Energy and building control systems in the tropics

This book addresses both passive and active methods of controlling the environmental performance of buildings in hot tropical climates such as Malaysia. In these climates the building fabric plays a crucial role in determining the indoor environment and maintaining reasonable thermal comfort. Useful and practical case studies are used to illustrate solutions. While the book is of a technical nature and based on academic research, the language is suitable for students, architects and the general public. The book offers a significant contribution towards to the move to more sustainable, energy efficient and ‘green’ buildings. It provides building designers with practical and simple solutions that are based on a sound understanding of building physics

Mobile learning in open and distance learning : issues and challenges

PowerPoint presentation on mobile learning in open and distance learning (ODL) environmen

Multi-objective discrete particle swarm optimisation algorithm for integrated assembly sequence planning and assembly line balancing

In assembly optimisation, assembly sequence planning and assembly line balancing have been extensively studied because both activities are directly linked with assembly efficiency that influences the final assembly costs. Both activities are categorised as NP-hard and usually performed separately. Assembly sequence planning and assembly line balancing optimisation presents a good opportunity to be integrated, considering the benefits such as larger search space that leads to better solution quality, reduces error rate in planning and speeds up time-to-market for a product. In order to optimise an integrated assembly sequence planning and assembly line balancing, this work proposes a multi-objective discrete particle swarm optimisation algorithm that used discrete procedures to update its position and velocity in finding Pareto optimal solution. A computational experiment with 51 test problems at different difficulty levels was used to test the multi-objective discrete particle swarm optimisation performance compared with the existing algorithms. A statistical test of the algorithm performance indicates that the proposed multi-objective discrete particle swarm optimisation algorithm presents significant improvement in terms of the quality of the solution set towards the Pareto optimal set

Pengaruh Faktor Demografi, Lokus Kawalan Dan Stail Berfikir Terhadap Personaliti Usahawan Berjaya Berdasarkan Teori Kerjaya Holland

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji pengaruh Demografi,Lokus Kawalan dan Stail Berfikir terhadap personaliti usahawan berjaya di negeri-negeri Utara Semenanjung Malaysia iaitu negeri Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang dan Perak Utara secara metod campuran. The purpose of this study is to identify the influence of Demografic factor, Locus of Control and Thinking Styles towards the personality of successful entrepreneur around Northern Peninsular of Malaysia such as negeri Perlis, Kedah , Pulau Pinang and northern Perak in mix method research

Discovering Quality

A presentation slides on 'Discovering Quality' by Prof Dr Mansor Fadzil, Senior Vice-President OUM during OUM Seminar Series 05/2013 on 13 May 2013 at Theatrette, OUM

An integrated representation scheme for assembly sequence planning and assembly line balancing

In a typical assembly optimisation, Assembly Sequence Planning and Assembly Line Balancing are performed independently. However, competition has compelled the manufacturer to innovate by integrating the optimisation of both problems. To incorporate ASP and ALB optimisations into a single integrated optimisation, a clear prerequisite is the availability of integrated ASP and ALB representation. Although many assembly representation works has been proposed, none of them fully meet the requirements of integrated optimisation because they were developed independently from various needs. In this paper, an integrated representation scheme for ASP and ALB that incorporate essential optimisation information is developed. The proposed representation scheme is built based on assembly tasks and represented using precedence graph and data matrix. The outcome from presented example showed that the information for ASP and ALB optimisation can be integrated and represented using task based precedence graph and data matrix, without discarding important attributes

The Effect of Procedural Justice and Distributive Justice on Satisfaction of Performance Appraisal System: A Study of Bank Islam's Employees

Employee performance appraisal is common among organizations in Malaysia including the banking industry. Instead of being an isolated bi annual program, appraisals are but one component in the overall process of performance management. According to Robert Bacal, (1999) performance management is an ongoing communication process, undertaken in partnership, between an employee and his or her immediate supervisor that involves establishing clear expectations and understanding about the jobs to be done. The objective of this research is to find the effect of procedural justice and distributive justice on satisfaction of performance appraisal system that has been practised at Bank lslam Malaysia Berhad. The underlying hypotheses of this research are "There is a significant relationship between procedural justice and employees satisfaction with performance appraisal system in Bank lslam Malaysia Berhad" and "There is a significant relationship between distributive Justice and employee satisfaction with performance appraisal system in Bank lslam Malaysia Berhad". Data were obtained via a survey questionnaire from 102 participants from BlMB branches in Kedah, Perlis and Penang. The findings of the study accept both the research hypotheses

Religious tolerance in Islam : theories, practices and Malaysia’s experiences as a multi racial society

Religious tolerance in Islam can be looked at from two perspectives: firstly, the theory of religious tolerance particularly propounded in the Qur’an; secondly, the practices of religious tolerance exemplified by the Prophet Muhammad and his Successors. Islam as a religion consists of certain principles that deal with its adherents and non-adherents. Some of these principles are very fundamental for Muslims, who raise a question as to what extent Islam allows its adherents to tolerate others in matters that affect these fundamental principles. This question is very much relevant to multi-racial and multi-religious Malaysia which has its experiences of harmony among its various religious communities, reducing tension within the society. This article discusses all these dimensions of religious tolerance with special reference to Malaysia, concluding that tolerance can be achieved only when there is a mutual understanding amongst the members of a society and an eagerness to respect each other’s rights