Perception of Architecture Students on Factors Influencing the Selection of Locations for Academic Trip and Site Visit

One of the approaches in the architectural design studio pedagogy is an academic trip, in which it is always associated with a site visit. This approach is widely applied in architectural education around the world. However, there are challenges in executing this approach. Thus, this study aims to identify the students' perceptions of the academic trip and site visit via factors that influence the trip location. A mixed-method approach was applied, where it involved 32 questionnaire surveys and 20 in-depth interviews. The final year Bachelor of Science in Architecture students of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia were selected as respondents. The quantitative data from the survey had been analyzed using simple statistic such as percentage and frequency. However, the qualitative data gained from the in-depth interview was analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that the students opine that the visit is beneficial for them. However, most of them also agree that the factors of travelling time, financial and knowledge exposure affect their choices for the location. The findings also demonstrate that the students still opt for farther academic trip and site visit location though they face financial issues. Hence, it is recommended that further action should be taken such as the provision of financial support to encourage the academic trip and site visit as the architectural design studio pedagogies. Farther location of the visit provides more exposure to the students. This helps to produce graduate architects that are more sensitive towards the diversity of culture, heritage and built environment

Causes and Effects of Variation Orders in the Construction of Terrace Housing Projects: A Case Study in the State of Selangor, Malaysia

This paper investigates the most significant causes and effects contribute to the variation orders in the construction of housing projects in the States of Selangor Malaysia. Data was collected based on the existing literature reviews and also contract documents from a total of 61 housing project located at nine district in the state of Selangor. The data were analysed and the formulate the findings. The result from revealed four most significant causes variation orders which are: Change of scope by owner, Substitution of materials by owner, Changes of specification by owner and Changes of design by consultant. Meanwhile the effects of the variation orders are time and cost overrun. The finding concludes that owner is the major source of the variation orders in construction of building projects and suggested that owner should have adequate planning and recourses before initiating a project in order to avoid variation order during the construction stage

Preliminary investigation on architecture students’ perceptions of developing hard and soft skills via project-based learning

In ensuring competitiveness and employability, architectural graduates nowadays have been observed to acquire new skills to complement their conventional architectural trainings. The main purpose of this paper is to discuss the hard and soft skills acquired by the architectural students via the architectural design project requirements, which is also categorized as project-based learning. The study utilizes mixed-mode methods through questionnaire survey and in-depth interview. As this is a preliminary study, the number of respondents for the survey is 32, while for the in-depth interview, only eight students have participated. From the findings, it can be concluded that skills such as video presentation (hard skill), teamwork and communication skills (soft skill) are essential for architecture students undertaking project-based learning. The findings of this study will be used to benefit investigations in student’s skill developments in project-based learning with larger number of respondents. It is hoped that the findings will be adopted into the architectural education field to better equip future graduate architects with skills which are necessary for the industry

Punca-punca kelewatan pengeluaran perakuan siap dan pematuhan (CCC) projek perumahan di Malaysia

The Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) was implemented in April 2007. The Certificate of Completion and Compliance is a certificate that confirms that a building is eligible and safe to occupy, issued by the main person who submits it. Most of the housing projects fail to hand over the building to the buyer within a set time period such as in the sale and purchase agreement caused by the failure to issue a completion certificate and compliance. This study aims to identify the causes of delays in issuing certificates of completion and compliance for housing projects in Malaysia. Qualitative methods through literature review have been used to identify the processes of issuing certificates of completion and compliance (CCC) of housing projects in Malaysia and to identify the causes of delays in issuing certificates of completion and compliance (CCC). Next, a questionnaire was conducted on 141 respondents to identify the causes of delays in issuing Certificates of Completion and Compliance (CCC) for housing projects in Malaysia. The results of the literacy study found that 18 causes of delay in the issuance of completion and compliance certificates. The findings found that the main contributors to the delay in issuing completion certificates and compliance for housing projects in Malaysia are caused by developers, consultants, contractors, local authorities, external technical agencies and others

Oil extracts from fresh and dried Iban ginger

The present study aims to investigate the chemical properties of a new ginger species called Iban ginger. Oil extracts yield from both fresh and dried Iban ginger were compared via Soxhlet extraction production method. Subsequently, the chemical composition of the extracts was characterized and analysed. The associated chemical constituents and bioactive compounds were explored using gas chromatograph mass spectrometry (GCMS) and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis for chemical constituents and plant active compound study. Results obtained show that yield of the oil increases with the increase of extraction time, freshness of ginger and type of solvent use. Although Iban ginger is known to be comparatively hotter in taste, the bioactive compounds properties are similar or in close agreement with other types of gingers reported in literature. Finally, acetone equivalent-extraction time of recycled ethanol is introduced herewith and found to be minimum around 2 h, as far as the present study is concerne

Dynamic Modeling of Hydrogen Production from Photo-Fermentation in Microbial Electrolysis Cell using Sago Waste

Hydrogen has a great potential as an alternative energy and produces zero emissions, but most of hydrogen is produced from non-renewable fossil fuels via reforming. Thus, biomass is a promising replacement to fossil fuels where hydrogen can be sourced from. In this project, sago waste is chosen as raw material in a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) to produce hydrogen fuel. A mathematical model with the integration of MEC with photo-fermentation has been developed and modified by using sago effluent as a substrate in a batch process. The main parameter such as concentration of microbial community has been observed in this project as it gives a huge influence on the gas product of MEC. In conclusion, the develop model was to observe the behavior of the microbial electrolysis cell where a maximum of 3.8 L/day (t = 4 days) of hydrogen production and 0.38A of MEC current were obtained

Preserving data replication consistency through ROWA-MSTS

In modern distributed systems, replication receives particular aware�ness to provide high data availability, reliability and enhance the performance of the system. Replication becomes as significant mechanism since it enables organizations to provide users with admission to current data where and when they need it. Integrated VSFTPD with Read-One-Write-All Monitoring Syn�chronization Transaction System (ROWA-MSTS) has been developed to moni�tor data replication and transaction performs in distributed system environment. This paper presents the ROWA-MSTS framework and process flow in order to preserve the data replication consistency. The implementation shows that ROWA-MSTS able to monitor the replicated data distribution while maintain�ing the data consistency over multiple sites

A preliminary investigation of China Ginger and Kuching Local Ginger species : Oil extracts and synthesis towards potential greener insect repellent

Ginger essential oil (Zingiber officinale) is the volatile oil extracted from ginger rhizome. Compared to chemical synthetic repellent, green insect (in particular mosquito) repellent would be favoured by the public as it is environmentally friendly and does not cause harm to the human’s health. The focus of this study is on the comparison study between China Ginger and Kuching Local Ginger essential oil aim towards utilization as the greener mosquito repellent. In this study, the ginger essential oils are extracted greener method i.e. via hydro distillation process for 7 h. The percentage oil yield for China and Kuching Local Ginger are 0.158 wt% and 0.264 wt%, respectively. The extracted ginger essential oils are further subject to Fourier Transform Infrared Spec�troscopy (FTIR) and Gas Chromatography- Mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Based on the FTIR spectrum graph generated, both types of ginger essential oils essentially having the similar function groups including phenolic compounds, alcohol primer, alkena methyl group, aromatic compound, carbonyl compound, carboxylic acid, hydroxyl group. From the GC-MS results it revealed that the most abundant chemical constituents presented in both China Gniger and Kuching Local Ginger essential are: α-Zingiberene (7.88% and 7.03%), α-Curcumene (6.04% and 6.49%), α-Citral or Genarial (3.81% and 7.86%), β-Bisabolene (3.06% and 4.62%), β-esqui�phellandrene (5.83% and 5.95%), β-Sesquisabinene (0.07% and 0.51%), β-Selinenol (3.97% and 2.26%), Zin�giberenol (5.16% and 1.64%), [6]-Shogaol (0.33% and 0.23%), trans-Sesquisabinene hydrate (1.72% and 2.87%), trans-Geranylgeraniol (3.51% and 2.81%), Camphene (1.17% and 0.56%), Eucalyptol (2.68% and 1.81%), Citronellol (1.76% and 1.55%), Neral (2.82% and 6.03%), and Geraniol (1.62% and 2.29%) respectively. Kuching Local Ginger essential oil is found marginally superior insect repellent characteristics due to its higher monoterpene compounds in the essential oil

A preliminary investigation of China Ginger and Kuching Local Ginger species: Oil extracts and synthesis towards potential greener insect repellent

Ginger essential oil (Zingiber officinale) is the volatile oil extracted from ginger rhizome. Compared to chemical synthetic repellent, green insect (in particular mosquito) repellent would be favoured by the public as it is environmentally friendly and does not cause harm to the human’s health. The focus of this study is on the comparison study between China Ginger and Kuching Local Ginger essential oil aim towards utilization as the greener mosquito repellent. In this study, the ginger essential oils are extracted greener method i.e. via hydro distillation process for 7 h. The percentage oil yield for China and Kuching Local Ginger are 0.158 wt% and 0.264 wt%, respectively. The extracted ginger essential oils are further subject to Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Gas Chromatography- Mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Based on the FTIR spectrum graph generated, both types of ginger essential oils essentially having the similar function groups including phenolic compounds, alcohol primer, alkena methyl group, aromatic compound, carbonyl compound, carboxylic acid, hydroxyl group. From the GC-MS results it revealed that the most abundant chemical constituents presented in both China Gniger and Kuching Local Ginger essential are: α-Zingiberene (7.88% and 7.03%), α-Curcumene (6.04% and 6.49%), α-Citral or Genarial (3.81% and 7.86%), β-Bisabolene (3.06% and 4.62%), β-Sesquiphellandrene (5.83% and 5.95%), β-Sesquisabinene (0.07% and 0.51%), β-Selinenol (3.97% and 2.26%), Zingiberenol (5.16% and 1.64%), [6]-Shogaol (0.33% and 0.23%), trans-Sesquisabinene hydrate (1.72% and 2.87%), trans-Geranylgeraniol (3.51% and 2.81%), Camphene (1.17% and 0.56%), Eucalyptol (2.68% and 1.81%), Citronellol (1.76% and 1.55%), Neral (2.82% and 6.03%), and Geraniol (1.62% and 2.29%) respectively. Kuching Local Ginger essential oil is found marginally superior insect repellent characteristics due to its higher monoterpene compounds in the essential oil

A review of causes of variation order in the construction of terrace housing projects in Malaysia

Variation order refers to any changes from the scope, plan, specification or contract document in the construction project. This changes of work is a common problem in construction projects in Malaysia. It is inevitable in any construction project and this problem can become more serious when variation order causes work progress to be impaired as a results it increased the construction time and cost that affects the construction industry in Malaysia. This paper critically review the causes of variation order in the construction industry on the double-storey terrace housing project in Malaysia. The discussions began with the construction industry in Malaysia and then related parties involved in the construction industry. The extensive local and abroad literature review on the definitions of variation order and analysis of past studies conducted on variation order and the previous study of the prediction model of variation. The extensive literature on variation order in the construction of building project may help to improve the performance in term of time, cost and quality of the construction of building projects in Malaysia