Revising contract sum: the employer right to set-off payment

Until today, dispute concerning payment had long plague the construction industry. Despite, on what was written on contract on agreed contract price, the employer always dissatisfied with contractor's work. This led the employer to reject payment issued by the Architect by withholding and later setting off payment in interim certificate. This kind of action had caused the contractor to bring action against the employer in reclaiming the money due to them. On the other hand, the employer will counterclaim against the contractor by putting up excusable reasons in delaying payment. Set off always misconstrued as same as counterclaim or abatement. In related cases, decisions decided by the judge put conditions in construing the terms. The research also concluded that defective works was the key factor of why the employer setting off interim payment to the contractor. In this regard, the Court will depend solely on precedent cases available and the most prominently the provision of set off available in contract. Hence, the employer right to set - off payment must be made according to contract available and not blindly done

Sikap keusahawanan dalam kalangan pelajar teknologi mekanikal kolej vokasional di Lembah Klang

Masih ramai pelajar tahun akhir di Institut Pengajian Tinggi yang belum membuat persiapan untuk menceburi bidang keusahawanan walaupun bilangan graduan yang masih menganggur ramai di alam pekerjaan. Masalah pengangguran pada masa kini boleh diatasi dengan menjadikan bidang keusahawanan sebagai satu kerjaya pilihan yang memberikan peluang yang cerah bagi menjana pendapatan. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk mengkaji sikap keusahawanan pelajar Teknologi Mekanikal kolej vokasional menceburi bidang keusahawanan. Sampel kajian terdiri daripada 274 orang pelajar semester 4 diploma di enam buah kolej vokasional iaitu KV Sungai Buloh, KV Klang, KV Shah Alam, KV Setapak, KV Sultan Abdul Samad Banting dan KV Kajang. Kajian ini adalah berbentuk penyelidikan tinjauan yang menggunakan borang soal selidik sebagai instrumen kajian. Data yang diperolehi dianalisis menggunakan statistik deskriptif dan statistik inferensi iaitu peratus dan frekuensi, ujian Mann Whitney U dan ujian Kruskall Wallis dan Korelasi Spearman rho. Dapatan kajian bagi objektif pertama menunjukkan sikap suka membantu merupakan sikap keusahawanan yang paling mempengaruhi kecenderungan menceburi bidang keusahawanan. Dapatan kajian bagi objektif kedua mendapati tidak wujud perbezaan di antara jantina pelajar lelaki dan.pelajar perempuan. Bagi objektif kajian yang ketiga, dapatan kajian menunjukkan wujud perbezaan di antara program-program di bawah Jabatan Teknologi Mekanikal. Dapatan kajian bagi objektif keempat menunjukkan tidak wujud perbezaan di antara kolej-kolej vokasional di Lembah Klang. Bagi analisis korelasi iaitu objektif yang kelima dalam kajian ini terdapat hubungan yang kuat dan positif di antara sikap keusahawanan dengan kecenderungan menceburi bidang keusahawanan. Kata kunci : Sikap, Keusahawanan, Kecenderungan Menceburi Bidang Keusahawana

Aerodynamics of a swirling fluidized bed

Swirling Fluidized Bed (SFB) is one of the fluidized bed systems that have potential to be widely used in the mineral processing, power generation and chemical industries. By using an annular bed and inclined injection of gas through the distributor in SFB it will archive a high performance in fluidization. A numerical simulation Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and experimental work with Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) has been used to investigate physical parameters that influence the type of plenum chamber, the distributor pressure drop and the uniformity of tangential velocity distribution. The study focused on the 60 blades distributor whereby the effect of two horizontal inclinations (12° and 15°) and tangential entry plenum chamber (single, double and triple). Three velocities component were analyzed; tangential velocity, radial velocity and axial velocity. In actual industrial applications, the axial velocity will create fluidization while the tangential velocity provides swirling effect. The presence of radial velocity can be explained as a consequence of centrifugal force generated by the swirling gas. The tangential velocity is the major velocity component in this study and it represents the velocity of the swirling air in the annular region of the bed. The uniformity of tangential velocity distribution and pressure drop is set as performance criteria and has been analyzed with statistical method; mean value, standard deviation & root mean square of difference (RMSD). The most significant finding in simulation configuration is the pressure drop of the distributor blade increased when a triple tangential entry plenum chamber along with horizontal inclination 15° has been applied which then create high tangential velocity. Only parameter for double tangential entry plenum chamber consists with horizontal inclination, 12° has been selected to validate with the PIV result. Comparison of the simulation result (CFD) and experimental data (PIV) are presented, and it is confirmed that good agreement is obtained