Background Factors Contributing to Performance of Master Course Students - Case Study of Civil Engineering Master Programme

AbstractThe objective of this study is to investigate the performance of the postgraduate students from various backgrounds on the basis of the following criteria: country, achievements during undergraduate study, English language requirement and previous work experience. The Civil Engineering Master Programme was taken as a case study. A data set sourced from students’ application forms and academic record for three consecutive session intakes, 2008/2009, 2009/2010 and 2010/2011, was used. As a measure of the students’ performance, Graduate Cumulative Grade Point Average (GCGPA) was considered as the key performance index. The students from Malaysia (28%), Iran (53%) and Iraq (19%) were chosen since their community represents the largest number of students. The mean achievement of all students from Malaysia, Iran and Iraq was comparable (mean GCGPA 3.52– 3.60). The largest number of candidates (43.5%) who came into the programme were students with higher than 2.70 but lower than 3.00 of Undergraduate Cumulative Grade Point Average (UCGPA). The decision to continue the master study was most popular to those after 1–4 years of graduation. The extent to which UCGPA contributes towards GCGPA, Malaysian students show a weak relationship but has the strongest correlation than the rest (r=0.331, p<0.05). For Iranian students, work experience becomes very significant (r=0.416, p<0.05). The results also indicate that English proficiency affects students performance. It is indicated that correlation between work experience and GCGPA differs for students with and without TOEFL/IELTS scores. It is hoped that the results of this work can help in a more detailed study for determining the entry requirements for students seeking admission to the master course programmes

Introduction to Environmental Engineering: A Problem-based Learning Approach to Enhance Environmental Awareness among Civil Engineering Students

AbstractThe Department of Civil & Structural Engineering (JKAS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia offers an Introduction to Environmental Engineering course (KH2173). This is an introductory course for civil engineering students with the main purpose is to ensure that the students understand the basic engineering and science of environmental pollution. The course applied a PBL approach in the teaching and learning process, with PBL component constitutes to approximately 30% from the total course assessment. Team working was applied in the PBL approach with 3 to 5 students in a group. Various PBL topics on environmental issues were given to or proposed by the students

BIOLOGICAL AERATED FILTERS (BAFs) FOR CARBON AND NITROGEN REMOVAL: A REVIEW

Biological aerated filters (BAFs) are an emerging wastewater treatment technology designed for a wide range of municipal and industrial applications. This review paper presents and discusses of the influence C/N ratio, nitrification and denitrification principle, effect of pH, DO and alkalinity on the nitrification and denitrification systems, organic and hydraulic loading of BAF reactor, etc. Results from upflow and downflow biofilter pilot at different condition, with nitrification and denitrification are reviewed. Under the optimal conditions, significant amount of COD, ammonia-nitrogen and total nitrogen were removed. Removal rates based on reactor volume for different carbon-aceous COD and ammonia loading rate are reported. The BAF system for the nitrification and denitrification processes for carbon and nitrogen removal from the wastewater need to be evaluated and applied properly to protect of our environment and resources

Investigation of activated carbon coating in the adsorption process of methylene blue from aqueous solution

(GAC) on high-density polypropylene (HDPE) in the attempt to use coated HDPE for adsorption applications. Four HDPE substrates were coated by using either sol–gel method, namely TEOS, or Paint- Spray-Dry method, namely applying epoxy resin to HDPE using brushing technique and spraying the AC on the epoxy layer. The ability of these coated surfaces to remove methylene blue (MB) were then investigated. In addition, the durability of the coatings was characterized by using Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) on Day 1 and Day 28. Results show that the activated carbon demonstrated a good adsorption capacity his research evaluates various coating methods and conditions of granular activated carbon of 12.75 mg/g at 50 mg/L dye, indicating that regardless of whether the AC is coated or embedded in the epoxy layer, it could be considered as a promising material for the removal of MB dye from aqueous solution. The surface integrity analyses, such as shaking method, were conducted and their results confirmed that granular activated carbon coating has been successfully deposited on the HDPE substrate and that there was no loss of carbon between Day 1 to Day 28

An Evaluation of Programme Educational Objectives and Programme Outcomes for Civil Engineering Programmes

AbstractThe Department of Civil & Structural Engineering at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) offers two Civil Engineering undergraduate programmes. This study is to evaluate the achievement of Programme Educational Objectives (PEOs) by indirect assessment consists of parents, alumni and employer surveys, while the Programme Outcomes (POs) is done by surveys on graduating students, industrial training employers, alumni and industry employers. The scores used for the surveys are on a scale of 1 to 5. Generally, the results for PEOs and POs from the surveys indicated most of the ratings are between 3 and 5. This is an indication that the PEOs specified for the programme are achieved

Highly sensitive SPR response of Au/chitosan/graphene oxide nanostructured thin films toward Pb (II) ions

Optical sensors based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) are utilized for detecting toxic heavy metals in solutions. To improve the sensitivity of SPR sensors, nanostructured thin films with active layers can be synthesized. In this study, the response to Pb (II) was measured and compared for SPR sensors incorporating gold–chitosan–graphene oxide (Au/CS/GO) nanostructured thin films and Au/CS films. The characterization of Au/CS/GO using FESEM analysis revealed a film composed of nanosheets with wrinkled, rough surfaces. The results from XRD analysis confirmed the successful incorporation of GO in the prepared films. Additionally, AFM analysis determined that the Au/CS/GO films had a root mean square (rms) roughness of 28.38 nm and were considerably rougher than the Au/CS films. Upon exposure to a 5 ppm Pb (II) ion solution, the Au/CS/GO films exhibited higher SPR sensitivity, as much as 1.11200 ppm−1, than Au/CS films, 0.77600 ppm−1. This enhancement of the SPR response was attributed to strong covalent bonding between CS and GO in these films. These results indicated that the Au/CS/GO films show potential for the detection of heavy metal pollution in environmental applications

Reynolds number calculation method for aerobic biological porous packed reactors

The degree of mixing in aerobic biological porous packed reactors can be quantitatively determined by Reynolds Numbers calculation. The dimensionless parameter accounts for all the inertial and viscous forces in the fully and partially packed reactors. Two identical reactors were built; each reactor was 14 cm in diameter and 100 cm in height, providing an empty bed volume of 15 L. At approximate organic loading rates (OLRs) of 2, 3, 4, and 6 kg COD/m3.d, the Reynolds numbers in the partial-bed were 40 300, 36 100, 25 500 and 40 400 respectively, whilst those of the full-bed were 19 500, 20 500, 11 700 and 26 400. The quantity of media therefore had a significant effect on the extent of mixing in the filter. Porosity of the aerobic porous packed reactors is a bed characteristic resulting from the balance between the effect of biomass accumulation due to growth and biomass loss due to shear stress. The stress arises from increased organic loadings and increased upflow velocity due to aeratio

Effect of full- and partial-bed configuration on the performance characteristics of the biological aerated filter

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

A comparative study of coagulation, granular- and powdered-activated carbon for the removal of perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoate in drinking water treatment

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) are persistent organic pollutants in the environment and their occurrence causes toxicological effects on humans. We examined different conventional coagulant treatments such as alum, ferric chloride and polyaluminium chloride in removing these compounds. These were then compared with a natural coagulant (Moringa oleifera). We also investigated the powdered-activated carbon (PAC) and granular-activated carbon (GAC) for removing these compounds. At an initial dose of 5 mg/L, polyaluminium chloride led to a higher reduction of PFOS/PFOA compared with alum which in turn was higher than ferric. The removal efficiency increased with the increase in coagulant dose and decrease in pH. M. oleifera was very effective in reducing PFOS and PFOA than conventional coagulants, with a reduction efficiencies of 65% and 72%, respectively, at a dose of 30 mg/L. Both PAC and GAC were very effective in reducing these compounds than coagulations. PAC led to a higher reduction in PFOS and PFOA than GAC due to its greater surface area and shorter internal diffusion distances. The addition of PAC (10 min contact time) with coagulation (at 5 mg/L dosage) significantly increased the removal efficiency, and the maximum removal efficiency was for M. oleifera with 98% and 94% for PFOS and PFOA, respectively. The reduction efficiency of PFOS/PFOA was reduced with the increase in dissolved organic concentration due to the adsorption competition between organic molecules and PFOS/PFOA