Sustainable Construction Materials and Building Systems
INTRODUCTION
Sustainable Construction Materials and Building Systems (SUCOMBS) is a multi-disciplinary Research Group dedicated to research and develop sustainability inspired materials and systems for the built environment, through cutting-edge theoretical, experimental, numerical, design and policy based research. The main goal of SUCOMBS is to develop strategies and solutions to address the present and future needs for a sustainable built environment. The group brings together the research expertise of engineers, architects and scientists, as well as state-of-the-art laboratories and computational facilities.
The researchers in SUCOMBS embrace both multi-disciplinary applied research as well as fundamental basic research. It should be emphasized that SUCOMBS’s work are not limited to conventional construction materials and building systems, but also encompasses the synthesis of innovative materials such as nano-engineered polymers and cementitious composites, as well as in developing various new generation construction and structural retrofitting solutions. Some of the areas that are in the interest of SUCOMBS members are (but not limited to): green construction practices, concrete engineering and technology, special concretes, polymer composites, palm-based polymers and composites/polyurethanes, structural strengthening and protective technologies, day-lighting typologies, environmental design of buildings, natural and mechanical ventilations, vertical landscapes, non-linear finite element analyses of materials and structures, computational fluid dynamics, etc. Since its inception, the group has been able attract a sizeable number of postgraduate research students from across the globe.
SUCOMBS has also been able to attract competitive research grants from various local and international agencies, such as the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia, the Public Works Department of Malaysia, the Construction Industry Development Board, the Ministry of Finance of Malaysia and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall. In addition to these, SUCOMBS researchers have also been able to obtain funding and to establish joint ventures with several corporate industries, to research and develop cutting-edge products for local and international markets. The research efforts of SUCOMBS have resulted in two patents, and another two filed patents are currently under evaluation. In addition, more than 200 research articles have been published in prestigious journals and proceedings based on these work.
The expertise of the group members has been recognised by various agencies and institution, and they have been invited to serve in various panels and committees, both locally and internationally, as well as to deliver keynotes and plenary speeches in severalregional and international conferences on sustainable built environment. SUCOMBS has also established productive collaborations and linkages with research groups from variousinternationally renowned institutions, such as the Carnegie Mellon University, The University of Melbourne, Kyoto University, Clarkson University, Utrecht University, Grenoble Institute of Technology, Mahatma Gandhi University, etc.
RESEARCH TEAM
AWARDS (selected)
- Gold, Seoul International Invention Fair (SIIF) 2012, Korea Invention Promotion Association – Development and Application of Solar Induced Ventilation Prototype in Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Building.
- Bronze, 23rd International Invention, Innovation and Technology Exhibition (ITEX), 2012 – Application of Solar Induced Ventilation Prototype in SME Building.
- Gold, Invention and Innovation Exhibition 2012 (IRIIE 2012), International Islamic University Malaysia – Application of Solar Induced Ventilation Prototype in Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Building.
- American Concrete Institute, ACI-Singapore Chapter Award 2010: Outstanding & Original Paper.
- UKM Young Researcher Award (Maslina Jamil), UKM 7th Innovation Award Ceremony, 2012.
- UKM Research Innovation Award (Process for the Production of Palm Oil-Based Polyurethane Polyols (Khairiah Haji Badri & Maslina Jamil), UKM 7th Innovation Award Ceremony, 2012.