2/2021 E dition IT’S Empowering chanical Technology

FTKMA Students Win First Place in CITREX Exhibition 20216

Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd Hafizi Wins Multiple Awards at CITREx 2021 and MTE2021Page 15

Strengthening Industrial NetworksPage 5

THE OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE FACULTY OF MECHANICAL AND AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

EmpoweringEngineering,Technology ,

,IT’S MEchanical

2/2021 Edition

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• Urban Circus, A Tale of FTKMA Focus Groups

Creative Corner21• The Camouflage That Grapples Our Perception, Creep

Failure – The Nature’s Insidious Plight

Research Articles 19• Value-added Entrepreneurship Programmes for Automotive

Technology Students

Student Activities18Research Activities

• Research Grants Secured by FTKMA Researchers, Numbers of Scientific Publications, Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd Hafizi wins

Multiple Awards at CITREx 2021 and MTE2021, and many more... 11

• Iftar Food Distribution for Students and FTKMA Staff, Prof. Dato’ Ts. Dr. Rosli Abu Bakar Appointed as Director of the Centre for Sport and Culture

Faculty Activities9• Appointment of New Head of Programs, Internship Follow-Up

Seminar for (BHA) Program, Strengthening Industrial Networks, FTKMA Received 3 Cars from Volkswagen, Accreditation of

BHA Program by The EAC, and many more...

Academic Activities 4Welcome Note Dean and Editor in Chief• Dean’s and Editor-in-Chief’s Welcome Notes3

1 | IT’S MEchanical

Dr. Azizuddin Abd Aziz •Ahmad Basirul Subha Alias •

PROOFREADERS

Dr. Mohamad Zairi Baharom •Mahdhir Mohd Yusof •

DESIGNERS

Dr. Mohd Fadzil Abdul Rahim (AERG) •Dr. Muhamad Zuhairi Sulaiman (AFFG) •

Muhammad Hatifi Mansor (ASiVR) •Dr. Mohd Hazwan Yusof (ESFG) •

Dr. Zulkifli Ahmad @ Manap (HEG) •Dr. Aiman Mohd Halil (MFG) •

Dr. Norhaida Ab. Razak (SUPREME) •Muhammad Ammar Nik Mu’tasim

(Student Activities) •Mohamad Faizal Mohamed Zahri

(Academic Matters) •Norshalawati Mat Yusof

(General Info) •

REPORTERS

Assoc. Prof. Ir. Ts. Dr. Kumaran Kadirgama •Ts. Dr. Muhamad Mat Noor •

Ts. Dr. Luqman Hakim Ahmad Shah •Mohammad Ilzam Jamat •

EDITORS

Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd Hafizi Zohari •

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Prof. Dr. Mahadzir Ishak@Muhammad • PATRON

Editorial Team

J u l y 2 0 2 1 | 2 n d E d i t i o n | I T ’ S M E c h a n i c a l

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Dear reader,

Welcome to the 2nd edition of the IT’s MEchanical bulletin. The pandemic of COVID-19 has yet to end. In May 2021, a nationwide Movement Control Order (MCO) has been

reimposed in Malaysia due to another wave of cases. Students and lecturers are restricted to enter the university, teaching and learning are conducted in online mode and final year projects are mostly changed to design and simulation works. Despite many constraints and challenges, FTKMA staff are still eager to contribute their efforts and ideas to teaching and learning, research and development and also other activities. As our faculty handles academic program related to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), academic operation during MCO is a huge challenge for us. Nevertheless, our team are facing these challenges with open mindset and work steadfastly to make sure our students received a good quality of knowledge and skills. The challenges ignite new ideas and creativity as well as demanding good team work among us. This bulletin presents our activities from January to June this year reflecting our efforts for the benefit of students and UMP. Finally, I would like to thank all FTKMA staff especially the editorial committee for the publication of the bulletin.

Thank you.

PROFESSOR DR. MAHADZIR ISHAK@MUHAMMADDeanFaculty of Mechanical and AutomotiveEngineering TechnologyUniversiti Malaysia Pahang

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This second issue of IT’S Mechanical continues to highlight Engineering Technology as the faculty ecosystem is fully geared-up towards promoting the upcoming three new Engineering

Technology programs. In parallel, the editorial board is pleased to report on activities and achievements that have been going around FTKMA for the first half of 2021. We are contented that in the amidst of the unrelenting challenges, FTKMA members are persevering impeccably well in ensuring deliverables and commitments are fulfilled to the highest of standard. On the back of 'new normal' maxim, we hope to remain steadfast going forward in pursuing our aspirations nationally and internationally. Thank you.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IR. DR. MOHD HAFIZI ZOHARIDeputy Dean (Research and Postgraduate Studies)Faculty of Mechanical and AutomotiveEngineering TechnologyUniversiti Malaysia Pahang

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Appointment of New Head of Programs

Internship Follow-Up Seminar for B. Eng (Hons) Automotive Engineering (BHA) Program

The highly anticipated engineering technology programs which will be offered in the upcoming October 2021 intake have been given a major boost with the appointments of three head of programs earlier this year. Associate Professor Dr. Firdaus Basrawi will be heading the Mechanical Engineering Technology (Oil and Gas) (BTG)

program, while Dr. Mohd Hazwan Yusof and Dr. Mohamad Zairi Baharom will lead the Mechanical Engineering Technology (Automotive) (BTA) program and Mechanical Engineering Technology (BTD) (Design and Analysis) program, respectively. Congratulations to all three for the appointments!

In addition, our faculty has appointed Ts. Dr. Amir Razak as the new head of program for the B. Eng (Hons) Automotive Engineering (BHA) program starting from 1 March 2021. The faculty also expresses our heartiest gratitude to Associate Professor Dr. Saiful Anwar Che Ghani as the former head of program from 2019 to 2021.

FTKMA has organised an online Internship Follow-up Seminar for the B. Eng (Hons) Automotive Engineering (BHA) program students in collaboration with German Academic Collaboration Centre (GACC) on 1 March 2021.

A total of 32 students including those from Faculty of Manufacturing and Mechatronics Engineering Technology (FTKPM) participated in this seminar. The course is a registered subject associated with the Flying Professor Classes to be enrolled by the students in the eight semester. The seminar is also joined by industry panels who are invited to give lectures to the students in UMP. These are the individuals who are involved in this seminar:

Flying Professors: Professor Dr. Robert Weiss, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (HKA), Germany; and Professor Dr. Maurice Kettner, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (HKA), Germany.

Invited panelists from industry: Mohammad Mahadi Zharin (PHN Industry Sdn Bhd); Musaib Umar Zahrin (Intel Technology Sdn Bhd); Nur Azmi Mohd Badiuzzaman (Showa Denko Carbon Malaysia Sdn Bhd); andRuslin Tamsir, MQ Finique.

Lecturer: Associate Professor Dr. Saiful Anwar Che Ghani.

Dr. ZairiDr. HazwanAssoc. Prof. Dr. Firdaus Dr. Amir

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ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES


Strengthening The Industrial Networks and Academic Collaborations

As a preparation for the upcoming Mechanical Engineering Technology programs and improving the current Automotive Technology (BVA) program, the faculty has conducted meetings via online and face to face to introduce and seek industrial partners to initiate academic collaborations in the near future.

Among others, an online meeting has been conducted between FTKMA and Terengganu Oils and Gas Council (TOGC) on 9 March 2021. FTKMA is represented by the Dean, Professor Dr. Mahadzir Ishak@Muhammad and Head of Mechanical Engineering Technology (Oil and Gas) (BTG) program, Associate Professor Dr. Firdaus Basrawi, while TOGC is represented by YM Hj. Tengku Amran Tengku Awang. The main discussion of the auspicious meeting revolves around potential academic collaboration and placement of future students of BTG program.

In another development, FTKMA delegates headed by the dean has visited Mara Liner Kuantan on 16th of March to introduce Automotive Technology (BVA) and Mechanical Engineering Technology (Automotive) (BTA) program. The representative from Mara Liner gives positive feedbacks on the program and he foresee potential collaborations on the work-based learning approach. Further discussions on the details of collaboration and work based learning will be refined in the near future.

Another face to face meeting has been held on 1 April 2021 between FTKMA and Politeknik Sultan Ahmad Shah (POLISAS). The meeting is to promote the upcoming Mechanical Engineering Technology programs as well as mapping out the credit transfer for graduates of POLISAS to enroll in these programs.

To improve the current Automotive Technology (BVA) program, a retreat has been held on 8 April 2021 in Ancasa Royale, Pekan in order to integrate work-based learning (WBL) modules in BVA courses. The retreat is attended by lecturers and technicians who are involved in the program.

Another big milestone for FTKMA with regards to the new Mechanical Engineering Technology programs is the online signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for work-based learning (WBL) between FTKMA and MIE Offshore Solutions Sdn. Bhd. The event further strengthens the networking and collaboration between us and industry to initiate the three-years University one-year Industry (3U1I) concept for the WBL according to the curriculum structure of the Mechanical Engineering Technology (Oil and Gas) (BTG) program.


FTKMA Received Three Cars and One Car Body from Volkswagen Group Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.

Accreditation of B. Eng (Hons) Automotive Engineering (BHA) Program for The Year 2020 to 2022 by The EAC

On 19 March 2021, Volkswagen Group Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. generously donated three cars and one car body

to FTKMA for teaching and learning as well as research purposes. The donated vehicle models are Vento, Passat and Tiguan. It is hoped that the donation would give a better understanding to the students in terms of technology, design, manufacturing processes and electrical works used in automotive industries in recent years, giving them the edge over other learning centre students.

FTKMA is delighted to receive the news that our B. Eng (Hons) Automotive Engineering (BHA) program has been accredited for three years (2020 to 2022) by the Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) on 31 March 2021. This achievement is the result of continuous efforts done by the accreditation task force who

have meticulously prepared the accreditation documents as requested by EAC. Congratulations to Associate Professor Dr. Saiful Anwar Che Ghani and his team!

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Proposal Presentation Session for Team Oriented Project Study (TOPS)

On the 1 April 2021, 13 students of B. Eng (Hons) Automotive Engineering (BHA) program have attended the

online proposal presentation session for their Team Oriented Project Study (TOPS) course with Professor Dr. Maurice Kettner from Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (HKA), Germany. This session is one of the essential elements for the course, where students experience working with not only among themselves, but also with their supervisor from Germany. For this semester, three very interesting projects have been selected by the students, namely 'Development of Steer-by Wire System for Autonomous Vehicle', 'Development of Portable Roof and Storage Box for Utility Motorcycle', and 'Design and Development of Remote Control Mini 4x4 Amphibious Vehicle for Surveying'. At the end of the course, students are evaluated by their supervisor in FTKMA and Professor Dr. Maurice Kettner himself. For financial support, some projects are financed by UMP Product Development Grant.

Seminar on Mindset and Skillset of Entrepreneurs

In collaboration with UMP Entrepreneurship Centre (MyPACE), FTKMA has organised a seminar on Mindset and Skillset of Entrepreneurs for Automotive Technology

(BVA) students on 2 April 2021. The young panellists came from various automotive business backgrounds to share their experience and advice. The four successful entrepreneurs are Iqmal Haqemi from Hajoon Group, Azri Nurudin from TJM Cars, Amzar Ikhwan from DAS Auto Motorsports and Mohd Faizal from FZR Legacy. All the panellists take the opportunity to share their ups and downs in the business world, offer valuable tips and motivation in order for the students to strive in the future, especially as young entrepreneurs. FTKMA and MyPACE would like to wholeheartedly thank the panellists for making the event a successful occasion. It supports the government's aspiration to produce more entrepreneurs and to change the perception that Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is a second-tier educational program.

Final Year Project Presentation for BHA: All’s Well, Ends Well

Global Webinar on Entrepreneurship of Engineers: Bolt and Nut Calculation and Industrial Standard Application

On 9 April 2021, at 8 pm (Malaysia) or 2 pm (German), an online presentation has been carried out for the only student of the B. Eng

(Hons) Automotive Engineering (BHA) program, Muhammad Safiuddin Khusni. The session is joined by Professor Dr. Kettner of the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (HKA) as the examiner, Ts. Dr. Amir Abdul Razak as the head of program, Dr. Mohamad Heerwan Peeie as the supervisor and Dr. Muhammad Hilmi Jalil as the final year project coordinator. The session started with the student presentation, followed by a question and answer session and ended with the result announcement from Professor Kettner. Alhamdulillah, after going through major corrections and strict evaluations, the student successfully passed the final year project course and enabled him to graduate.

The pandemic certainly forces both lecturers and students to adapt to the new norms. Shorter duration for experiments, online discussions, online assessment forms and many other new experiences that are extremely valuable for the student. The completion of the final year project course by the student and any other engineering students in general, is a real example of improvisation between technical knowledge and limited resources for a future engineer.

An online webinar has been organised by FTKMA on 4 May 2021 entitled Entrepreneurship of Engineers: Bolt

and Nut Calculation and Industrial Standard Application. The sharing session is chaired by Associate Professor Ir. Dr. Haji Fadhlur Rahman Mohd Romlay and the speaker is Dr. Ahmad Syahrizan Sulaiman who has vast experience in consultation work in the oil and gas industry. The webinar is attended by both undergraduates and postgraduates, including young lecturers who are keen on venturing into consultation work in the future.

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Iftar Food Distribution for Students22 April 2021

The day marks to be FTKMA’s turn to distribute Iftar food packs for UMP students who remain in the university’s residential college over the month of Ramadan. The event takes place at Student Activity Centre in Pekan Campus. The month-long programme is one of the university’s annual initiatives which is

aimed to help with students welfare over the fasting period, even more so during the period of pandemic where movement is heavily curbed. The FTKMA Dean himself leads a team of volunteers comprising academics, administrative and technical members of staff and joined by several other students from Yayasan UMP where the 600 packs of food are successfully apportioned in less than one hour.

To ensure that the programme is sustainable in the future years, Yayasan UMP invites any individuals or organisations willing to help with financial means to donate to the fund via the three channels listed as follows:

1. Online Portal: https://epayment.ump.edu.my/endowment/MyGift.jsp2. Bank Transfer: Account Number: 556235317085 (Maybank) – Yayasan UMP3. Tabung Ramadan: Located at Masjid UMP for both Pekan and Gambang campus


Iftar Food Distribution for FTKMA Staff

As per tradition for every year’s Ramadan season, the faculty would be hosting an iftar session for all of its members. The primary aim from its organisation is for the program to be a rendezvous for the big families of FTKMA to meet and get along together, further reinforcing the pillar of friendships and

on a personal level and also to foster the sense of togetherness to reap benefits as proffered by the zenith of an organisational camaraderie. Additionally, the fall of Ramadan with all spiritual blessings it guarantees is unmistakeably apt a time for the management team to extend its gesture of appreciation to recognise the all-year-round efforts played by staff members who have been integral in promoting, pursuing and preserving excellency for the faculty and university.

Unfortunately for this year however, amidst the unrelenting battle with the widespread of Covid-19, akin to myriad other matters implicating our lives when mass gatherings are strictly suppressed, that very iftar tradition inevitably also need to concede to the term of new normalcy whereby as an alternative, the pre-prepared food packs are distributed among the faculty members along with some homemade scrumptious raya cookies. The event takes place on 5 May 2021 at FTKMA’s ground floor foyer.

FACULTY ACTIVITIES

Re-appointment of Prof. Dato’ Ts. Dr. Rosli Abu Bakar as Director of the Centre for Sports and Culture

The FTKMA members are exuberant to offer their felicitations to Professor Dato' Ts. Dr. Rosli Abu Bakar for his re-appointment as Director of the University’s Centre for Sports and Culture. Equipped by his undoubted credibility and leadership skills, the university’s management board is full of confidence to secure for Professor Dato' Ts. Dr. Rosli’s service until 30 June 2022. Under his watch, it’s of the university’s huge credence that the centre will continue its quest for excellency in non-academic activities and simultaneously to scale the new heights in accomplishing all of its aspirations. We wish

Professor Dato' Ts. Dr. Rosli all the very best!Prof. Dato’ Ts Dr. Rosli Abu Bakar


RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

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On 18 February 2021, FTKMA organises the first of a two-partspecial talk on the theme of books, modules and high-impact publications. The UMP Press, represented by Athirah Ruzaini delivers the tips and tricks for authors interested in the above genres to master in their writing. The sessions are also very useful as they serve to shed

lights to young researchers in their work involving scientific and educational publications. The second part of the talk takes place on 10 June 2021. Meanwhile, there is another organisation of talk by Dr. Navid Aslfattahi from Universiti Malaya which takes place on 27 May 2021. The gist of the talk revolves around the premise of impactful and ethical publications which is of a grandest priority given the faculty’s aspirations in preserving the highest bar of standards in research output.

On the research portfolio, investigators from FTKMA continue to flourish in their scientific outputs which are reflected by the highest of standard in reporting those findings by mean of credible

publications. A total of 44 articles are published from the myriad disciplines of scientific activities within the faculty comprising a split between Scopus indexing and Web of Science with 25 articles in the former and the remaining in the latter. The impactful scientific reporting platforms, such as the International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, Solar energy, and Journal of Manufacturing Processes and Energy, to name a few, are the examples where those new findings prevalently appear.

In preserving the research impetus, the Focus Groups of FTKMA fares elegantly in sourcing for the funding and to date, has successfully awarded for a cumulative sum of RM5.4 million worth of grant money secured from various funding institutions, both internally and externally. Approximately a third of the total fund award (RM1.5 million) goes to the Advanced Fluid Focus Group. Their funders are made by host of renowned institutions ranging across public and private sectors, for instance, the university’s internal fund, funding from international bodies, Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), MTUN-Pre-commercialization fund, LAB 2 Market, Industry, and from few other agencies.

In addition, researchers of other speciality groups also succeeded in securing the money for scientific investigations, also from institutions regionally and internationally such as the grants by New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN NCAP) and Karlshure University of Applied Science.From the industry, funders such as Pac Eastcoast Engineering and Services Sdn. Bhd. and Cae Enterprise are the two examples where the research funds are secured by the research members.

FTKMA researchers win gold and silver medals in Malaysia Technology Expo (MTE 2021). There is one special award from Chinese Innovation and Invention Society Taiwan win by Associate Professor Ir. Dr. Mohd Hafizi Zohari and a merit award from the Malaysia-Croatia Technology Exchange by Associate Professor Ts. Ir. Dr. Kumaran

Kadirgama.

FTKMA researchers also win six medals in Creation, Innovation, Technology and Research Exposition (CITREx 2021) under the staff category and two awards under the student category.

Staff category

Student category

FTKMAResearchers Project Title Award

Associate Professor Ir. Dr. Mohd Hafizi Zohari

Fiber Bragg Grating System for EngineeringStructures Health Monitoring

Gold Medal And Chinese Innovation and Invention Society Taiwan Special Award

Associate Professor Ir. Dr. Mohd Fairusham Ghazali

Intelligent Leak Finder Silver Medal

Associate Professor Ts. Ir. Dr. Kumaran Kadirgama

Cellulose Enrich Radiator CoolantSilver Medal And Merit Award From TheMalaysia-Croatia Technology Exchange

FTKMA Researchers Project Title Award

Associate Professor Ir. Dr. Mohd Hafizi Zohari

Smart Bolt for Digital Bolted Joint Monitoring System

Gold Medal and Anugerah Kreativiti and Inovasi FTKMA (First Place)

Associate Professor Ts. Ir. Dr. Kumaran Kadirgama

Mxene Enrich Concentration Solar Power (CSP) Coolant

Gold Medal and Anugerah Kreativiti and Inovasi FTKMA (Second Place)

Dr. Nor Atiqah ZolpakarDevelopment of Stack Component forThermoacoustic Refrigerator Using 3D Printer

Silver Medal

Dr. Aiman Mohd HalilEnhancement of Laser Absorptivity in Metal By Laser Surface Modification

Silver Medal

Dr. Muhammad Hilmi Jalil Polymeric Spinal Cage Developed Via CT-FEA Silver Medal

Dr. Nurizzatul Atikha Rahmat

Enhanced Smoke Wire Technique in Small Scaled Quasi-Atmospheric Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel

Bronze Medal

Student Project Title Award

Ashwindran NaiduSanderasagran

Novel Bio-Hybrid Drag Induced Wind Turbine Silver Medal

Linggamm RamasamyLaser Cleaning Process for The Removal ofSurface Contaminants, Corrosion and Paint

Silver Medal

Azrin Abdul AzizSpark Plug Fault Recognition Using Classification Method in Spark Ignition Engine

Silver Medal


A UMP research team led by Sudhakar Kumarasamy (top two percent most-cited scientist recipient in the field of energy) sought to

develop a tool to simplify the feasibility study of energy systems at improved accuracy rates. 'A unique 7E sustainable performance assessment framework is the backbone of this innovative tool'. The development of the sustainable performance index (SPI) tool is intended to study the feasibility of solar photovoltaics (PV) in airport environment where the decision making process is often, somewhat challenging. The 7E framework considers the energy, exergy, economic, environmental, and social aspect of the energy system in question. Compared to conventional feasibility analysis, the 7E framework provides a multi-dimensional index on the expected performance of energy systems and it uniqueness will be a one-stop solution tool over those multiple feasibility studies, which are often needed prior to projects being implemented.

The tool is designed to provide a 7E based sustainable performance index when applied to the clean energy feasibility project. This index aids the project developers in decision-making process, specifically on the optimised site from a pool of alternative sites. This 7E framework will be used to find the most favourable site for the utility-scale solar project among five geographical locations in Malaysia and India. The work is recently published as article in a reputed Elsevier's Energy journal (IF 6.08) for Malaysian sites (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.119610) and Sustainable Energy Technology and Assessment (IF: 3.427) for the Indian counterpart (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2021.101352) .Though this study focused on the feasibility study of solar photovoltaics technology, the developed 7E framework can be comfortably applied to any other projects in scaling renewable energy vectorss.

Dr. Sudhakar has been actively involved in research on solar photovoltaics systems since 2010 when he joined as Assistant Professor at MANIT-Bhopal, India. The motivation to pursue the research on airport photovoltaics sparked when he visited the 12 MW solar photovoltaics power plant in Cochin International airport, India, with his research team in April 2016. Then, Dr. Sudhakar together with his Master’s degree aster student, Sreenath, published a paper titled 'Fully solar-powered airport: A case study of Cochin International Airport (Journal of Air Transport Management)'. This non-open access journal paper has gained 56 citations with over 9,300 reads via ResearchGate platform. Later in 2017, Dr. Sudhakar joined UMP and Sreenath followed him to pursue a doctoral research in UMP and continue to research on airport’s photovoltaics-based energy potential. The India-born academician believes 'their research

work added significant knowledge into the research area of airport photovoltaics over the last five years'. This is evident from the high-impact journal publications by the research team, to name a few, Solar Energy, Renewable energy, Energy, Progress in Photovoltaics, Energy reports, Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Journal of Air Transport Management. The knowledge shared on the subject also motivated others researchers across the globe to pursue research work in similar area. Moreover, his continuous research output on airport photovoltaics received the attention of photovoltaics magazine, which is renowned media among the international photovoltaics community. Additionally, researchers from United Kingdom, Malaysia, Turkey, India and Russia have shown keen interest in teaming-up on the research theme. Proven by his experience and technical expertise, he is also being invited as Visiting Senior Researcher at South Ural State University, Russian Federation. This novel sustainable performance assessment tool received a silver medal in the Creation, Innovation, Technology and Research Exposition (CITREx) 2021. The research team will keep on improvising the tool and aims to exhibit an improvised product in the upcoming national and international competitions. Also, the team of research in UMP is open for potential collaborative work with different stakeholders across the world, mainly airport operators, research universities, airline operators, government authorities, policymakers, regional aviation authorities and solar consultancy firms. Further, this research is in line towards the UMP's second position in the energy science and engineering subject in Malaysia according to Shanghai Ranking for 2021.

Finally, the team is in the last stage of developing another tool to rank airports across the globe in terms of energy sustainability indicators. This tool is based on several indicators encompassing the social, economic, and environmental dimensions. This stand-alone ranking tool is expected to benefit airport operators in the self-assessment of their sustainability initiatives.

UMP Researcher Develops '7E based Sustainable Performance Index (SPI)'

13 |IT’S MEchanical

Dr. Sudhakar

Processing of Customized Automotive Components – Nickel Aluminium Bronze Material using Metal Casting TechniquesBy: Ir. Dr. Rashidi Senior Lecturer, FTKMA

Most rotating components for automotive and industrial usage utilize metal due to the material flexibility and ductility in order to ensure failure part gives early warning or indication. So, a failure can be forecasted by stress-strain condition without the disaster of sudden failure. Nickel Aluminium Bronze (NAB) alloy is capable to offer

such ductility during operation and gives a signal prior to material failure. NAB processing requires several controlled parameters. A research has been carried out to address the probable interactions among alloy elements and degassing treatment during the production of NAB casting. The effect of solidified alloy is investigated during processing, pre and post-processing. Firstly, the pattern is developed by using a standard shape of connecting rod available in the market. A few modifications are made to ensure that the dimension and shape are according to the customized equipment. Then, a mixture of alloy consisting nickel, aluminium, copper, ferum and other trace elements, degassing agent and oxidation is prepared and added by sequence during melting stages. After tapping temperature is achieved, the molten metal is poured into the sand cast mould.

It is observed that the degassing treatment is effective on the alloy molten metal. Initial visual inspection discovers that the metal has been casted without much of appearance defect. However, after the casting cavity is cut and sampled for microstructure investigation, the specimen shows a distribution of porosity in scale of micro. It is discovered that the thicker the part, the higher the amount of porosity that resides in NAB dendritic structure. So, further investigation is required to minimize the micro-porosity. The target is to achieve minimum micro-porosity to enhance NAB dendritic structure in terms of uniformity and elements distribution. As a result, the alloy will be more reliable during engineering applications.

References[1] Tribology with biodiesel: A study on enhancing biodiesel stability and its fuel properties F. Sundus, M.A. Fazal, H.H. Masjuki Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 70 (2017) 399–412[2] Erosion and erosion–corrosion performance of cast and thermally sprayed nickel–aluminium bronze R.C. Barik, J.A. Wharton, R.J.K. Wood, K.S. Tan, K.R. Stokes Wear 259 (2005) 230–242[3] Effect of hot working on microstructure evolution of as-cast Nickel Aluminum Bronze alloy J. Anantapong, V. Uthaisangsuk, S. Suranuntchai, A. Manonukul Materials and Design 60 (2014) 233–243[4] Study of the effect of friction stir processing of the sliding wear behavior of cast NiAl Bronze: A statistical analysis Shivraman Thapliyal, Dheerendra Kumar Dwivedi Tribology International 97 (2016) 124–135[5] Effect of friction stir processing on erosion–corrosion behavior of nickel–aluminum bronze M. Lotfollahi, M. Shamanian, A. Saatchi Materials and Design 62 (2014) 282–287

Figure 1. Solidification of alloy molten metal in the sand cast mould pattern and mould preparation (customize automotive components) for metal casting technique

Figure 2. Porosity of trapped gas between transgranular fracture of dendritic structure

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FTKMA lecturer, Associate Professor Ir. Dr. Mohd Hafizi Zohari wins a gold medal and two special awards in the category of Creativity and Innovation Awards (First Place) and Best of the

Best Special Award (Staff Category) in the Creation, Innovation, Technology and Research Exposition (CITREx) 2021 organised by the Research and Innovation Department, UMP.

Meanwhile, the research on Fiber Bragg Grating System for Engineering Structures Health enables him to win special award from Chinese Innovation and Invention Society Taiwan and a gold medal in Malaysia Technology Expo MTE2021. Altogether, UMP wins five gold medals, nine silver medals and one special award. The other two researchers from FTKMA who participated are Associate Professor Ir. Dr. Mohd Fairusham Ghazali (silver medal) and Associate Professor Ir. Ts. Dr. Kumaran Kadirgama (silver medal).

Associate Professor Ir. Dr. Mohd Hafizi wins multiple awards at CITREx 2021 and MTE2021

SDMMS 2021 that takes place on 8 and 9 March 2021 and is participated by the SUPREME group members, Dr. Norhaida, Dr. Nasrul Azuan and Dr. Shamil Shaari. The symposium is jointly organised by the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Pulau Pinang, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

(UKM), Computational and Experimental Mechanics (CEM) Research Group. The three papers presented are, Creep Rupture Life and Ductility of Ex-Serviced P91 Steel (Dr. Norhaida), Numerical Simulation of Monkman Grant Strain Based Damage Model to Predict Creep Rupture Time (Dr. Nasrul Azuan), and A Review on the Effect of Heat Treatment on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of AlSi10Mg Fabricated by Additive Manufacturing (Dr. Mohd Shamil Shaari).

In addition, a webinar session as titled 'How to Secure an Industrial Grant' is respectively organised by the SUPREME Focus Group and Department of Electrical and Engineering on 7 April 2021. The speaker of the webinar is Professor Ir. Dr. Mohd Faizal Jamlos and the session is moderated by Dr. Norazlianie where the tips and tricks about planning, finding and securing for industrial grants are discussed.

Another similar webinar titled as 'Entrepreneurship of Engineers-Bolts and Nuts Calculation and Industrial Standard Applications' by one of the SUPREME’s Member’s, Dr. Ahmad Syahrizan Sulaiman takes place on 4 May 2021. Dr. Ahmad Syahrizan Sulaiman who is also an industrial practitioner, freelance consultant, specialising in oil and gas industry. The session is attended by the final year students and FTKMA staff. The webinar sheds light into a comprehensive overview on the nature of educational enterprise and also an insight thriving in such endeavour.

A Virtual Symposium, the Fifth Symposium on Damage Mechanism in Materials and Structures (SDMMS) 2021

FTKMA students win the first place in the university-wide 'Project Pitch Perfect' pitching competition organised during CITREx 2021 for their project

on Smart Flange. The faculty expresses heartfelt congratulations to all students and lecturers involved in the competition. The team is made of Linggam Ramasamy, Deyerbeen Sipaan@Fredoline and Shaziana Mohd Shahrill while the supervisory team comprises Dr. Daing Mohamad Nafiz, Dr. Mohd Adnin Hamidi, Dr. Mohamad Heerwan Peeie, Dr. Ahmad Fitri Yusop and Dr. Mohd Azri Hizami Rasid. The Pitching competition is primarily organized by the UMP Technology Sdn. Bhd. The first-place winner takes home RM1,500 with a trophy while the second and third places win RM1,000 and RM500 respectively.

FTKMA Students Win First Place in CITREx Exhibition 2021

The energy demand is dramatically increasing due to the growth of the world's population and substantial economic development mainly in Brazil, Russia, China, and India. Combustion of fossil fuel is projected to fulfil about 75 percent of this energy needs. Some of the significant challenges are to provide efficient

energy and limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Combustion pollution will create unstable weather, increase ocean levels, and ice melting in the North and South Poles that will resulted potential increase for the earth's temperature. To tackle the issue, an improvement of the combustion efficiency is gaining greater interest among researchers in combustion technology and modelling. Preheating of reactants by the hot flue gas is one of the methods to improve the combustion efficiency. The concept constitutes for a new combustion technology called the Moderate or Intense Low-oxygen Dilution (MILD) combustion. Presently, MILD combustion has been applied in closed furnaces where oxygen is diluted, and air-fuel mixture is preheated by the internal flue gas circulation.

MILD combustion yields into higher combustion efficiency with very low emissions recorded. Through recycling of the waste heat from the flue gases increases the thermal efficiency of MILD combustion by 30 percent, while simultaneously reducing the NOx levels by 50 percent. However, this work is focusing on open furnace MILD combustion as are common within the industry. Generally, the setup process for an open furnace is simple and cheaper than a closed system because the latter needs thicker and solid wall. However, open furnace incorporates additional complexity because of the requirement for mixture preheating. It is believed that currently there is no comprehensive data about MILD combustion in open furnaces. In order for the open furnace to attain the MILD combustion, the supplied air must be diluted to reduce its oxygen concentration and preheat the air-fuel mixture to reach the auto-ignition temperature. The exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) concept is utilised to achieve the dilution of oxygen and the preheating of the mixture by collecting exhaust gas for a mixing with the reactants. The furnace needs to be enclosed to capture the required fraction of exhaust gas.

The Importance of Moderate or Intense Low-Oxygen Dilution (MILD) Combustion and The Impact on The Global Warming

By: Ts. Dr. M.M. Noor, Senior Lecturer, FTKMA


MIROS-UMP Research(30 April 2021)MIROS-UMP collaboration signed a Letter of Notes for receiving the testing of artificial human head hybrid III for impact research in road accidents.

The University is represented by Dr. Mohd Hasnun Arif Hassan from the Human Engineering Research Group Lab while Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) is led by its Director General, PPj. Kehormat (PA) Ir. Ts. Dr. Khairil Anwar Abu Kassim. The event is also attended by Lt. Kol. Bersekutu (PA) Ts. Zulhaidi Mohd Jawi@Said, Director for Vehicle Safety and Biomechanics Research Centre, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS).


Human Engineering Symposium 2021(22 February 2021)Human Engineering Symposium (HUMENS) 2021 is the inaugural symposium organised by the Human Engineering Group (HEG), Faculty of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering Technology, UMP.

HUMENS 2021 covers the following topics:Biomechanics, Ergonomics, Sports Technology, Medical Device and Instrumentation, Artificial Intelligence, Industrial Design, Rehabilitation, Additive Manufacturing, Modelling and Bio-simulation, and Signal Processing.

Pedal Error Experiment UMP-MIROS(17 May 2021)

A project experimenting on the foot-on-pedal errors among Malaysian drivers is performed to fulfil the dataset requirement from an international grant awarded by the ASEAN NCAP and MIROS. The goals of this research are to evaluate the behaviours of Malaysian drivers’ related tofoot placement on the pedal and its effects to the total braking response and characteristics over the regime of normal and emergency braking situations. Moreover, the study also aims to analyse the sources of errors in drivers’ foot placement which consequently contribute to the wrong pedal placement and its interdependency factors leading affecting the characteristics of braking response. The project is led by Ts. Dr. Mohamad Zairi Baharom and co-investigated by Dr. Zulkifli Ahmad@Manap. This is a project in collaboration between UMP, ASEAN NCAP, MIROS, and UTeM. Several students involved during the naturalistic driving study are Nursya Mimie Ayuny, Dylan, Muhamad Syihabuddin, and Muhammad Azri. In total, there are 28 drivers participating in the study comprising thoroughly selected Malaysian drivers aged between 20 to 41 years old with a minimum of two years of driving experience.


STUDENT ACTIVITIESValue-added Entrepreneurship Programmes for Automotive Technology StudentsOn 4 Jun 2021, FTKMA in collaboration with University’s Entrepreneurship Centre (MyPACE) organises an online event with the title Structured Technopreneur Pilot and Bootcamp Program for Automotive Technology Program (BVA) students.

In this one day program, students are exposed to the entrepreneurial knowledge and sharing valuable tips for business start-ups which are conveyed by guest speakers comprising individual businessmen, Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) and Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Berhad (SME Bank).

Although the program takes place virtually and against the initial tentative for a physical organisation, the number of participations is overwhelmingly positive which showcases the level of strong interest among modern technical graduates towards technopreneurship.

As a gesture of appreciation, MyPACE gives to each of the best three participants a consolation voucher as donated by the University’s Cooperative. Best participants emerge from the event are:

Mohd Ambri Shaari (VB19036);

Muhammad Zaki Hilmi Osman (VB19004); and

Mohamad Zikri Zakaria (VB19023).



To this day, it may have not dawned on you as significant whenever the phrase of creep failure is uttered about, but are you cognizant that we should particularly care about it for it’s prevalent, yet inherently implicit a phenomenon occurring to daily materials around our lives? Or if you may reminisce from those undergraduate engineering lectures on material science or mechanics, have you ever been told or taught about what is it specifically the material failures as a result of creep? Fundamentally, how does that creep mechanism accurately behaves and theoretically, what or how is best to begin explaining it? The following paragraphs will unravel the underlying physics as possessed by the creep characteristics to any in-service components. Creep is a time-dependent phenomenon from where the deformation is thermally-assisted under the presence of constant stresses which in their magnitudes are usually below than the yield strength of that material. Therefore, both stress and temperature are the two driving factors that affect the rate of creep deformation. Also from undergraduate lectures, the majority of engineering students are taught that a failure occurs whenever the equivalent stress crosses into the yield or ultimate tensile strength regimes of the material. While the notion is still painting the overview on the behaviours of structural materials in general, the revelation, however, suffers on many fronts, from major simplifications and generalisations. As such, a sophisticated explanation is needed to ensure safe equipment are designed according to what nature prescribes.

As the creep failure may also occur below the yield strength point, it may be detrimental to the individual component as well as the overall plant if design engineers are not armoured with sufficient information regarding the creep failure. Accidents involving in-service components failure at high-temperature condition where the thermal stress is profound are of critical consideration for design and material engineers alike as such failures are frequently encountered in industries around the world especially in power generation plant and aerospace sectors. The key to understanding material behaviours at elevated temperature is not only signifies the need to minimise the plant downtime as a result of creep failure which translates to financial repercussions, but equally, to warrant for a safe workplace to human souls working around the equipment.

Creep testing is usually performed onto the in-service equipment to investigate its remaining lifetime before mandatory part replacement is scheduled. The standard test methods for creep are well established across the world, where protocols as given by ASTM E139, ASTM E292 and ISO 204 are vastly being used. Dataset tabulated from the test forms to be a foundation on the overall state to the creep-resistance characteristics for each component and it allows for engineers to make an informed decision on the next step to take.

As it is governed by the timescale, the creep testing is a

time consuming affair and one testing programme under those real service conditions alone may take up to 25 years (~220,000 hours of creep time) to conclude which renders it as impractical and expensive.

Therefore, a short-term test scheme is usually preferred by the engineers but of course by not discounting the outcomes and reliability. The so-called correction factor will normally be applied to the test data to reflect the long-term behaviours of the equipment in service. In addition, the empirical-based prediction models such as given by Larson-Miller parameter, Omega and Monkman-Grant models have been widely employed by industries to predict the long-term creep life with proven reliability and confidence. In Malaysia, however, there are limited numbers of creep machines currently available. FTKMA UMP at present owns one creep test machine (as shown in the figure) which is capable to offer creep testing service to both students and industrial clients. Furthermore, the members of FTKMA’s SUPREME Focus Group have also been carrying out experimental research in the field of creep and that includes the computational means by the finite element modelling, life prediction and structural integrity assessments. Alternatively, TNB Research (TNBR) which is based in Kajang, Selangor is the other institution offering creep testing facility on both short- and long-term basis.

To conclude, it is hoped that students as well as the practicing engineers are now wary the criticality in characterising creep behaviours and potential failures it may inflict. Those knowledge will undoubtedly accommodate us in enhancing the safety level for both workplace and to a greater extent, the society at large.

About the author

Dr. Nasrul Azuan Alang obtained his doctorate degree from the Imperial College London in 2018. His research specialising in damage mechanics while also actively involved in creep study, both experimentally and in numerical modelling for more than six years.

Creep Failure – The Nature’s Insidious PlightBy: Dr. Nasrul Azuan Alang Senior Lecturer, FTKMA

Figure 1. Creep test machine in FTKMA UMP

During World War 2, airplanes designers and engineers were researching on how to best strengthen their warplanes so that it won’t doom easily as a result of

enduring the multitude hits from the enemy’s planes. The data they analysed were populated from those returning but heavily shot warplanes, as shown in the figure. A quick glimpse into the data intuits them to fortify areas where the plane had suffered the most shots (indicated by the red dots). Their believe, by doing so, the objective to reinforce the fuselage’s skin, thus enhancing chances of the warplane surviving further ammunitions from the enemy would be attained.

However, a statistician by the name of Abraham Wald simply disputed the strategy. He argued that data that was being analysed were tabulated from the planes that flew back to the base safely – the survived samples.

Safely made it back, despite suffering shots from the enemy which translates to the fact that, albeit being bombarded by the trains of bullets, those regions scattered by red dots weren’t the weakest spots on the fuselage. On the contrary, the regions actually needed strengthening are those clean ones – locations without the bullet traces! Why so? Because the airplanes that were hit at those spots simply did not make it back to the base, i.e., did not survive the attack – the failed samples. Therefore, those areas are in fact the most weakest ones and must precede the list of spots needed reinforcement!

Such a flawed perception in data interpretation that engineers had initially is called Survivorship Bias. As human beings, we inherently have the psychological tendency to arrive at conclusions based only on information clearly visible to us (survival data) and often overlook the condition that is missing from the event, but forms an ever important narrative to the entire process of data interpretation (other side of the story). While it may seem as strange a phenomenon, in reality it is quite common than we may think that we bump into one. Below are two daily life examples and how we can explain it through the lens of survivorship bias:

1. “They don’t make it like they use to!”. Have you ever heard such statements before? Some people say it while comparing car models or mechanical machines. We have the perception that older car models are more robust and reliable.

As proof, our uncle or someone we know has a 30 years-old Toyota Camry that has hit 500,000 km on the odometer but is still running fine!But automotive engineering has been progressing exponentially that modern cars should be much sturdier and of better quality. So how to inject logicality to the above argument? We can probably explain how your uncle has a workable 30 years-old Camry in two ways: a) He has been meticulously taking care of the car since day one, changing and maintenance parts well before the recommended time, etc. No wonder it would last for

that long. So, among all the Camry models of that year, that particular car is probably the only one percent that still in good order. b) Genuinely a coincidence that, that year’s Camry model has been regarded as one of the most robust and sturdy models ever manufactured. Then, how about the other Camrys of the same year? Chances are, a whopping majority have already been scrapped and forgotten down the years.Here lies the blind spot in our cognitive conversancy as depicted by the survivorship bias. The scrapped, rusty cars in the scrapyard are not readily visible, but one working old car is easily recognised by us. To add more opacity to our perception, this occurs by some remote probability that we recently bought a car and it’s broken down just after two days. Unfortunately, it further amplifies the flawed notion that 'old cars are built tough, but new ones are not as good'.

2. You tune in to a classic frequency on the car radio and by some miracles that all the classic songs on the playlist that day are pleasing to the ears. Similarly, the whispers, “Ah, why don’t they make good music like they used too?”.

Again, this might be a fallacy in inference originating from the survivorship bias. It cannot be denied that during the classic area of those yesteryear, there were equally amazing and also awful songs being composed. However, due to them being 'awful', such songs might as well succumbed to the future-proof test across different eras and music genres, explicating that they are no longer favoured by the radio stations anymore. As a result, only those wonderful, evergreen and sought-after songs are getting the airtime, establishing themselves as a trademark of classic music.

On a similar premise, current songs are going to pass through the same ‘filtering’ process as well. There will always be good and bad songs, but bad songs won’t make that far along the future years, creating a vacuum in our dataset thus unequivocally, skewing our perception that only classic songs are the real music to the ears whilst modern ones are not. By extension, this can be said true for other situations as well such as when it comes to books and movies preference.

As a conclusion, survivorship bias can be a psychological mindset that we inherently carry along our life where its presence often renders us as oblivious in the decision making process. As future engineers, it is therefore pertinent that we take into account these biases and the need to be more critical in assessing all situations around us, even more so by those 'non-survivors dataset'. Ostensibly, those missing dots paint a broader insight to the overall picture. Only when we consider these unforeseen aspects that sound, informed and holistic judgements can be attained.

RESEARCH ARTICLESThe Camouflage That Grapples Our PerceptionBy: Ts. Dr. Luqman Hakim Ahmad Shah Senior Lecturer, FTKMA

Figure 1. Red dots on airplane indicating the most common area found to be shot.


Creative Corner

CC

URBAN CIRCUS

By: Ts. Dr. Luqman Hakim Ahmad ShahSenior Lecturer, FTKMA

FTKMA academicians are devoted to research Exploring the unknown in wisdom universeThe Dean's instruction is very loud and clear

Make our faculty the innovation leader Focus Groups are formed by interest areaCommon in objective and working togetherAERG is interested in vehicle technology Automotive hub, engagement with industry Next is AFFG, attracted to fluidDedicated academician, the group is builtASIVR is all about structural vibrationGive them problem, they'll find the solution ESFG is committed on conserving energyLong live the earth, the stance and policyHuman engineering is the core of HEGQuality of life is the essence of study MTG members are assigned to manufacturingAdvanced technology really keeps them goingLast but not least, the group called SUPREMEMaterial investigation on the level of extreme International grants, we managed to receiveHigh-impact journals, we already published FTKMA Focus Group will continue the journeyFor the sake of faculty and also UMP

A TALE OF FTKMA FOCUS GROUPS

By: Dr. Azizuddin Abd Aziz Senior Lecturer, FTKMA


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