ANALYSING COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE IN ORAL PRESENTATIONS: ENGINEERING STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES

With the rapid growth in science, technology, new organizations and management, industries critically need engineers who can communicate effectively with people from diverse backgrounds, to deal with multiple stakeholders, the government, private industries and the public at large. Studies have shown that although engineers may be technically sound, they are not effective communicators. This is particularly evident in the form of oral communication. Industries demand that graduating engineering students should be equipped with both technical and non-technical skills upon entering the job market as these skills are of vital importance in engineering workplaces. This constant emphasis on the need for good command of English in oral communication in graduating engineers has become a key concern in academia and the engineering profession. However, studies have shown that engineers and engineering students face communication problems, in particular, giving presentations at workplace, conferences, seminars, and in classrooms. Although there are abundant amount of various techniques, strategies, and skills in giving presentations provided in classroom teachings, articles, journals, literature, and on the Net; The question is why the communication problems particularly in giving presentations still linger. This paper describes the experience of Malaysian undergraduate engineers in giving presentation in the second language, English, during their 20-week internship program. It also describes understanding of the tasks assigned to them and presenting it to their supervisors. The combination of technical and non-technical knowledge is transferred and conveyed in a technical presentation. It is a representation of technical work-related matters, communication skills, students’ experience, namely their awareness, readiness and interaction with the non-threatening audience in the actual workplace settings. The study employs an ethnographic approach in gathering data. Data were collected through observations, participation and interviews. The data suggest that although the students are technically sound, they need to finetune their communication skills especially in oral and presentation skills, as these two are the desirable skills in the construction of an engineer. This set of skills is constantly highlighted as one of the biggest factors in determining a graduate’s success or failure. Keywords: oral presentation, communication skill, engineering education, industr

Perception on Cyber Terrorism: A Focus Group Discussion Approach

Focus group discussion is an exploratory research technique used to collect data through group interaction. This tech- nique provides the opportunity to observe interaction among participants on a topic under this study. This paper con- tributes to an understanding on the cyber terrorism conceptual framework through the analysis of focus group discus- sion. The proposed cyber terrorism conceptual framework which was obtained during the qualitative study by the au- thors has been used as a basis for discussion in the focus group discussion. Thirty (30) participants took part in the focus group discussion. The overall results suggest that the proposed cyber terrorism framework is acceptable by the partici- pants. The present study supports our initial research that the cyber terrorism conceptual framework constitutes the fol- lowing components: target, motivation, tools of attack, domain, methods of attack and impact

Economic, social and environmental impact of sustainable manufacturing: a Conceptual Study

Sustainable manufacturing practices have rapidly evolved in the recent years. The efforts of manufacturing industries to achieve sustainable production have lead to the concern for economic, environment, and social impact in Malaysia. However, there is limited research conducted to uncover the specific sustainable manufacturing practices and impact among machining industry in Malaysia. Therefore, this paper intends to investigate the impact of sustainable manufacturing practices in the Malaysian machining industry. Based on a rigorous review of literature, this paper proposes a theoretical model to test the drivers affecting sustainable manufacturing practices and its impact on economic, environment and social well being. It also provides theoretical and practical implications into management perspectives and the impact of sustainable manufacturing practice towards triple bottom line in Malaysia

ICT + PBL = Holistic Learning Solution: UTeM’s Experience

This paper will highlight how ICT could be integrated in the whole processes of teaching and learning in Problem Based Learning (PBL) environment. The main focus in this paper is integrating of ICT components such as multimedia and internet technologies as a tool for PBL learning environment, and utilizing the problem based learning approach for the delivering instructions in the teaching and learning process at UTeM. This paper also share findings on the effectiveness of PBLAssess which been develop for this study. 56 respondents from the second year of study at UTeM who enrolled for the Human Computer Interaction course been selected for this study. Two research instruments were developed for the purpose of evaluating students’ performance and preferences which include, a set of questionnaires and prototype known as PBLAssess. Further Some of the current work on integrating ICT and PBL learning environment are shared. Understanding both the current state of the art for PBL and future prospects are the key issues in setting an agenda for future research and development in PBL

Molecular - bioassay methods: complementary approaches for development and evaluation of anti infective marine product

The current trends in drug development employ biotechnological approach to expedite effective drugs discovery program. Molecular biotechnological approach, in combination with bioassay, is practical in attaining effective drugs since the two platform methods complement each other by target identification, as well as compound screening, profiling and validation. The research on antimicrobial properties of marine products, targeting membrane function through membrane permeabilizing ability, has been carried out using molecular- and cellular-based approaches. The molecular approach for the screening of membrane permeabilizing peptide gene in local marine organism was found to successfully amplify a conserved gene sequence of the antibacterial peptide gene. Bacterial membrane permeabilizing ability of the methanolic extract was indicated through alteration of mRNA nucleotides, genes coding for membrane development in Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the non-methicillin resistant strains. The alteration of nucleotides affected the transportation of lysine to the phospholipid bilayer of bacterial membranes, resulting in incomplete membrane structure, eventual lysis and cell death. Through cellular approaches, the methanolic extract of marine organisms affecting membranes of S. aureus, were confirmed. In specific, the extract showed a good inhibitory activity against S. aureus through plate and tube methods, and the cellular assay illustrated the penetration of fluorescence dye in treated bacterial pathogens, similar to the pathogens treated with positive antibiotic controls. The research constitutes a scientific advancement in the field of medical treatment of drug resistant bacteria and a forefront study of drugs discovery program focusing on drugs target genes

Using Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm in the Distribution System Planning

Technology advancement, the drive to reduce environmental pollution and energy security concern, have led to an increase in the use of Distributed Generations (DGs). One of the important aspects of the power system is the optimal operation of distribution networks. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to determine the possible solution for optimal operation of distribution networks which takes into account the impact of DG. Since the optimal operation of distribution networks is an optimization problem with discrete and continuous variables, it can be introduced as an integer problem that can be formulated using the metaheuristic approach. This paper utilizes the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm to solve the distribution planning problem with DG. In addition, a case study on IEEE 34 bus system has been carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the PSO algorithm with regards to Genetic Algorithm (GA). Results indicate that PSO have better performance over the GA in terms of cost of losses minimization and convergence time. Future work should consider to minimize the overall network cost simultaneously that takes into account the DG investment cost, cost of losses and maintenance cost

A conceptual framework of info structure for information security risk assessment (ISRA)

Information security has become a vital entity to most organizations today due to current trends in information transfer through a borderless and vulnerable world. The concern and interest in information security is mainly due to the fact that information security risk assessment (ISRA) is a vital method to not only to identify and prioritize information assets but also to identify and monitor the specific threats that an organization induces; especially the chances of these threats occurring and their impact on the respective businesses. However, organizations wanting to conduct risk assessment may face problems in selecting suitable methods that would augur well in meeting their needs. This is due to the existence of numerous methodologies that are readily available. However, there is a lack in agreed reference benchmarking as well as in the comparative framework for evaluating these ISRA methods to access the information security risk. Generally, organizations will choose the most appropriate ISRA method by carrying out a comparative study between the available methodologies in detail before a suitable method is selected to conduct the risk assessment. This paper suggests a conceptual framework of info-structure for ISRA that was developed by comparing and analysing six methodologies which are currently available. The info�structure for ISRA aims to assist organizations in getting a general view of ISRA flow, gath�ering information on the requirements to be met before risk assessment can be conducted successfully. This info-structure can be conveniently used by organizations to complete all the required planning as well as the selection of suitable methods to complete the ISRA

Evaluating the antibacterial activity and in vivo assay of methanolic extract of Stichopus badionotus

This study investigated the antibacterial activity of the methanolic extract of the animal to justify its use in traditional medicine. Antimicrobial activity was assayed by disc diffusion method and broth macro dilution method. From the result it appeared that the methanolic extract of Stichopus badionotus displayed antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, three non resistant strains and three multiple resistant strains. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of the extract against non resistant strain values were 3.75 mg mL-1 and for resistant strain values 7.50 mg mL-1. Further more, this extract tested on rats in wound infection model justified faster healing rates compared to antibiotics. These results indicate that the traditional use of these holothurians for the treatment of S. aureus infection mainly on resistant strains should be elucidate to bring out the potential antibacterial agent