya mendapat tempat ketiga. Kumpulan ini telah dianggotai oleh 4 orang pelajar iaitu Mohamad Danial Benjamin Bin Mohd Radzuan, Amira Khairin Binti Roslan, Anis Suhaina Binti Ishak dan Muhammad Aiman Bin Abdul Rahman. Keempat-empat pelajar ini telah berusaha melalui setiap pusingan dengan penuh bersemangat, walaupun mereka terpaksa berhadapan dengan pelajar-pelajar dari peringkat Sarjana Muda

yang lebih berpengetahuan di dalam bidang kejuruteraan kimia.

Sepanjang program ini dijalankan, pelajar-pelajar KRBB telah mendapat peluang mengenali pelajar-pelajar dari pelbagai kaum serta universiti dan mengeratkan silaturrahim sesama mereka. Program ini juga dapat melatih para pelajar melakukan kerja di dalam pasukan bagi menyelesaikan sesuatu tugas dan mereka telah belajar untuk bekerjasama dan bertoleransi sesama mereka bagi mencapai objektif di dalam sesuatu tugasan yang diberi.

Selain itu,aktiviti ini telah membantu pelajar-pelajar KRBB untuk meningkatkan kemahiran di dalam berkomunikasi, terutama di dalam menggunakan Bahasa Inggeris. Sepanjang aktiviti dijalankan, pelajar-pelajar KRBB telah mendapat peluang untuk berinteraksi dengan pelajar-pelajar dari universiti yang lain, dengan menggunakan Bahasa Inggeris dan pengalaman ini telah membantu pelajar-pelajar KRBB untuk menjadi lebih berani dan yakin di dalam menggunakan Bahasa Inggeris di dalam perbualan mereka. Aktiviti yang telah dilalui ini telah memberi satu pengalaman yang bermakna kepada semua pelajar yang terlibat dan diharap, pelajar-pelajar ini dapat menggunakan segala yang diperolehi melalui aktiviti ini di dalam membentuk jatidiri.

Pasukan yang memenangi tempat ketiga di dalam aktiviti “Chemical Engineering Challenge”

4 13

and ∇ is gradient operator.

Let ( ) αα =s , ( ) ββ =s

( )( ) ( )( )dssvEsvE extssnake += ∫1

0

2

21* α

,

where the internal force discourages the snake from stretching and bending by pulling the snake towards the desired image edges.

REFERENCES

Cohen, L.D. (1991). On Active Contour Models and Balloons, Computer Vision, Graphics, and Image Processing. Image understanding, 11-218.

Cohen, L.D., Cohen, I. (1993). “Finite-element methods for active contour models and Balloons for 2-D and 3-D images,” IEEE Trans. On PAMI, 15(11), 1131- 1147.

Hiransakolwong, N., Hua, K. A., Vu, K., Windaya, P. S. (2003). Segmentation of Ultrasound Liver Images: An Automatic Approach. Multimedia and Expo, 2003. ICME’03. Proceeding. 2003 International Conference on 6-9 july 2003, Vol. 1, 1-573-1-576.

Hou, Z., Han, C. (2005). Froce field analysis snake: an improved parametric active contour model.

Pattern Recognition Letter, 26, 513-526. www.elsevier. com/locate/patrec

Houshmand, K., Tizhoosh, H. R. (2008). Increasing Segmentation Accurancy in Ultrasound Imaging using Filtering and Snake. IEEE, 001333-001336.

Kass, M., Witkin, A., Terzopoulos, D. (1988). Snake: Active Contour Models. International Journal of Computer Vision, 321-331.http://www.cs.ucla. edu/~dt//ijcv88.pdf

Michailivich, O., Tannenbaum, A., (2007). Segmentation of medical ultrasound images using active contours. IEEE, V-513-V-516.

Xu, C., Prince, J.L. (1998). Snakes, shapes, and gradient Vector Flow. IEE Transactions on image processing, Vol. 7, No. 3, 1057-7149.

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Menggamit kenangan di NACES 2013Coretan oleh: Norkamruzita Saadon dan Nor Ashikin Mohd Yusof

PengenalanMenurut Jabatan Sisa Pepejal Negara, Kementerian Kesejahteraan Bandar Dan Kerajaan Tem-patan (KKBKT), “Sisa Pepejal” ditafsirkan sebagai sebarang bahan sekerap atau benda lebihan lain yang tidak dikehendaki kerana sudah pecah, lusuh, tercemar, atau rosak. Sisa pepejal ini secara purata terdiri daripada 45% sisa makanan, 7% kertas, 24% plastik, 6% logam, 4% kayu, 3% tekstil, 3% kaca, 1% getah/kulit dan 7% bahan-bahan lain dan telah dikenalpasti sebagai punca terbesar yang mengakibatkan masalah kesan rumah hijau.

Penjanaan sisa pepejal perbandaran MalaysiaDi Malaysia, kadar penjanaan sisa pepejal semakin meningkat disebabkan aktiviti komuniti seperti pasaran komersial, institusi dan industri. Ia juga sangat berkait rapat dengan status ekonomi masyarakat yang berbeza seperti setinggan, rendah, kelas sederhana dan kediaman elit (Zaini, 2011). Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan pada tahun 2012 melaporkan, sebanyak 25,000 tan sisa pepejal dihasilkan di Malaysia setiap hari. Oleh yang demikian, secara purata, setiap rakyat Malaysia menghasilkan 800 gram sisa pepejal setiap hari. Jumlah ini bertambah besar jika mengambil kira individu yang tinggal di bandar yang dianggarkan menghasilkan 1500 gram sisa pepejal sehari. Menurut statistik yang dikeluarkan, Negeri Selangor mendahului negeri-negeri lain dengan penghasilan sisa pepejal sebanyak 2,955 tan sehari. Ini diikuti dengan Kuala Lumpur (2,634 tan/hari), Johor (2,002 tan/hari), Perak (1,596 tan/hari) dan Kedah (1,383 tan/hari).

Selain itu, Majlis Bandar Raya Kuala Terengganu (MBKT) turut mengutip 300 tan sisa pepejal sehari dalam operasi pembersihan di bandar ini dan dibawa ke tapak pelupusan sisa pepejal di Sungai Ikan, Kuala Terengganu. Perbelanjaan sebanyak RM7.75 juta setahun diperuntukkan untuk urusan pembersihan kawasan dan kutipan sisa pepejal di sekitar bandar membabitkan kawasan seluas 4,291.31 hektar. Manakala urusan pembersihan dan kutipan sisa pepejal di Pulau Redang pula menelan belanja RM557,280 setahun termasuk urusan pengangkutan sisa pepejal dari chalet-chalet ke tanah besar (Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan, 2012).

Menjelang tahun 2020, disasarkan sebanyak 40% sisa pepejal yang dibawa ke tapak pelupusan dapat dikurangkan sekaligus mendorong pengurangan pelepasan gas rumah hijau sebanyak 30%. Hal ini dapat dicapai dengan aktiviti-aktiviti pengurangan pembuangan sisa pepejal ke alam sekitar. Selari dengan matlamat tersebut, KKBKT, institusi pendidikan dan sejumlah Organisasi Bukan Kerajaan (NGO) telah sebulat suara mengadakan beberapa projek dan kempen bagi mengurangkan jumlah sisa pepejal negara.

Operasi “Green Job”Antara projek mega tersebut adalah Projek Green Job dan di antara operasi Green Job yang telah berjaya dilaksanakan di Malaysia ialah perkhidmatan “Internet Banking”. Melalui pelaksanaan “Internet Banking” ini, masyarakat dapat menguruskan tranksaksi, pembayaran bil atau pembelian ‘top-up’ untuk telefon bimbit dengan hanya menekan tetikus komputer di rumah atau pejabat.

Natijahnya, sisa pepejal berbentuk kertas mampu dikurangkan kesan daripada kurangnya penggunaan dokumen di bank atau resit-resit tranksaksi di mesin-mesin ATM. Selain itu, perbankan internet bukan sahaja mampu mengurangkan penggunaan kertas, malah perkhidmatan ini turut dapat mengurangkan pembebasan gas karbon dioksida daripada kenderaan ke atmosfera, kesan daripada kurangnya aktiviti memandu kenderaan untuk ke bank atau sebaliknya.

Di samping itu, Projek 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) turut dipromosikan oleh kerajaan dan sebilangan NGO kepada rakyat Malaysia untuk mengurangkan jumlah sisa pepejal negara. Selain pengurangan bahan (Reduce) dan guna semula bahan (Reuse), kitar semula bahan (Recycle) dilihat sebagai salah satu penyelesaian yang lebih praktikal dan boleh diterima oleh masyarakat kita dalam mengurangkan masalah lambakan sisa pepejal. Menurut Akta 672 (Pengurusan Sisa Pepejal Dan Pembersihan Awam, 2007), kitar semula bermaksud memungut dan mengasingkan sisa pepejal bagi maksud menghasilkan keluaran pakai semula. Yang pastinya, melalui projek ini sisa pepejal seperti kaca, besi, plastik dan kertas dikumpul, diasingkan, dihantar ke pusat pemprosesan dan akan bertukar aliran daripada sisa menjadi komoditi yang boleh diguna semula. Tindakan mentransformasikan sisa pepejal ini dipercayai memberi sumbangan besar untuk mengurangkan pencemaran alam sekitar dan kesan rumah hijau sekaligus menjadikan bumi sebagai tempat yang lebih baik untuk hidup.

Untuk buletin edisi kali ini, saya turut sertakan contoh projek Green Job yang amat mudah dan boleh diamalkan oleh setiap daripada kita iaitu Projek Kitar Semula dari Rumah dan Pejabat. Namun, perlu diingatkan kepada semua bahawa projek ini bukan sahaja memerlukan barang-barang yang boleh dikitar semula, malah ia juga perlu disertakan dengan bekalan dua jenis sikap iaitu FOKUS dan KOMITED. Fokus kita adalah menjadikan bumi ini tempat yang paling bersih untuk kita menumpang hidup dan atas sebab itu, kita perlu komited sebagai agen pembersihan. Selamat beramal!

Gambar : Setiap sebulan sekali, penulis akan ke tapak kitar semula di Dungun untuk menyerahkan kertas dan plastik yang telah dikumpul kepada agen kitar semula, Encik Awie dan pekerjanya.

BUMI BUKAN TONG SAMPAH KITAOleh : Nurul ‘Uyun Binti Ahmad

bersambung ke muka surat 6.........

B CUBE December 2014 B CUBE December 201412 5

Ultrasound image segmentation is an important process in medical analysis and visualization. Since

ultrasound contains strong speckle noise, it is difficult to automatically segment this image (Hiransakolwong, Hua, Vu & Windaya, 2003). Therefore, several ways are identified to segment the object in the image.

The objective of image segmentation process is to divide an image into meaningful regions which correspond to certain part or whole of an object within the scene which has certain u n i f o r m i t y. M u l t i p l e methods for segmentation of ultrasound image have been proposed. Most of them take advantage of deformable models (Michailovich & Tannenbaum, 2007).

Active contour, deformable or snake models have been used in many applications of computer vision in image processing. Active contours are curves and can be defined within an image domain that is able to move under the influence of internal force which comes from the curve itself and external forces computed from the imaging data. Snake will conform to an object boundary or other desired features within an image when internal and external forces are defined (Kass, Witkin & Terzopoulos, 1988).

The active contour methods are designed to find edges of colours or other features which are significantly different from the surrounding region. Generally, there are two types of active contour models which are parametric and geometric active contours (Kass et al., 1988). Parametric active contours are represented explicitly as parametric curves, which is not only a simple method but also user-friendly. Furthermore,

based on geometric active contours, the computational complexity of parametric active contour model is lower.

Active contour models have been widely used in many applications of computer vision and image processing. Hou and Han (2005) stated that several methods have been proposed such as pressure force (Cohen, 1991), distance potentials (Cohen & Cohen, 1993) and GVF snake

(Gradient Vector Flow Snake) (Xu & Prince, 1998).

In 1991, Cohen proposed the

p r e s s u r e f o r c e w h i c h is used

to push the surface

outward. The potential is defined as

a function of image gradient points without explicit knowledge of these points. In the snake approach, the data points are located directly by the curve through the minimization of the potential. Moreover, all the points of the curve are influenced by the attraction force from the image.

In 1998, Xu and Prince proposed another external force namely gradient vector flow (GVF). The GVF snake is distinguished from nearly all previous snake formulations as its external forces cannot be written as the negative gradient of a potential function. Because of this, it cannot be formulated by using the standard energy minimization framework. It is also specified directly from a force balance condition.

One of the advantages of GVF is its insensitivity to initialization and its ability to move into boundary concavities. Xu and Prince (1998) had shown its initializations that can be inside, outside, or across the boundary of the object. Unlike pressure force, the GVF snake does not need prior knowledge whether to shrink or expand

towards the boundary. The GVF snake also has a large capture range as it can be initialized far away from the boundary. This increased capture range is achieved through a diffusion process that does not smudge the edge itself.

The external force model which is the closest in spirit to GVF is the distance potential force as being proposed by Cohen and Cohen (1993). These forces originate from an edge map of the image and can provide a large capture range. Unlike GVF, distance potential force cannot move a snake into boundary concavities. Xu and Prince believed that this is a property of all conservative forces that characterizes nearly all snake external forces and explores non conservative external force.

In 2005, Hou and Han presented new active contour model by using force field analysis (FFA) based on the works of Cohen and Cohen (1993) and Xu and Prince (1998). This work is referred as distance potential force. It also has captured range, and is more insensitive to initialization and has faster performance than GVF.

In 2008, Houshmand and Tzhoosh proposed two ways of increasing segmentation accuracy in ultrasound imaging by using filtering and snake. They stated that the snake is a commonly used method for segmentation ultrasound images. However, the snake cannot be converged to the outline of the object in some cases. As a result, the detected boundary will not be accurate. Therefore, pre-processing method with median filtering has been implemented to help snake algorithm converges.

According to Kass et al in 1988, the typical external energy is:

( ) ( )[ ] 2,*,),( yxIyxGyxEext σ∇−=

where ( )yxI , is a grey-level image and

( )yxG ,σ is two-dimensional Gaussion function with σ as standard deviation

...The objective of image

segmentation process is to divide an image into meaningful

regions which correspond to certain part or whole of an object within

the scene which has certain u n i f o r m i t y. . . .

ULTRASOUND IMAGE SEGMENTATIONby : Nursyazni Binti Mohamad Sukri & Wan Azrina binti Wan Azaman

continue to page 9.........

Hybridoma cells (Figure 1) are cells that are already modified to produce desired antibodies fithat are called monoclonal antibodies.

Figure 1 and 2: Scanning electron microscopy of H10 hybridoma cells (Heilmann, Groth, Schossig, Lendlein & Micheel, 2007).

The hybridoma cells are produced by hybridoma technology, which was first developed by Köhler and Milstein in 1975. The root of this technology formed a hybrid cell line by fusing specific antibody-producing B-lymphocyte with myeloma cell that is selected for its ability to grow in tissue culture. The antibody that is secreted by B-lymphocytes are prepared by immunizing a host such as mice or rabbit with the antigen of interest (Samoilovich, Dugan & Macario,1987). In order to produce hybridoma cells, the B cells are removed from the spleen or other lymphatic tissue of the animal. Mice have been very popular for Mab growth due to the production of hybridoma derived Mabs (Berry, 2005). Once splenocytes are detached from the animal, these B-cells then are fused with immortalized myeloma. Sp-2/0-Ag14 (myeloma cell) is a murine fusion partner (Shulman, Wilde & Kohler, 1978), as it doesn’t generate any of heavy or light chains of its own. This property can allow the investigator to produce a hybridoma cell with only secreted antibody encoded by genes received from the B lymphocytes partner during a fusion of cells. The fused cells can grow continuously in culture media hypoxanthine-guanine–Phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) gene using polyethylene glycol (PEG) or the Sendai virus (Kohler & Milstein, 1975). The fused cells are then incubated in hypoxanthine-

aminopterin-thymidine (HAT) medium. The aminopterin blocked the pathway that allowed for the synthesis of nucleotide. The aminopterin in the myeloma cells die, as they cannot generate nucleotides by the de novo or salvage medium blocks the pathway that allows for nucleotide synthesis. Therefore the D cells and unfused B cells died because they have a short life duration. There was only B cell-myeloma hybrids survive, since the HGRT gene coming from B cells is functional. This cell eventually produced antibodies and is immortal. The clones of such hybridomas can be cultured indefinitely and can secrete huge amounts of monoclonal antibody (Knutton and Pasternak, 1979). Figure 2 showed the monoclonal methods for developing anti-pathogen antibody.

Figure 2: The development of hybridoma (Adapted from Butler, 2003).

References :

Berry, J.D. (2005). Rational monoclonal antibody development to emerging pathogens, biothreat agents and agents of foreign animal disease: The antigen scale. The Veterinary Journal, 170,193–211.

Butler, M. (2003). Hybridomas genetic engineering, Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology (3rd ed.), 427–443.

Heilmann, K., Groth, T., Schossig, M., Lendlein, A. & Micheel B. (2007). Modulation of hybridoma cell growth and antibody production by coating cell culture material with extracellular matrix proteins. Biochemical Engineering Journal, 35, 301–308.

Knutton, S. & Pasternak, C.A. (1979). The mechanism of cell-cell fusion. Trends Biochem. Sci, 4, 22.

Kohler, G. & Milstein, C. (1975). Continuous cultures of fused cells secreting antibody of predefined specificity. Nature, 256, 495-497.

Samoilovich, S. R., Dugan, C.B. & Macario, A. J.L. (1987). Hybridoma technology: New developments of practical interest review article. Journal of immunological methods, 101,153-170.

Shulman, N., Wilde, C.D. & Kohler, G. (1978). A better cell line for making hybridomas secreting specific antibodies. Nature, 276, 269.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Hybridoma TechnologyBy: Mohammad Bin AbdullahChemical Engineering Faculty

B CUBE December 2014 B CUBE December 2014 116

On the very first day the Israel Defence Force launched a series of attack on a densely populated Gaza strip under the name of “Operation Protective Edge” (Wahab, 2014)

on last July, a massive ‘Boycott Israel’ campaign began to dominate globally with citizens and companies choosing not to support the Zionist entity, including our beloved country, Malaysia. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that within 14 days of the so called ‘operation’ has caused 343 Palestinian casualties while another 2,600 injured mostly women and innocent children (Donia Al-Watan, 2014, July 20). Saddening pictures of wounded mothers and children added the heat to the boycott campaign. A few NGOs have officially launched a boycott campaign onto McDonald’s Corporation products whose company was reported by the Chicago Jewish Community as a major corporate partner of the Jewish United Fund (JUF)/ Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.

The full steam was gathered nationwide on August 8th as it was seen most when the McDonald’s outlets were filled with angry people and called for a “National Boycott Mc

Donald’s Day”, or some called it “No McDonald’s Day”. However, some of the protests and rallies have “crossed the line” and affected the safety and emotions of its 12,000 staff. The attitude shown during the protests are clearly against the manners which should be portrayed and rebuked by many people and NGOs.

The boycott call has received a mixed response from all spectrums of nation. Some were very sceptical on the campaign and started to ask questions like “why don’t

we boycott the Facebook?” as the Facebook is owned by Mark Zuckerberg who is a Jew. Dr. Hafidzi Mohd Noor, the chairman for Aqsa Syarif (one of the major organisations supporting boycott onto Israel-related Products) has explained that there is a difference between Jewish and Zionist (Wahab, 2014). Boycotting a company due to its owner, who is a Jew, is wrong in the first place. The boycott was launched onto one organisation because it supports Israel not because the owner is a Jew. If the owner of a company that supports Israel is a Christian or even a Muslim, boycott should be targeted onto the company too. He also urged that the

boycott campaign is also NOT a USA-boycott campaign yet it is a humanitarian campaign. That’s why the campaign was joined by millions around the world including Christian and JEWISH groups.Does the boycott really work? This kind of question was always lingering around during the boycott campaign. Yes it does! Companies like Caterpillar Inc., Alstom, and Motorola are just three of many examples of the boycott’s effectiveness. Recently, Israel’s SodaStream closed their main store in the United Kingdom after 2 years of continuous boycott campaign. However, that is not the main goal for a boycott campaign. One should understand the underlying goal of boycott is not to force the company to close down but to gather the move forcing the related company to change their policy towards not funding the Israeli organisation. Boycotting on the hand is an offensive move and it is the move which Israel fears the most right now.

It seems like the boycott campaign is a seasonal call especially in our country. When the Gaza Strip was heavily attacked by the Israel, we announced and joined the boycott campaign.

Since the news is less focused on the chaos in Palestine, we seem very much back into our own business like saying ‘I rest my case’ forgetting the oppressive people in Gaza who are continuously denied from freely accessing their water as well as facing food and aid blockage. The boycott campaign seems to be receding today. At the moment this article is written, Israel has already launched a few series of crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque caused a call for a temporary closure of the holy Mosque. After all, the boycott campaign might find it difficult to stick in our society.

Reference:Donia Al-Watan. (2014, July 20). Gaza toll hits 343 dead, 2,600 injured, Palestinian say. Retrieved from http:// english. alwatanvoice.com/news/2014/07/20/569678.html Wahab, A. (2014, July 21). Why ‘Boycott Israel’ Needs To Happen Now. Retrieved from http://www.malaysiandigest. com/features/509889-why-boycott-israel-needs-to-happen- now.html

An Anecdote from IIUMWritten by: Shamshad Begham Binti OthmanTo my dearest one….

I remember my Research Methodology lecturer, Dr NH once said: If you call yourself a Muslim you must do your best in everything. He is my most favourite lecturer and a teacher who

handles his class fantastically well. He is very knowledgeable and a well-read man. He has a great love for books, be it novels or academic articles. I cannot deny the fact that he is an avid reader. Another point to add is that I was never bored or sleepy in his 3 hour class. I always looked forward to attend his class every week for that first semester. I remember one incident that happened in front of the elevator near the English Department. I said: Dr NH I feel like giving up your course. (This was due to the fact that I was really bogged down with all the crazy assignments whereby only Allah knows all the answers to them. The tension I felt was further aggravated by having to meet deadlines and to make matters worse the final exam was just around the corner. It was my first semester in IIUM and just imagine what a nice way of getting introduced to the programme. All these seemed not enough. To add to all the disasters that I was facing at that time, my computer conked out). He answered: Then you’ll get ‘C’ for the paper. I exclaimed: Oh! Dr NH, please…(I could not postpone the submission of my assignment to a later date because he did not allow it). He was very strict about it. The other assignments were screaming at me wanting me to prioritize them. I was also screaming and becoming hysterical with all the madness that I had to face at that time. But my dear, if you were to see me at that time, you would still see the same old me, relaxed and cool. My blood pressure reading shot up and that would be the evidence of my traumatized state during that semester and the semesters to come).

In another incident which happened in front of IIUM Medical Centre. I asked: Dr NH, how come you gave me an ‘A’ for my paper? He responded: I guess I was sleepy when I marked your paper. I did not expect him to answer in that manner and we both laughed. The following semester Dr NH taught another batch of students. I came to know from some of the students that he showed them my assignment as a sample and asked them to photocopy it. He praised my work in their class and you can imagine how I felt at that time. All my easily affected feelings rocketed sky high. I was in a state of euphoria for days after I heard the unexpected news. All the anguished nights and days that I spent on all my courses were rewarded. I can still remember all those nights where I lay on my bed getting unconsciously to become an insomniac. I had a lot to think during those sleep forbidden nights and the most painful would be getting very dizzy during the mornings and sometimes this unexplained dizziness of mine would prolong into the nights. During those nights you would be one of the characters that would be affecting my sleep. Thinking of your fabulous stunts and your unforgettable melodrama would make me awake for hours. I felt useless because I could not help you due to the distance between us. Helping you through the phone was ineffective because you were quite harsh on me when it came to responding to my never-ending fondness towards you. I had the feeling that whenever my voice got through the phone it was like a bad omen to you. You neither shouted nor screamed at me but the gentle tone of your voice or the uncomfortable silences that you practised did hurt me deeply. Every end of the conversation with you during those days would send me plummeting down the mountain and becoming morose for days and having sleepless nights. That was the experience I had in finishing the ten courses in my Master’s Programme. Today as you are reading this short story, I am in the midst of starting my thesis and you my dear have become a much better person and I am glad.

Factors affecting Indoor Air QualityWritten by: Asiah Binti Ab. Rahim

There are a few factors which affect the indoor air quality:1) Toxic Gases One of the factors is toxic gases. In monitoring indoor air quality, basic understanding of toxicity and hazards are required. Toxic substance becomes dangerous in relation to the length of exposure, intensity of the dose, also the way in which it is introduced into the body. Control procedures reduce or eliminate the level of toxicity, the dose or both, hence reducing hazard, or risk. Example of toxic gas is carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide levels are normally higher indoor than outdoor. The elevated levels indoor may due to combustion, leaking compressed gases, animal respiratory by-product. In indoor air, carbon dioxide is primarily as indicator gas. It is an indicator of inadequate fresh air or insufficient dilution of air contaminants generated in a building.2) Ventilation The other factor is ventilation which is usually used for temperature control. As in many countries, the indoor temperature is slightly higher than the outdoor temperature for most of the year. In order to reduce high room temperature, ventilation can be used.Ventilation may cause or prevent infiltration of pollutants from structures or adjacent spaces and also changes the pressure differences over the structure of building. Ventilation is also in many cases used to control the thermal environment or humidity in buildings. Parameters to characterize ventilation may include ventilation rates, ventilation system types, contaminants in indoor air, and physical characterization of indoor environment. These factors affect human response through each other but also independently. Some conclusions on the performance of ventilation in respect of human responses are:a) Reducing the prevalence of air borne infectious diseases when higher ventilation.b) Ventilation rates below 10 Ls-1 per person bare associated with a significantly worse prevalence of one or more health or perceived air quality outcomes.c) Improved ventilation can be related in improving task performance and productivity.References:ASHARE Standards Committee (2004) “ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2004, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality” American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.Atlanta.

Fariborz Haghighat Lisa De Bellir (1998) “Material Emissions Rates : Literature Review, And The Impact of Indoor Air Temperature and Relative Humidity” Building and Environment Vol-33, No 5.pp261-277.

John E.Yocom and Sharom M.Mc Carthing (1991): Measuring Indoor air Quality: A Practical Guide” (Principle and Technique in the Environmental Sciences). John Waley & Sons Ltd.,Baffins Lane, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1UD, England.

Kathleen Hess-Kossa (2002) “Indoor Air Quality: Sampling Methodologies). Regulatory Limits and Guidelines pp.7-10. Preliminary Investigation p.20-22 TD890.H49 2001

Nota : Panduan untuk Kitar SemulaLangkah awal kitar semula yang efisien adalah dengan mengetahui jenis barang yang dibeli dan cara untuk mengitarnya semula. Kitar semula mengikut jenis barang Banyak barang yang boleh dikitar semula contohnya kertas, plastik, logam dan kaca. Barangan lain seperti perabot, barangan elektrik, bahan binaan dan kenderaan juga boleh dikitar semula tetapi masyarakat kurang peka untuk memulakannya.Beli produk yang boleh dikitar semula Jika membeli barang di pasar raya, kita harus membeli barang dalam bekas yang boleh dikitar semula seperti tin, bekas plastik dan bekas kaca. Beli produk yang dibuat daripada bahan kitar semulaAnda boleh mengetahui sesuatu produk itu mesra pengguna daripada label produk tersebut.Elakkan dari membeli barangan yang berbahayaProduk yang mengandungi bahan berbahaya sukar untuk dikitar semula. Salah satu cara untuk mengatasi masalah ini adalah

dengan tidak membeli produk yang mengandungi bahan-bahan toksik.Tong kitar semula dan pusat pengumpulanKenalpasti lokasi tong kitar semula atau pusat pengumpulan yang berhampiran dengan kawasan anda bagi memudahkan penghantaran barangan kitar semula. Rujukan Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan (KPKT). (2012). Lab Pengurusan Sisa Pepejal 2012. Kuala Lumpur: Pencetak Kerajaan.Perbadanan pengurusan Sisa Pepejal dan Pembersihan Awam. (2007). Portal Rasmi Perbadanan pengurusan Sisa Pepejal dan Pembersi han Awam.

Zaini Sakawi. (2011). Pengurusan sisa pepejal perbandaran di Malaysia: Penyelesaian mapan untuk pengurusan sisa. Jurnal Sains Gunaan dalam Sanitasi Alam Sekitar, 6 (1), 29 – 38.

Boycott: A Worldwide Humanitarian Campaign yet an Individual Callby: Marshahida M Yashim

.........dari muka surat 4

B CUBE December 2014 B CUBE December 2014

POISSON?

POISON

710

Written by: Sarah Yusoff

The pronunciation of these two words might be similar but the meaning is totally different. In general, when we talk about poison, we will refer to something that can harm us but when we discuss Poisson distribution in statistics matter, most of us will think that it might be a

complicated topic. In truth, I thought the same thing also when I learnt this topic from my former lecturer.A throwback to the old days when I was a student, most of the times I wondered why it was named “the Poisson distribution”. No one told me the originality of the name until I discovered through my reading. Poisson distribution was created by a master of French mathematician named Siméon Denis Poisson. His contribution to the probability theory is not confined to the distribution which bears his name or the expression “Law of large numbers’ but also in various areas ranging from pure mathematics to the mathematics of artillery. He used his name for his formula (Haight, 1967). Probably one day I could create a formula and name it after my lovely name, “Sarah”. Perhaps, one fine day, you would see “Sarah distribution” somewhere…

Poisson distribution is widely used for discrete data that are limited by certain time. To relate with our lives, I love to share the latest statistics in Malaysia or other country with my students. Recently, I read one article which discussed about the divorced issue in Malaysia. The facts really

surprised me. In every 15 minutes, a number of divorce cases for Muslim couples are reported (Utusan, 2011). Cases in Saudi Arabia were worse than those in Malaysia and other Gulf Region with the highest percentage (79% of divorce cases) per day (Berita Harian, 2011). This article stated that in one minute, there are 6 married couples divorced. Can you imagine what will happen in a week, a month, or a year? The figure will be illogical and could make us worried. With this finding, I suggest the responsible persons should take immediate action to identify and overcome the problem before it becomes a catastrophe.Coming back to our main discussion of Poisson distribution, with the time interval, this distribution uses a simple central tendency to measure the number of cases occurred in a certain time interval. In that interval time frame, we prefer to measure average or means in order to represent the situation. Nevertheless, to make it different, we use the lambda sign instead of the mean notation as a parameter to measure the average. It is a very simple measurement to describe this kind of distribution. By referring to the probability distribution function of Poisson distribution, we can estimate the possibilities or chances of any occurring events. The expectation and the variance of any event which follow

Poisson distribution are always an average value. I really enjoy teaching this topic to Chemical Engineering students and this semester will be my last semester teaching them. I always hope that one day, even though they are no longer attending other statistics class, they will remember

Poisson distribution which we had once discussed together.

References

Berita Harian. (2011, May 15). Enam minit sekali cerai di Arab Saudi. Berita Harian Online. Retrieved from http://www2.bharian.com.my/bharian/articles/EnamminitsekaliceraidiArabSaudi/Article

Haight, F. (1967). Handbook of the Poisson Distribution. New York: Wiley.

Utusan. (2011, March 4). Rekod Jakim: Setiap 15 minit satu pasangan bercerai. Utusan On line. Retrieved from http://ww1.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2011&dt=0304&sec=Dalam_ Negeri&pg=dn_11.htm (Harian, 2011; Utusan, 2011)

OR

COMPOSITE MATERIALSBy: Haizuan Abd. Rahman

In general, structural material is divided into four categories of materials that are metals, polymers, ceramics and composites. However, current composite materials are widely used in many engineering structures because they are well known to be light weight and high strength than metal and metal alloys[1-6]. One example of its applications is fiber reinforced epoxy composite material. This composite material is very useful in hovercraft construction[1]. Since hovercraft is highly influenced by weight and operating in harsh environments, this makes composites superior to other materials. Instead of using aluminum in hovercraft construction traditionally, some manufacturers choose composite materials as its alternative.

Composite material is defined as two or more separate materials which are combined in one structural unit at microscopic and microscopic level [3-4]. Moreover, the material combination in composites is not soluble in each other [3] and typical composites are made from the other mentioned common materials used in structural material, which are metals, polymers and ceramics. Besides that, composites are divided into two phases, which are reinforcing phase and embedded phase that can be called matrix.

Furthermore, composites are divided into two types that are based on the geometry of the reinforcing phase and the matrix[3]. In the reinforcing phase it’s divided by four categories which are particulate, flake, fiber and nanocomposites as shown in Table 1. On the other hand, matrix phase is divided into four categories which are Polymer Matrix Composites (PMCs), Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs), Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs) and Carbon-carbon Matrix Composites. In early days, man-made composites were usually macroscopic. However, when composite advanced in the last few decades, the size in reinforcement material of composite materials becomes gradually decrease. In recent years, nanocomposites have received wide attention in engineering communities due to their nanometre sized reinforcement such as carbon nanotubes[3-4].

TABLE 1Classification of Composite Materials Based on Geometry Reinforcement[28]

No Types of Geometry’s Rein-forcement

Descriptions Advantages Examples

1 ParticulateComposites

• Particles immersed in matrices• Categorized as isotropi due to immersed in matrices randomly

• Improved strength• Increased operating tempera ture• Oxidation resistances

• Alloys• Aluminium particles in rub ber• Silicon carbide particles in rubber

2 FlakeComposites

• Consist of flat reinforcements of matrices

• High out of plane in flexural modulus• Increase in strength• Low cost manufacturing

• Glass• Mica • Aluminium• Silver

3 FiberComposites

• Reinforced by short and long fibers or can be called discon tinuous and continuous fibers respec tively• Categorized as anisotropic

• Low density• High tensile strength• Low cost manufacturing• High impact resistance

• Carbon• Aramids

4 Nanocomposites • Materials are scaled as na nometer (10-9m).• Allowed range of nanocom posites is must less than 100nm.• Different from bulk material due to its small size,.• Advanced nanocomposites are micro scaled which is 10- 6m

• Superior than micro scale but not all properties are better• In isolated cases, toughness and impact strength of nano composites can be decrease• Weight reduction• Surface quality improvement

• Metal rubber• Olefin based nanocomposites

References:[1] Amiruddin A.K. , Sapuan S.M. , and Jaafar A. A. , “Analysis of glass fibre reinforced epoxy composite hovercraft hull base,” Materials and Design, 24 July 2007.[2] Voyiadjis G. Z., Damage in Composite Materials. Department of Civil Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA: Elesevier, 1993.[3] Kaw A. K. , Mechanics of Composite Materials second ed.: Taylor & Francis, 2007.[4] Gibson R. F., Principles of Composite Material Mechanics: Taylor & Francis Group, 2007.[5] Daniel I. M. and Ishai O. , Engineering Mechanics of Composite Materials Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL: Oxford University Press, 2006.6] Abd Halim H. I. , “Dynamic Characterization Of Fibre Reinforced Composite(S-Glass) In Rigid Armoured Vehicle,” Master of Science, Faculty of Mechanical Engi neering, University Teknology MARA, August 2006.[7] http://neoterichovercraft.blogspot.com/,2013.

Figure 1: Hovercraft construction using fiberglass by Shanghai Ocean University [7]

B CUBE December 2014 B CUBE December 20148 9

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