The amount of electronic waste (e-waste) generated globally has been increasing steadily, including in Malaysia. Utilizing the e-waste as alternative recycled materials can help to conserve natural resources as well as reduce the demand for natural resources. Furthermore, recycled materials can be used in countries with limited aggregate resources. The present study aims to compare the physical properties CRT glass e-waste used as partial replacement for natural aggregates in road pavements. The study method for laboratory work were carried out in accordance with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) specifications. Three physical tests were carried out to determine the strength of the sample, i.e. Los Angeles abrasion test, specific gravity test and water absorption test. Result shows that CRT glass has a high value of 59.50% for the Los Angeles abrasion test, which exceed the specified requirement of 50%. The value for water absorption test shows that the CRT glass sample was able to achieve the specified requirement. The result for specific gravity test shows that the natural aggregates have a value higher than that of the CRT glass sample. Aggregates with higher specific gravity are generally stronger than those with lower specific gravity. Studies have to be carried out to identify the feasibility of using CRT e-waste glass as an alternative recycled material in the construction of road pavements.

Keywords: Electronic waste (e-waste); CRT glass; natural aggregates; road pavements

We present Chandra observation of the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 1559 to study the X-ray sources population in the galaxy. Based on our analysis, we detect twenty-four X-ray sources in the galaxy, of which six have 0.5–8 keV luminosities exceeding 10³⁹ erg s^-1, suggesting that they are possibly ultra-luminous X-ray source (ULX) candidates. The remaining eighteen sources have 0.5–8 keV luminosities below this threshold value, suggesting that they are likely to be X-ray binary candidates. We perform X-ray spectral analysis for the six ULX candidates and found that in general, their properties are broadly consistent with that found for other ULXs. The number of X-ray sources found in this galaxy is relatively high as compared to other galaxies with similar star formation rate of ~2.8 M- yr^-1. This however could be attributed to the relatively high number of supernova occurrence (four) in the galaxy observed in the past years. We did not detect any X-ray nuclear point source in the galaxy, suggesting that NGC 1559 does not host an active galactic nucleus. This is supported by its HII optical spectral classification and our infrared analysis using WISE.

Keywords: X-ray sources; NGC 1559; Chandra

This project studies the behaviour of the pre-earthquake (EQ) ionospheric parameter by analysing the variation of electron density (Ne) measured by the CHAMP satellite, which is one of the satellites that collect in-situ data of Ne in the ionosphere. Data from two weeks before the main shock of an EQ are analysed to observe the pattern behaviour of the Ne before the EQs. Monitoring this parameter is one of the methods of observing the ionosphere for studying EQ precursors. The area of focus in this study is the Southeast Asian region, where EQs happen frequently. This study involves large EQs with a magnitude >7.5 that occurred within five years from 2004 until 2009. Significant anomalous behaviour of Ne was identified within 14 days prior to the EQs.

Keywords : Pre-earthquake; parameter; precursor study; CHAMP satellite; Southeast Asia region

Radio-frequency (RF) Magnetron Sputtering was used to deposit thin tungsten di sulfide (WS₂) films on top of soda lime glass substrates. Deposition temperature of RF magnetron sputtering was varied from room temperature (RT) to 200^oC with 50^oC interval to investigate the impact on film characteristics as well as to optimize for suitable application in thin film solar cells. Structural and opto-electronic properties of as-grown films were investigated and analyzed for different growth temperatures. All the WS2 films exhibit granular structure consist of rhombohedral phase with a strong preferential orientation towards (101) crystal plane. Optical bandgaps are ranged from 1.73 eV to 2.3 eV for different growth temperatures. As-grown films show higher carrier concentration with n-type conductivity. Polycrystalline ultra-thin WS₂ film with bandgap of 2.4 eV, carrier concentration of 2.28 X 10¹⁷ cm^-3 and resistivity of 1.52 Ω-cm were successfully achieved at 50^oC with 50 W RF power that can be employed as window layers in thin film solar cells.

Keywords: Thin film; magnetron sputtering; photovoltaic; tungsten di sulphide; growth temperature

The objective of the paper is to present findings of a Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) outreach program on Smart Control Helicopter. The program involved 27 school students in Selangor, Malaysia where they learned a microcontroller board called Arduino to control mini helicopters. Students had exposed to the procedures to assemble simple circuits for the control system, the connection process of the circuit to a microcontroller, and communication with the computer. The activity has equipped the students with basic knowledge in performing accurate programming to maneuver a mini helicopter. A few university students assisted the learning activities based on a developed module. The program was conducted in the form of a competition to self-motivate the students. The students completed a questionnaire and quiz on the technical knowledge of technology and electronics. As a result, students were able to gain knowledge on the related skills and showed active participation during the hands-on activities.

Keywords: STEM; project-based learning; awareness in science and mathematics; Arduino

The utilization of geomagnetic field data especially in the ultra-low frequency range has been shown by prior studies to have the potential to detect earthquake precursors. The most widely used signal processing method for this purpose is arguably the polarization ratio analysis. In this paper, the method was improved by introducing a new normalization process with dissimilar ranges for the vertical and horizontal components. The normalized method was applied to geomagnetic field data that were recorded at locations near the earthquakes which had occurred in Sumatra, Indonesia on 30^th September 2009 (M7.6) and Honshu, Japan on 12^th May 2015 (M6.8) to evaluate the method’s reliability and effectiveness in two different regions, i.e., the equatorial and mid-latitudinal regions. The results showed that the precursors obtained from the normalized method were less disturbed by random fluctuations and had more distinguishable amplitudes compared to the non-normalized classic method in both studied regions.

Keywords: Earthquake precursor; Geomagnetic ULF; Normalized polarization ratio

This paper reports our experiences in conducting outreach astronomy programs involving high school students and the general public. These programs are part of an interdisciplinary research project entitled Cross-cultural Computer supported Collaborative Learning for Student Capacity Building in Multifaceted Competencies through Astronomy Online Labs (C3AOL). As part of this research project, two selected undergraduate Physics students were named as STEM ambassadors and tasked in disseminating astronomical facts and concepts via outreach activities, thus consolidating their knowledge, creativity, and identity as STEM ambassadors. The STEM ambassadors have planned and conducted an Astronomy outreach program with high school students from the Pusat PERMATApintar Negara (currently known as Pusat GENIUS@Pintar Negara), UKM. This was followed by a public stargazing session at the National Planetarium, Kuala Lumpur that involved planetary and lunar eclipse observations. This project provided a valuable opportunity for the STEM ambassadors to convey astronomical knowledge effectively and interestingly in multiple contexts, whether amongst their peers or junior students, or even with the general public. A short-term impact of this project is the diffusion of their knowledge and enthusiasms in Astronomy to high school students as well as the general public through outreach programs such as dialogues session and talks at space centers and experience sharing via social media.

Keywords: Astronomy education; astronomy outreach program; science literacy

Insert moulding is equivalent to over-moulding. Both processes are achieved by inserting different materials into one another in the same mould to improve product’s capability. This process will increase the value of a resulting product because of the additional material price, material insertion process and cycle time. Such moulding process directly increases the overall price of a product but the price is cheaper compared with that of other processes or materials that have the same shape and strength. This insert moulding process requires two moulding materials. The first material is coated by the injected material, which then becomes solid and hardens to cover the second material. In general, the second material is placed permanently in the mould section. When the mould is closed, the injection moulding process is performed. The parts placed in the mould are made of metal, which will attach and reinforce the product. Dumbbell-ready injection is released along with kenaf yarn content in the middle, which is called the fibre insert mould. The fibre insertion technique is conducted by finding the problem of fibre. Then, the small fibre is cut while inside the barrel (either through moulding or compounding). Yarn-shaped fibres are placed on the core of a mould and clamped. Subsequently, a plastic material is injected into the mould. Consequently, the tensile strength of polypropylene (PP) will increase by 55%. A cheaper material (kenaf yarn) can increase the strength of the PP through an easier and cheaper process. The number of processes is reduced from three (before: cutting > compounding > moulding then finished) to two (after: insert and moulding then finished).

Keywords: Injection moulding; kenaf; insert moulding; natural fibre

A complex and expensive system in floor mapping mobile robot platforms are the challenges in this age of technology revolution. Sensors that are equipped with the robot could be different, the complexity of the algorithm and the robot performance itself are not adequate. In this paper, we present an efficient way with an economically cost-saving mobile robot floor mapping system based on simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). The paper will highlight implementing a Rplidar sensor with a floor mapping mobile robot platform with the enhanced error corrections based on the Artificial Neuro-Based SLAM (ANBS) algorithm. The proposed system runs on Robot Operating Systems (ROS) and Tensor Flow programming. The experimental results showed how the different controllers can be improved by adding the ANBS algorithm which intelligently filtering the unnecessary error and produce the precise output on the map. The different controllers also can be used with this algorithm. For this research, the ANBS are tested on Hector SLAM and Gmapping SLAM where the output produced by each SLAM method is fed into the ANBS algorithm. At the end of the experiment, the ANBS improves the output result by 14.67% for Hector SLAM and 17.36% for the Gmapping SLAM and produces a precise map than ever before. In the future, there will be more SLAM method can be embedded with this ANBS algorithm.

Keywords: Mobile Robot; Tensor Flow; SLAM; Gmapping; ANBS algorithm

Automotive maintenance workers or commonly known as mechanics are exposed to numerous work stressors while performing their works. Maintenance activities required worker to be in different type of working posture, which mostly awkward posture and in high risk to developed musculoskeletal disorder. Statistics data disclosed that musculoskeletal disorder among maintenance workers is quite high compared to the other types of job sectors. Therefore, this study aims to examine the working posture amongst the mechanics based on their job activities. By using an ergonomic assessment sheet for posture known as Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA), ten common vehicle maintenance activities with ten mechanic in the maintenance jobs have been evaluated based on their feedback. The findings showed that, nine out of ten activities are in the high risk and necessary action need to be taken soon. Awkward posture such as excessive bending and twisting for several body parts with heavy parts as well as poor coupling design on the automotive parts or tools are the factors that influence the risk of injury in this maintenance activities. This study is very useful for automotive industry to evaluate their worker’s condition in maintenance activities. This should be an employer and employee essential knowledge to understand that vehicle maintenance work will include awkward posture. Self-awareness regarding the high risk in developing musculoskeletal disorder will reduce the worker chance to be in discomfort while working.

Keywords: Musculoskeletal disorder; automotive industry; safety and health; ergonomic; workplace

Passenger car is one of the most preferable modes of transportation used in Malaysia. It is very important to keep safety features as suggested by ASEAN NCAP in a vehicle that we used in order to avoid and minimize the accident occurrence. However, new vehicle with advanced safety features is more expensive, where there are certain people that cannot afford to buy an expensive car such as B40 consumers (bottom 40% which household income is under RM3,860.00). According to the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the lower income group consumer will put the physiological need first rather than safety needs. As they cannot afford to buy a new car with extra safety features, they bought and old vehicle which currently has less safety features but with cost of maintenance were rather high. In this study – with regard to owning vehicles, specifically cars – the willingness to buy safer vehicle among lower group based on economic strength will be analyze.

Keywords: ASEAN NCAP; B40; Low Income Group, Consumerism; Safety

Motorcycles are the top contributor in road crashes in Malaysia with more than 60% of fatal road crashes involved motorcyclists. Conspicuity issue has been one of the major factors of motorcycle crashes especially when travelling at night in rural road areas. Nevertheless, conspicuity issues also contribute to motorcycle crashes in urban road areas where road and vehicle lightings affect the alertness of other road users towards motorcycle presence in the traffic. This study aims to assess road users’ perception of motorcycle safety levels in terms of its conspicuity, at different riding or driving situations at night in the rural and urban areas. A set of questionnaires was developed with experts’ validation, pilot-tested for its reliability and distributed to road users who commute between Klang Valley and Melaka areas. Preliminary analysis from 78 collected data shows that respondents were able to observe better and be more alert of motorcycle presence in road situations when driving in the urban areas compared to the rural areas. Over 80% believe that wearing bright-coloured attires and helmet can enhance motorcycle’s conspicuity and alertness towards other road users. In addition, more than 80% of the respondents agreed that using reflective tapes on the side body of a motorcycle can improve motorcycle visibility, especially at road junctions. These findings could be used as a future initiative by responsible parties in order to reduce motorcycle conspicuity related crashes in Malaysia.

Keywords: Motorcycle safety; motorcycle conspicuity; motorcycle visibility; road safety

Road crashes are serious concerns globally as they claim and cause more than 1.35 million fatalities and up to 50 million resulted injuries each year, respectively. Previous studies showed that the causes of road crashes are multifactorial, with human error contributed to approximately more than two-thirds of all road crashes, particularly in developing countries. One of the primary causes of vehicle crashes is failure to use turn signals by motorists. Although several studies have explored the use of turn signal among motorists in developed countries, limited studies have examined such risky behavior in developing countries, especially Malaysia. This paper aims to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of turn signal use among motorcyclists especially when changing lanes and turning at intersections, in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Video data of motorcycles in road traffic were recorded via instrumented research vehicle which made routine trips along selected driving routes in Klang Valley. The driving routes encompassed expressway, mixed with urban and interurban roads, as well as rural roads. The results reveal a significantly low overall percentage usage rate of turn signal among the observed motorcyclists at 41.1%. Furthermore, 60.9% of motorcyclists failed to signal when changing lanes, and 56.5% disregarded them while turning at intersections. The findings provide vital information to the authority to develop proper policy and propose measures to increase compliance of turn signal use among motorcycle motorcyclists such as more targeted enforcement, widespread road safety campaigns and mandated utilization of technology-based solutions.

Keywords: Motorcyclists; turn signal use; direction indicator; traffic safety; crash prevention; Malaysia

For the past years, motorcycle fatalities have risen in Klang Valley with the overall constitution had passed 60% of total road traffic accident (RTA). Many motorcycle fatalities occurred within intersections after a driver failed to see a motorcyclist. However, little is known about the behavior of motorcyclists when they negotiate an intersection. This study was undertaken to analyze the behavior of motorcyclist in queues at signalized 3-leg and 4-leg intersections along state road of Klang Valley. An observational data was gathered based on microscopic data collected from video images that were taken from a research vehicle instrumented with on-board video camera. The research vehicle made routine trip through out Klang Valley for 10 weeks during peak and off-peak hour period. Twenty-seven (27) intersections with traffic light captured by the research vehicle were selected and observed. The preliminary findings shown three-ways of motorcycle approached the signalized intersection (SI), i.e. (1) approaching the SI with Weaving/Lane Splitting, (2) approaching the SI from center of the lane, and (3) approaching the SI from the left side/the shoulder. 87% of the motorcycle tend to maneuver in a queue during a red-light period, to avoid obstruction and tend to move forward for a wide and clear field of vision closest to the stop line. It is recommended that an exclusive motorcycle stopping space is provided for motorcyclist to enhance motorcycling safety and road safety in the country.

Keywords: Motorcycle safety; signalized intersection; traffic operation

Particle emissions generated by the braking systems of road vehicles represents a significant non-exhaust contributor. Fine particles such as these are transported through airborne routes. They are known to adversely affect human health and currently there are no policies in place to regulate them. Before this issue can be addressed, it is important to characterise brake wear debris which is the purpose of this study. A newly-developed test rig consisting of a closed but ventilated enclosure surrounds a brake dynamometer equipped with a cast iron rotor. A sampling probe was made in accordance with the isokinetic principles in order to withdraw a representative aerosol sample from the outlet duct. Measurements of real-time particulate numbers and mass distributions are recorded using a Dekati ELPI^®+ unit and the brake materials were tested under drag-braking conditions. Prior to measurements, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were performed to investigate the most suitable sampling points used in the experiments. Preliminary experimental results show that there is a noticeable increase in particle numbers, compared to background levels, with a corresponding change in the mass distribution; coarser particles become more prominent during these braking events. These results provide confidence in the performance of the test rig and its ability to measure airborne brake wear debris in order to compare emissions from various friction pairs.

Keywords: Non-exhaust emission; brake wear particle; test rig; CFD; particle size distribution

The partial least squares path modeling or PLS-PM, is best known as the partial least squares structural equation modeling or PLS-SEM. It is a method of structural equation modeling. This method allow the estimation of complex cause and effect relationship models with latent variables. This paper explain how this method can be use in the final stage of a product design and development study. In the study, learning outcome becomes the center for universal design, development and implementation processes. There are two stages of major processes. First is the instructional design processes while the second is the development processes. The development processes ends with usability test. The next phase is the evaluation phase. Last phase is the modeling processes. The paper will first explain about the localized model of product design and development procedure. Subsequently it will elaborate the final phase of the second stage processes, which is important in impact study of product design and development. While at this, the partial least square structural equation modeling will be explain. It is a powerful statistical technique yet misconceptions happen a lot. Proper techniques is essential for methodological assumptions in order to attain robust results. Using latest software alone is not enough.

Keywords: PLS-SEM, UDin model, DDRM, design & development research, second generation statistics