Engineering doctorate (EngD) programme at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Engineering Doctorate (Eng.D) is a radical alternative to the traditional PhD, being better suited to the needs of industry, and providing a more vocationally oriented doctorate in engineering. The core of the degree is the solution of one or more significant and challenging engineering problem with an industrial context. It provides ambitious and able researchers with the technical, business and personal development competencies needed. In the current context there is a need to produce professional researchers that can enhance Malaysian competitiveness in the construction sector. The focus of this paper is to share our experience in developing Eng.D programme. It discussed a step-by-step process of developing Eng.D programme until obtaining the approval from the Ministry of Education. Through this process we have successfully developed the Eng.D programme and currently there are three EngD candidates following the programme. This Eng.D programme is the first to be approved and conducted in Malaysia. We are confident of producing engineers who are capable of demonstrating innovation in the application of knowledge to the construction sector

A framework as an alternative to BIM environment for 2D and 3D conventional drawings

The activities of project development within construction industry are information intensive and fragmented due to project uniqueness and requirements of various professionals. Integration of activities is critical to alleviate the efficiency, accuracy and other issues related to construction processes. The current modelling concept called “Building Information Model (BIM)” provides integration among construction processes under BIM environment. This BIM approach is limited to 3D product model drawing and not on 2D or 3D drawings. This study focused on developing an alternative method to BIM for 2D or 3D elements. The proposed method can extract the 2D or 3D elements with their relevant details automatically from the CAD drawings. Then the extracted details are collected and can be used for estimating and planning purpose. This system provides an alternative environment to BIM for 2D and 3D drawings. The study highlights a framework consist of an algorithm that extracts the 2D or 3D drawings with its detail and attach them with the estimating process. In conclusion, the research has formulated an alternative framework to BIM on 2D and 3D conventional CAD drawings

A multi-criteria analysis for bridge sustainability assessment: a case study of Penang Second Bridge, Malaysia

Bridges are a critical part of our nation's economic prosperity and local community well-being. One of the latest trends in bridge engineering is sustainable design, which is designing so that resources are available for many generations to come. Sustainable design considers the ecological, economic and socio-cultural environments and works to balance all three. There are some sustainable infrastructure rating systems (RSs) available, such as Envision that can be applied to bridges. However, no system has been developed that would specifically apply to bridge sustainability assessment. The objectives of this study are first, to investigate bridge sustainability issues from three main aspects: environmental, economical and social; and second, to apply multi-criteria analysis to assess the sustainability of the Penang Second Bridge in Malaysia. A hierarchy structure of the sustainable bridge attributes was developed for each RS, and an analytical hierarchy process method was then applied for the appraisal of the sustainability of a bridge pertaining to the relative attributes. The research involved a committee of Malaysian bridge professionals to support the rational decision-making. The results reveal that the case study has achieved most of the criteria of the sustainability assessments