and lots more! - curtin university sarawak – Faculty of Engineering

Transcription

and lots more! - curtin university sarawak – Faculty of Engineering
VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
MAY 2011
ECE STUDENTS’
newsletter
• Will Embedded Systems take over the world?
• ICT Career Camp a Great Success
• Android Workshop
• Smart Car Competition
• Programming Puzzles
• IEEE Student Branch Initiation 2011
and lots more!
Published by: IEEE and AECES, School of Engineering, Curtin University, Sarawak, Malaysia.
Inside this Issue
MEDIA
RELEASES
3
“ICT Career Camp a great success, I can now make Android apps!” say students
4
Embedded Systems: Consistently Evolving and Transforming the way we live
5
Android Workshop
6
Smart Car Competition
7
Curtin Alumni Experience
9
IEEE Curtin Sarawak Student Branch Initiation 2011
STUDENTS
INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS
`10
ECE Department Gathering 2010
10
Wastewater System Monitoring based on Wireless Sensor Network
11
AECES in 2011
11
Programming Puzzles
12
Electrical and Computer Engineering students visit Miri Airport
13
A Visit to Shell Sarawak
14
Industrial Talk by Ms Cynthina Chew (Electrical Engineer, Sarawak Shell Bhd.)
15
Embedded Systems Engineering Will Take Over the World - But Just Not Yet
16
Reflections: Achievements of Curtin Electrical Power Engineering in Three Years
18
Research Collaboration
19
Curtin University Staff Awards 2010
STAFF
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ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
“ICT Career Camp a great success, I can now make Android apps!” say students
(Source: Campus Media Release)
The 2-day MSC Malaysia-Curtin
ICT Career Camp held at the
campus of Curtin University,
Sarawak
Malaysia
(Curtin
Sarawak) from 12 to 13 March
2011 was hailed a great success
by both the organisers and the
59 secondary school students
who took part. The students
were from SMK Chung Hua Miri,
SMK Lutong, SMK St. Joseph Miri,
SMK Pujut Miri, SMK Lopeng
Tengah, SMK Merbau, Kolej Tun
Dato Haji Bujang, SMK Baru and
SM Sains. Themed ‘Ignite the
Spark’, the camp was organised
by Curtin Sarawak’s Electrical
and Computer Engineering
(ECE) Department, University
Life Department and the Curtin
Young Associates (CYA), the
university’s club for secondary
school students. It was
supported and sponsored by
the Multimedia Development
Corporation
(MDeC),
the
agency responsible for the
Multimedia Super Corridor
(MSC Malaysia), the national ICT
initiative which will be creating
85,000 new jobs by 2015. During
the camp’s workshops, the
participants learned how to use
Google’s App Inventor, a mobile
application
development
software downloadable from
appinventor.googlelabs.com
for creating simple applications
for the Android platform.
Apart from designing and
developing their own Android
applications, the participants
were taught how to market their
applications. In between the
workshops, they participated in
team-building activities to build
their team dynamics as they
were grouped into 12 different
teams comprising students
of different schools. “I was
amazed at the ideas presented
by the students during the
camp. Coincidentally, one of
their ideas is being developed
by our own Dr Wong Kiing
Ing,” remarked Terence Tan, an
award-winning ECE lecturer of
Curtin Sarawak and a facilitator
for the camp.Suresh Reuben, a
fellow lecturer and facilitator,
concurred. “All the teams came
up with good ideas which, when
summarised, all pointed to
one thing – mobile phones are
becoming our ‘sixth sense’. The
phone of the future will likely
contain things like heat and
heartbeat sensors to monitor
our health, terrain sensors to aid
the blind, and so on,” he said.
Terence Tan briefing participants
of debit or credit cards and
ATM cards into mobile phones
where users need only ‘swipe’
their phones over payment
machines for purchases, much
“All the teams
came up with good
ideas which, when
summarised, all
pointed to one thing
– mobile phones are
becoming our ‘sixth
sense’. “
Fazira related. When asked
whether they will continue to
pursue their idea, the team
members said that they would
continue to work towards
making the application a reality.
They added that they enjoyed
working as a team and greatly
appreciated the knowledge
The winning team: Team 6A
Participants at the end of the camp.
In the presentation session at
the end of the camp, a panel of
judges awarded points to each
team for their presentations
and ideas. The winning team
received RM500, while the
second and third placed teams
received RM300 and RM200.
The prizes were presented
by Associate Professor Dr
Ashutosh Kumar Singh, Head of
the Department Electrical and
Computer Engineering. Team
6A comprising Fazira Bt. Nan
of SMK Lutong, Rhonda Ashley
of SMK Pujut, Intan Farisha Bt.
Khalid of SMK Merbau, and
Siti Rayhan Bt. Hasmadi and
Nurhazimah Bt. Saufie of Kolej
Tun Dato Haji Bujang emerged
the winners. Their idea of
incorporating the functions
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
like ‘Touch ‘n’ Go’ cards widely
used in West Malaysia, was
adjudged the most innovative.
According Fazira, the idea was
conceptualised to solve the
problem of users forgetting
their PIN numbers or not
being able to locate ATMs
for cash withdrawals prior to
making purchases. To counter
phone theft or hacking, the
team suggested incorporating
biometric scanners like thumbprint scanners into the phones
to prevent unauthorised use.
“The idea came to me while I
was having a meal. As I stared at
my spoon, I suddenly thought
of cards and then related it to
banks. I took the idea to the
team to see what we could do
to address such problems,”
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
they gained from the camp,
especially the importance of
teamwork, patience and critical
thinking. To ensure that the
camp was not simply a one-off
event, the organisers have set
up a Facebook Group (ICT Camp
Curtin Miri) for them to maintain
contact with the participants
and provide whatever support
the participants may need in
developing their applications.
The ICT Career Camp is one of
the numerous collaborations
between MDeC and higher
education
institutions
to
increase the awareness of ICT
careers in Sarawak. Curtin
Sarawak will collaborate with
MDeC on a much larger-scale
ICT talk for students next month.
In addition to raising awareness
of ICT career pathways, the
talk will showcase final-year
projects by ECE students of
Curtin Sarawak.
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Embedded Systems: Consistently Evolving and Transforming the way we live
By: Associate Prof. Ashutosh Kumar Singh and Alexander Lau
Curtin
Sarawak
Electrical
and Computer Engineering
lecturers Dr. Ashutosh Kumar
Singh and final year Computer
Systems Engineering student
Alexander Lau relate how
embedded systems like mobile
phones have revolutionized
the way we live and how they
are continually evolving as
technology progresses. An
embedded system is defined as
a device that is built specifically
for a special purpose, either
with a single function or
multiple functions, carrying
out tasks according to specific
programmed instructions that
cannot be re-programmed after
the tasks have been completed.
Today, one of the world’s most
significant embedded systems
is the mobile phone. From
the bulky box-like phones
of yesteryear to the highly
compact handheld variety
of today, mobile phones are
marvels of technology that
are constantly evolving as
technology progresses.
Indeed, embedded systems are
everywhere and have evolved
to such an extent that they
have in many ways become
absolutely essential to the
everyday existence of human
beings. Ironically, computers
are not regarded as embedded
systems, as one would assume,
given that they, too, perform
multiple tasks and are as much
an integral part of our everyday
lives as mobile phones are. As
the key to a device being an
embedded system is that the
final product cannot contain
elements of programmability,
computers therefore do not
qualify as embedded systems.
There have been arguments
as to whether handheld
computers, more widely known
as PDAs, are embedded systems
or not. Although PDAs do
4
contain elements of embedded
systems, they are not true
embedded systems. This is
due to the fact that PDAs allow
applications to be loaded and
peripherals connected to them.
How did embedded systems
come
about?
Embedded
systems began to emerge once
computers were created. The
will also continue to evolve
and become even more
complex and compact. For
manufacturers, it is the way
forward technologically, and
many will indeed attempt
to create the ultimate in
embedded systems. However,
developing new systems may
not necessarily pay dividends
Dr. Ashutosh Kumar Singh
Alexander Lau
very first (and extremely large)
computers paved the way for
one of the very first embedded
systems to be created, that is,
the Apollo Guidance Computer.
However, it was extremely risky
as it was a new technology that
included massive integrated
circuits to reduce size and
for manufacturers. It is very
dependent on the time/power/
money constraints inherent
in research and development
and high-tech manufacturing.
Logically,
the
faster
an
embedded system is developed
and completed, the less power it
will consume, and subsequently,
“...it is the way forward technologically...”
weight. Embedded systems
gradually evolved from such
large devices to become devices
of considerably smaller size and
featuring far more complexity.
In time, embedded systems
required more and more
electrical components, and as
a result, and according to the
economics of scale, the prices
of the components plummeted.
Ironically, largely due to their
popularity, the market value
of embedded systems has
remained high in relation to the
components that go into them.
As technology continues to
evolve, embedded systems
the higher the profit it can
gain. On the contrary, if an
embedded system takes a long
time to be completed, it will
drain the financial resources
of the manufacturer, thus
increasing productivity costs.
System designers will inevitably
continue to create more user
friendly devices which can
perform at a higher capacity.
However, consumers should
know that such devices are
hard to design and costly
to manufacture as they are
extremely complex. Some
systems
apply
extremely
complex integrated circuits
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
while others require lines and
lines of programming code
to define their functionality.
In some cases, both of the
circumstances apply. There is
no doubt that designers will
continue to pursue scientific
and technological excellence,
and despite the steep prices
of devices, consumers should
be grateful for their efforts. At
the end of the day, it cannot be
denied that embedded systems
have greatly enhanced the level
of technology in this world, and
consequently improved our
lifestyles in various ways. For
example, the mobile phones
manufactured today more than
fulfill their purpose, which is
to use telecommunications to
connect one person to another,
and as a result, communication
is a lot more convenient. In
addition, household electrical
appliances such as vacuum
cleaners help people clean
their homes a lot faster and
more conveniently; electronic
media equipment make life
a whole lot more fascinating;
X-rays, scanners and laser
therapy machines have vastly
improved healthcare, and in
the military, the introduction of
modern navigation systems has
led to an improvement in their
strength and effectiveness. As
time goes by, technology will
continue to improve, which
means that embedded systems
will inevitably continue to
get more complex. However,
complexity does not determine
the profit the systems can earn
for companies since embedded
systems are still measured by
the proverbial time, power and
money constraints. This writer
nevertheless believes that
consumers should be grateful
for the existence and continual
evolution
of
embedded
systems.
Android Workshop
By: Cornell Naing
Android is a software stack for
mobile devices that includes an
operating system, middleware
and key applications. Android’s
mobile operating system is
based on a modified version of
the Linux kernel. Google and
other members of the Open
Handset Alliance collaborated
on Android’s development
and release. The Android
Open Source Project (AOSP) is
tasked with the maintenance
and further development of
Android. The Android operating
system is the world’s bestselling Smartphone platform.
The
Android
open-source
software stack consists of
Java applications running on
a Java-based, object-oriented
application framework on top of
Java core libraries running on a
Dalvik virtual machine featuring
JIT
compilation.
Libraries
written in C include the surface
manager, Open Core media
framework, SQLite relational
database management system,
OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics
API, WebKit layout engine, SGL
graphics engine, SSL, and Bionic
million lines of code including 3
million lines of XML, 2.8 million
lines of C, 2.1 million lines of
Java, and 1.75 million lines of
C++. Practically everyone who
is a cell phone enthusiast is well
Mr. Terence Tan conducting the Android Workshop
libc. The Android operating
system, including the Linux
kernel, consists of roughly 12
aware of what an Android OS
is. It also goes without saying
that Android is one of the
most powerful and capable
Operating System for mobile
devices currently in production.
Moreover, due to these
aforementioned facts, everyone
who is really interested
in
software
development
should know what Android
is practically. The Android
Phone Workshop, dedicated
to teach the students about
how to create basic Android
applications, was successfully
held at Curtin University of
Technology Sarawak Campus on
15th of April 2011. The duration
of the workshop was about
3 hours and was conducted
by 3 prestigious lecturers
namely Dr. Ashutosh Kumar
Singh, who is an Associate
Professor and also the Head of
Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, Mr.
Terence Tan Peng Lian, who is
a Senior Lecturer, and finally
Mr. Suresh Reuben, who is an
Associate Lecturer of Electrical
and Computer Engineering. The
workshop was held free of any
charge as its main purpose was
not to gain profit but to share
knowledge and experience to
the students so that this may
help students in their future
career prospects. The workshop
received many positive remarks
at the end. “This workshop
was a good platform for all the
students wanting to become
good programmers and also
for those who want to make
some extra money through
freelancing”, said one of the
senior students attending the
workshop. The IEEE and AECES
members
rendered
great
support to this workshop. With
the collaboration of both, and
the number of participants, this
workshop proved to be one
of the most successful one at
Curtin, Sarawak.
The Students used the Google App Inventor web application to develop their Android applications.
(Image Courtesy: Google)
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
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Smart Car Competition
By: Akilan Thangarajah
Two groups, Curtin-Alpha and
Curtin-Beta, consisting of six
students: Akilan Thangarajah
(CSE), Kevin Choo Onn Weng
(CE), Jasher Tan Si-Ming
(ME), Benny Ng Kai Kiat (EE),
Chee Leng Tan (EP), and Yi
Xiu Chan (EP) participated
in IEEE and Freescale Smart
Car Competition 2010 held
on December 5 last year on
behalf of Curtin Sarawak. This
teams put up a very good
fight against their competitors
and overtook eighteen teams
just in the initial rounds of the
competition, thus successfully
qualifying for the final rounds.
In the final rounds Curtin-Beta
secured 6th place, while CurtinAlpha were placed 8th out of 10
finalists. The achievement was
outstanding indeed for Curtin,
Sarawak. Commenting on the
Smart Cars, Mr. Terence has
encouraged all new teams
to start preparing earlier. He
also emphasizes on the fact
that understanding present
technology is important to
design the technology of the
future. All in all, it was a very
good hands on experience for
the teams who joined Smart
Car competition. Curtin hopes
to rise up to the top three in the
Finalists: Akilan (above) and
Benny (below) receving awards
Curtin’s Smart Car Competition Team
competition was the second
in Freescale history to be
organized and sponsored in
Malayisa with the collaboration
of IEEE. The first Freescale
Smart Car competition in
Malaysia was held in December
2008 and it wasn’t until 2010,
when the competition once
again opened a great platform
for ECE students to strengthen
their
learning
outcomes.
Around 28 teams from various
prestigious universities from
around Malaysia participated in
the competition. Among those
teams were Curtin-Alpha and
Beta. The theme of this year’s
competition was “Speeding on
Mars”. It was a tough task for
Curtin-Alpha and Beta to design
their Smart Cars in a very short
period of time and challenge
other teams in a national level
competition. Fortunately, both
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outcome of the competition,
Curtin-Alpha and Beta both
gave remarks saying that if they
had been provided a little more
time in building the structure,
programming,
and
most
next competition and in order
to do so, extensive practices
and designing at workshops on
microcontroller programming
are being conducted by senior
students who later seek to
“To design the
technology of the
future, one must
understand and
ideally apply the
technology of the
present.”
Curtin Alpha and Curtin Beta
importantly testing the Smart
Cars, reaching the top places
in the competition would have
been quite simple. In order
to aim high in the upcoming
Smart Car competition in 2011,
the Curtin Sarawak advisor for
be leading the teams for the
competition.
Curtin-Alpha
and Beta have shown great
appreciation for the support
provided by Curtin University
Management for sponsoring
their air tickets and the staff
members, Mr.Terence and Mr.
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
Daniel Wong for their advice and
technical support. Participating
in such competitions is not
only a door to gain hands on
experience, but also a great
platform for the engineering
students to learn where the
digital world stands at the
moment and how it is evolving.
The third Freescale Smart
Car competition will be held
Malaysia in 2011. Starting from
now on, Smart Car Competition
will be known as The Freescale
Cup. This year’s Freescale
Cup will be organized in
collaboration with UiTM, MOHE
and IEEE and the competition
will be held as part of PECIPTA
2011. It will take place in
September at KL Convention
Centre. For online registration
please visit the following
weblink. The deadline for the
registration is 2 May 2011.
(https://getregisterednow.com/
FreescaleCup/Registration/
Register.aspx?li=5)
Curtin Alumni Experience
By: Oon Jo (Curtin 2010 Alumni)
I am here to tell you a little
about my life and experiences
at Curtin, Miri.
I joined Curtin, Miri in July
2008. Before applying to
Curtin, Miri, I was studying
in INTI International College
Penang (IICP) for my diploma
in Electrical and Electronics
campus. I spent my final year
in Curtin Villa, which is an off
campus housing provided by
Curtin, Sarawak.
To tell you the truth, the first
semester at Curtin was my
happiest time ever. I loved the
lake side apartment and adored
the life it had offered. I stayed
was scared and lonely as I had
no friend or acquaintance in the
dorm. Then it just so happened,
I luckily saw a Chinese girl in
the kitchen. She looked at
me as I did and right at the
same moment we both smiled
and simultaneously asked
“are u new?”. This incident or
he taught.
One lesson I learned about
university life at Curtin, Miri
was to always have a good
relationship with all the
lecturers. That way they would
help me out well. I really
appreciate all the patience it
took to teach me as well as all
Engineering. One of the many
reasons I chose Curtin over so
many university and colleges
is because of its beautiful and
scenic location. I always wanted
to have an open and liberating
feel to the university life and
no doubt Curtin, Miri has a
lot to offer in terms of beauty.
The looks of the campus are
undoubtedly very nice. To be
honest I seriously miss Curtin,
Miri as I reminiscence upon all
the wonderful memories and
experiences I had during the
two and half years of my life
spent there. My heart sinks and
I smile every time when I get a
flashback reminding me of my
time in Curtin, Miri.
Talking about my experiences,
my first semester at Curtin was
spent in campus hostel at the
lake side apartments. Later I
decided to move off campus
and stayed in a house no more
than 10 minutes walk from
on the second floor from where
I used to enjoy natural scenery
surrounding the campus. I
remember sitting near the lake
alone and enjoying the sunset
every day. I always use to feel at
peace in my heart by looking at
the sunset.
I spent most of my time doing
sports on campus like jogging,
badminton, volley ball and
ping pong. I also had a group
of sweet dorm mates in the
lakeside apartment where we
used to cook together and hang
out around together. Although
the internet was really slow in
lake side apartments, we girls
had our own way of spending
time and enjoying together.
I really miss all of my friends
at Curtin, especially the first
friend that I met. Her name
was Tako , she was Taiwanese .
I still remember my first day in
Miri and in Curtin. I came alone
on the day before orientation. I
coincidence rather, broke us into
laughter. Whenever I remember
her and her company, I start
missing those days even more.
We used to talk and enjoy every
night in the apartment.
After the first semester, I moved
out with a group of friends.
Those days always make me
laugh as i remember having
days when I had to walk 10
minutes to campus. I hated
those days, especially the ones
when it rained. My off campus
days also bring me lots of sweet
memories. There I met my
sweet housemate, Jei ning with
whom I had a great time. Below
are some of the pictures of me
and my friend at campus.
Perhaps my happiest time with
my classmate was spent in the
second year. I loved the Math
277 class, taught by Dr. Nader. I
always used to be excited to go
for his class. We would mostly
be having fun at the back while
the help from my lecturers,
especially from Mr. Amaluddin.
Throughout my entire degree
studies, he was always there
to encourage me. I remember
the time when I had failed
one of my mid-term, I felt so
sad and depressed. I had no
idea what to do next, but Mr.
Amaluddin encouraged me
and patiently taught me the
unit single step by step. He
would never refuse to lend
help to me even when he was
busy. I remember him saying,
“Never give up, learn from the
heart and keep believing”. His
assistance and words of wisdom
helped me successfully finish
my Engineering Degree.
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
“Never give up,
learn from the heart
and
keep believing”
7
Curtin Alumni Experience
Continued from Page 7
On the trip with a group of friends
Me all busy at work
One of footprints I drew at work.
My teammates
I would also thank him for my
achievement in my Final Year
Project. Due to his aid, my
paper ‘Innovative Ultrasonic
Sensors-based 2D Keypad
Using Chain Code Algorithm’
got recognition into the IEEE
conference.
Throughout my life at Curtin,
Miri, I had joined several
program and activities one of
which was the unforgettable
John Curtin Weekend program.
This program was organized by
the university in which we went
for a trip to a native long house
for 5 days and 4 nights!
It took a five hours of Toyota
Hilux journey to reach the long
house. The point of this program
was for the students to live
with native foster parents. Two
8
students stayed with one foster
family at a time. The name of our
long house was “long Belian”.
During this trip we went to a
total of four beautiful waterfalls
and it thus proved to one of the
“I like my job
very much as
I like to draw,
since I was a kid.”
most wonderful experiences of
my life at Curtin, Sarawak.
I feel very lucky to have studied
at Curtin, Sarawak as I received
my job offer even before my
final year exam.
I am now currently working as
PCB design engineer in PLEXUS
PDC (Penang Design Center).
I design PCB placement and
routing and I love it. Though
I am new, I am enjoying my
work life maybe because like
my boss said, “everything is
still new for me”. To me work
life feels no different than
studying in university. Well
its like I am studying degree
all over again, but its fun. I am
starting from the basic step
which a PCB designer has to go
through. I am currently starting
off with a component and part
librarian and I am responsible
for drawing all the footprint,
symbol creation of every parts
and components requested by
EE (analogue/digital) designer.
As a Librarian I am also
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
responsible for the geometry
so that the PCB designer may
do the placement on their PCB
designs. You may call this period
of my work like as training.
According to my manager I
have to go through a maximum
of 6 months training to master
all the librarian drawing skills
before I can step into the real
PCB designing. I like my job very
much as I like to draw, since I
was a kid.
Though I wanted to be an
interior designer, PCB designing
is not a bad idea either. I love my
work place and my colleagues.
They are very friendly, fun
and active. I am the only fresh
graduate in the team, so all my
teammates take good care of
me. We are like one big family!
IEEE Curtin Sarawak Student Branch Initiation 2011
By: Nanthakumar Rajakumarian
The new Executive Committee
for 2011 of IEEE Curtin Student
Branch has been announced in
the inauguration ceremony held
on the 25th March, 2011. The IEEE
Curtin Sarawak Student Chapter
is supported by the Institute
of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE) United States,
the world’s largest professional
association for engineering
and advanced technologies.
Curtin IEEE Student Branch
commenced its activities from
2008 as a registered student
chapter under the Region 10,
Asia Pacific. A new committee
was selected by the staff from
the Department of Electrical
The IEEE Curtn Sarawak Student Branch
The President of IEEE, Oo Kean Cheng presenting during the ceremony
Dr. Low Siow Yong interatcting with members of IEEE Student Branch
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
and Computer Engineering
(ECE) and students. In the
inauguration ceremony, the new
President of IEEE, Mr. Oo Kean
Cheng and the Vice President,
Mr. Tanvir Ahmed, who is also
the General Secretary of AECES,
gave a brief presentation
about IEEE and also declared
the IEEE events for 2011 to the
participating students and
staffs. The newly selected
Secretary, Ms. Thei Sha Thoo,
Treasurer Mr. Michel Voon and
Vice Secretary Mr. Nanthakumar
Rajakumarian were also present
at the ceremony. “We want to
boost up the activity of IEEE
in this year 2011”, said the IEEE
president Mr. Oo Kean Cheng
in the inauguration ceremony.
The Vice president Mr. Tanvir
Ahmed said that he will work
for IEEE and will combine the
IEEE and AECES efforts together
for mutual collaboration. AECES
is a sister concern of Curtin
IEEE Student Branch. Another
meeting was arranged by IEEE
especially for the engineering
students on the April 1, 2011 at
the LTCL6 around 4pm. Around
35 students and lecturers
participated on this event
including Dr. Low Siow Yong,
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
the honorable adviser of Curtin
IEEE Student Branch and Dr.
Kiing Ing Wong, senior lecturer,
ECE Dept. The main purpose of
this meeting was to share the
information about IEEE with
the entire engineering student
body as well as with the students
from other discipline. A brief
presentation was done by the
IEEE President, Mr. Kean Cheng
in which the IEEE membership’s
“We want to boost up
the activity of IEEE in
this year 2011”
benefit, upcoming IEEE events
and also the process of joining
IEEE online was demonstrated.
Curtin IEEE Student Branch
is
actively
involved
in
conducting exclusive events
like SmartCar Competition,
Robocon Competition, Wireless
Hacking
Workshop,
Open
Source Software Expo, and
ECE Department Robotics
Show since its commencement
in 2008. Curtin IEEE Student
Branch also runs the Curtin
Robotics Club in the Curtin
University.
9
ECE Department Gathering 2010
By: Lue Ik Hong
Curtin’s
first
ever
ECE
Department BBQ gathering
was held on November 2010.
The event was organized by
final year students as their
farewell before they graduate
from Curtin, Sarawak. All ECE
lecturers and lab assistants
were invited to attend the
gathering. The event was held
beside the Recreation Hall at
around 6.00 pm in the evening.
Approximately 30 people joined
the gathering, majority of
which were final year students
and staffs. Second and third
year students also joined the
gathering. The gathering was a
rare opportunity for all students
to get to know lecturers
and to share experiences.
Everyone enjoyed the food,
the environment, and the
conversation between student
and staff. As the highlight for the
evening, Mr. Kenneth, lecturer
of ECE Department, even
performed a solo singing and
guitar playing for the crowd.
The BBQ gathering proved
successful and concluded at
around 8.00 pm.
Students and Staff pose for a picture at the BBQ gathering.
Wastewater System Monitoring based on Wireless Sensor Network
By: Lue Ik Hong
A Wireless Sensor Network
(WSN) consists of spatially
distributed
autonomous
sensors to monitor physical
or environmental conditions
such as temperature, sound,
vibration, pressure, motion or
pollutants, and to cooperatively
pass their data through the
network to a main location.
In computer science and
telecommunications, wireless
sensor networks are an
active research area with
numerous workshops and
conferences arranged each
year. The advancement in the
fields of microelectronic and
computing technologies has
made the real-time wastewater
environment
sensing
and
monitoring possible. Real-time
is defined here as the important
information captured in the
field and interpreted in the
control room periodically, either
in minutes span, hourly or daily.
The information provides a
decision-support system (DSS)
for delivering insight into
possible actions to be taken,
for example taking efficient
operation
and
proactive
management of wastewater
networks. It can also help reduce
leakage and breakage of water
distribution pipes, and may also
mitigate damage due to sewer
backup, collapse, blockages,
excessive infiltration/inflow, and
flooding. Engineers, scientists
and biologists can use the data
to relate it to the impact of
pollutants to the environment
and look into methods and
“In computer
science and
telecommunications,
wireless sensor
networks are an
active research area
with numerous
workshops and
conferences arranged
each year.”
Wastewater Monitoring System
10
protocols to generate a
sustainable
environment.
TinyOS (Tiny Operating System)
will be used for the software
design of wireless sensors.
The traditional embedded
software design based on
the assembly, C, C++ or Java
language is avoided. TinyOS is
able to generated very efficient
code for resource-constrained
devices, such as our sensor
with on a few hundred kilo Byte
of RAM microcontroller, and
provides very extensive wireless
networking capabilities.
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
AECES IN 2011
By: Tanvir Ahmed
The Association of Electrical and
Computer Engineering Students
(AECES) is a fairly new student
organization that is currently
operating in collaboration
with the IEEE Student Chapter
at Curtin, Sarawak. Its primary
objective is not only to boost
up the performance of IEEE
at Curtin, Sarawak, but also to
render all necessary assistance
to its registered members. This
semester, AECES opened its
dedicated information booth for
the first time at Curtin, Sarawak,
near the LT Foyer. The booth has
helped AECES tremendously
in recruiting process of its new
members and it has also served
as a good source of public
relationship. The booth has
also proven to be quite useful
in providing constant updates
and news about the AECES and
its activities to the students.
Almost 35 new students from all
the engineering departments
joined as registered members
this semester, which is a
great achievement for AECES.
The booth is set to remain
open on every Monday and
Thursday for the course of
this entire semester. AECES
members are enjoying all
kinds of opportunities offered
by it. This semester AECES is
also recruiting engineering
students as members of
Australia’s largest professional
institution for engineers, the
“...members are
enjoying all kinds of
opportunities...”
Engineers Australia. AECES has
worked closely with the IEEE
new committee members this
semester for organizing events
such as the IEEE Programming
Competition and Android
Phone Workshop. Currently it
is in the process of arranging a
Frisbee game between the staff
and the engineering students
within the upcoming week.
Next semester, the AECES hopes
to arrange some interesting
events for engineering students
such as site visits to the local
industries. The AECES is also
planning to start ‘AECES Award
for Excellent Result’ and the
‘AECES Leadership Award’ to
honor the students who have
provided significant support to
AECES and have shown great
enthusiasm.
Programming Puzzles
By: Saud Iqbal
Whether you want to become
like Mark Zuckerberg and create
the next Facebook or like John
Carmack and revolutionize
the gaming industry, it’s
quite apparent that today’s
young generation of budding
programmers will become the
rockstars of tomorrow.
April 4th. The president of Curtin
Sarawak IEEE Student Branch,
Oo Kean Cherng and another
of its members, Chua helped
organize the competition.
A total of twelve students
took part in the contest. The
challenge of the contest was to
solve a programming puzzle.
Participants of IEEE Curtin Sarawak “Programming Puzzles” Compeition
This is why many programmers
are highly sought after since
these skillsets are in big
demand nowadays. To expose
the hidden talents of Curtin
Sarawak’s students, the IEEE
Student Branch recently held a
programming contest on Friday,
The students were each given
an encrypted message with a
key. Students were then asked
to write a program for the key
that would help decrypt the
coded message into plain text
format. The students solved the
puzzle using C and C++. The
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
students worked rigorously on
solving the puzzle in the lab for
about two hours. Fortunately,
all of the participants managed
“...it’s quite apparent
that today’s young
generation of budding
programmers will
become the rockstars
of tomorrow.”
to solve the puzzle within the
given period of time.
The quickest contestant was
Jasher Tan who won first prize.
The first runner up was Teo Kiah
Kiat and the second runner
up was Wang Zhi Xian. At the
awarding ceremony, Associate
Professor Ashutosh Kumar
Singh and Mr. Lenin Gopal
arrived to hand out the prizes to
the top three contestants.
Not to be forgotten, to recognize
the proficient participation of
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
the other contestants, the Head
of the Department, Dr. Ashutosh
Kumar Singh also awarded
them certificates signed by
him. At the end of the day, the
programming competition had
proven to be a huge success
and a great example of many
more similar events to come.
It’s wonderful to know Curtin
Sarawak has many more young
promising programmers who
will also hopefully get a chance
to display their flair in future
competitions.
The first prize winner: Jasher Tan
11
Electrical and Computer Engineering students visit Miri Airport
(Source: Campus Media Release)
Thirteen Curtin University
Sarawak students visited Miri
Airport control tower recently.
The students from the Electrical
and Computer Engineering
Department were accompanied
by seven lecturers.
Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering lecturer
and industrial and external
relations coordinator Tiong
and teaching university, we
combine theory with practical
study and challenge traditional
boundaries of learning, such as
learning out of the classroom
with field trips such as this.
“They give our students a
far more fulfilling learning
experience, and also the
opportunity
to
observe
and interact with industry
controller Azmee Adbillah
briefed the group on air traffic
management in Borneo and the
various flight routes operated
by Malaysia Airlines, MASWings,
AirAsia,
Hornbill
Skyways
Panoramic view from the control tower
The Miri Airport control tower
Teck Chai said such field trips
are part of the programme’s
curriculum.
“As
a
forward-looking,
international, research-focused
professionals,” he said in a
statement yesterday.
Department of Civil Aviation
Miri manager Maslan Malik
Lamat and senior air traffic
Observing controllers in the Miri Airport Approach Radar Control Room
The students and lecturers at the Miri Airport Terminal
12
operations of the control tower.
They
learned
how
the
Department of Civil Aviation
provides air traffic service for
safe and efficient flights within
the country’s airspace.
The statement said of particular
interest to the students was
how the air traffic controllers at
Miri Airport — from the vantage
point of their control tower
and use of approach radar —
monitor aircraft movements on
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
and others, as well as provide
information to pilots by radio
communication.
The group also learned how
various navigational aids like
the
VHF
omni-directional
radio range system, distance
measuring equipment, beacons
and instrument landing system
help control aircraft landing
and take-off, as well as how
emergency situations and
rescue operations are handled.
A Visit to Shell Sarawak
(Source: Campus Media Release)
Electrical
and
Computer
Engineering students of Curtin
University, Sarawak Malaysia
(Curtin Sarawak) accompanied
by three lecturers visited Shell’s
Sarawak Real Time Operations
Center (RTOC) in Lutong
recently.
The accreditation and industrial
relations
coordinator
of
Curtin Sarawak’s Department
of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, Tiong Teck Chai,
said such visits are an essential
part of the university’s Bachelor
of
Engineering
(Electrical
and Computer Engineering)
programme’s curriculum.
“Such field trips to industries in
the area not only complement
curriculum studies in the
classroom, they allow the
students to interact with and
acquire first-hand knowledge
from industry professionals,
thus enjoying a most effective
and
fulfilling
learning
experience” he said.
According to Tiong, Curtin is a
forward-looking, international,
research-focused and teaching
university
committed
to
excellence and innovation. As
Curtin’s largest international
campus, Curtin Sarawak reflects
those characteristics in every
way.
“Besides conducting leadingedge research that ultilise
some of the most advanced
technologies in the world, we
combine theory with practical
study and challenge traditional
boundaries of learning to
create graduates who are
professionally competent and
job-ready,” Tiong added.
Marconi Sim, RTOC coordinator
and Halliburton Eurasia Pacific
Real Time Operation regional
manager, was on hand to
receive the students. He briefed
them on how the RTOC is
jointly operated by Shell and
Halliburton in Miri, the Shell
Exploration and Production
Asia regional operations being
headquartered here.
“The RTOC was set up here
to support oil and gas well
drilling in Malaysia, the
analysis and 24/7 monitoring.
Well planning uses 2D and 3D
software to provide visualisation
on subsurface, drilling data and
well trajectories.
The students were most
intrigued with how the RTOC
Students in the RTOC’s Advanced Collaboration Room.
Philippines, China, Australia
and New Zealand with real
time technology. The centre
can significantly improve oil
and gas well delivery process in
reducing non-productive time
and eliminating invisible lost
time,” said Sim, who happens to
facilitates collaboration in well
planning and decision-making
among engineers, geologists
and geophysicists. Drilling
engineers and an Advance
Drilling
Technical
(ADT)
team then create predictive
engineering models prior to
RTOC operators remote monitoring well drilling in a soundproofed room
be an alumni of Curtin Sarawak
and Curtin University in Perth.
Sim went on to explain that
the RTOC provides services like
collaborative well planning,
predictive modeling, drill string
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
drilling events, including torque
and drag, hookloads, bottom
hole assembly (BHA) and
hydraulics management and
other means to improve drilling
performance.
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
They also learned that,
through remote monitoring
drilling operations in real
time complemented with 3D
capabilities, surface parameter
and Measurement While Drilling
or Logging While Drilling
(MWD/LWD)
information,
operators at the RTOC are able
to react quickly to downhole
conditions. The operators can
immediately follow the defined
communication
protocol
such as advising rig crews of
changes in drilling parameters
to minimise vibration and
optimise drilling efficiency.
“The visit was a great
experience. Besides learning
about the all the latest
technology used, we learned
about the critical role the RTOC
plays in enabling wells to be
delivered safely under time
and under budget, and hence
profitably, to Shell. I also got to
know more about job prospects
in oil and gas industry,” said
student Raguwaran Maniam.
The head of the Department
of Electrical and Computer
Engineering,
Associate
Professor Dr. Ashutosh Kumar
Singh, meanwhile remarked
that, among other things, such
field trips help to form strategic
links between academia and
industry and his department will
continue to find opportunities
for similar visits both within and
outside Miri.
“It is one thing to learn about the
most advanced technologies in
the classroom, but it is a whole
new experience seeing such
technology being used in the
real world. We want to give
our students that benefit so
that when they graduate and
start working, they will be well
versed with what’s happening
in their chosen industries,” he
said.
13
Industrial Talk by Ms Cynthina Chew (Electrical Engineer, Sarawak Shell Bhd.)
By: Surendiren
As part of our ECE department’s
agenda to maintain industrial
relationship and to maintain
graduate
attributes,
Ms.
Cynthina Chew S.F. was invited
as a guest speaker to deliver a
talk. Ms. Cynthina Chew was a
Curtin Sarawak student, who
graduated in 2008. She started
her career three months right
after her graduation as an
intern in a local based private
company and currently she
is working as an Electrical
Engineering in Sarawak Shell
Berhad. The session with Ms
Cynthina Chew was very fruitful
and encouraging for all those
students who are worried over
their careers after graduating.
Through this session, she
provided valuable information
mainly on strategies to prepare
for interviews and most
importantly how to react when
an interview is not successful.
She also mentioned that
the fresh graduates must be
very flexible and versatile in
whatever field required along
their career as this will add
experience plus reputation in
their stride. In this way, since
most employers are interested
in multi-talented engineers, the
chance of getting a job with
high salaries and good ranking
can be very possible.
Dr. Ashutosh Kumar Singh presents Ms. Cynthina Chew with a small gift of appreciation
“...fresh graduates
must be very flexible
and versatile in
whatever field
required along their
career as this will
add experience plus
reputation in their
stride. “
Ms. Cynthina Chew presenting her industrial talk
14
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
Embedded Systems Engineering Will Take Over the World - But Just Not Yet
By: Dr D. G. Myers, Program Leader - (Computer Systems Engineering) Curtin University, Bentley.
It is always dangerous to
speculate on developments in
an area as rapidly changing as
computing. Nevertheless, there
are some long-term trends that
are clear, even if some of the
finer detail may not as yet be
obvious. One of those is that
the design of computers such
as we have largely known them
– enterprise servers, PCs, lap
tops, etc – is increasingly a task
that occupies only the few. The
majority of computer engineers
are now focussed on embedded
systems design. Interesting
questions to ask then are what
are they designing and how will
that change?
Once an embedded system was
a very basic microprocessorbased unit that controlled say
a microwave oven or a toy. No
longer. Now highly complex
networks
of
embedded
systems control all aspects of
an automobile’s operations,
mobile phones have more
computing power in them than
supercomputers of just twenty
years ago and even humble
devices like printers involve a
complex embedded system.
The complexity of embedded
designs began to rise steeply
from about 2000 onward
resulting in systems that
require millions of lines of code
executing on sophisticated
concurrent
computing
structures. Trends suggest that
this will continue with some
speculated designs reaching
beyond one billion lines of code
and over 200 microprocessors.
Consider the design of a 4G
mobile phone. Some of the
functionality required in this
includes:
Telephony with features such
as a frequent number storage
and access capability, SMS,
Mobile
Digital
television
reception, Email and web
browsing capability, Camera
and video capabilities including
MPEG
compression
and
decompression, Sensor data
acquisition and processing
from GPS, IR, audio, compass,
accelerometer
and
other
sensors.
Clearly, the computer engineer
cannot be expected to know
Dr. D. G. Myers
all of these fields and then also
take into account ergonomic
and manufacturing constraints.
Rather, it must be specialists
who develop a solution for each
of them. Then the computer
engineer’s design task begins.
Not quite as some caveats
need to be set here. Each of
the design teams undertaking
these different tasks will have
“It is always
dangerous to
speculate on
developments in
an area as rapidly
changing as
computing.”
their own terminology, design
processes and tools. That is to
what they are accustomed and
that is how they work most
efficiently. Hence what they
pass over to the computer
engineer is a diverse range
of designs and that is what
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
the computer engineer has
to deal with. For this reason, a
phrase now resonating though
embedded systems design
is
heterogeneous
design,
meaning many different teams,
many different outputs from
those teams but one ultimate
design brought to fruition by
the computer engineering
team.
The first step must be to
integrate these diverse offerings
into one coherent systems
model. Once that is done, then
the computer engineer can
begin refining the solution so
leading to its partitioning into
software and hardware modules
and finally its implementation.
This will involve many software
processes running concurrently
on a complex structure of
processors and memory and has
many interesting challenges.
Curtin Sarawak students working
with the HCS12 microcontroller in
the Embedded Systems
Engineering laboratory class.
However, the first problem
to resolve is this integration
and that is a very significant
problem indeed.
Consider what these outputs
can be. An obvious possibility
is a description of some form
in a programming language.
Those teams tasked with the
communications aspects of
a mobile phone design may,
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
“[Embedded Systems]
will involve
many software
processes running
concurrently on a
complex structure
of processors and
memory and has
many interesting
challenges.”
for example, use Matlab for
their design and any such
design is easily converted to
C within Matlab itself. Others
may use C++, Java and even
languages like Python. This
is all very well, but these are
programming languages and
have one very major failing as
far as an embedded design is
concerned; they say nothing of
the timing required. Timing is
critical in embedded systems
design as there are invariably
many actions in any embedded
system that must meet various
timing demands including realtime requirements.
What is needed is a means
of translating these different
outputs into some systems
model that is well-tailored to
the later tasks an embedded
engineer must perform and
some means of associating
timing. The problem though,
is what systems model?
Industry has struggled to find
something suitable and those
in the research community
have nothing to offer at this
stage that looks entirely
satisfactory. Hence those of
us in the computing sphere
are facing a very interesting
and difficult challenge that is
limiting what we can do. When
it is solved though, expect some
spectacular advances.
15
Reflections: Achievements of Curtin Electrical Power Engineering in Three Years
By: Associate Prof. Nader Barsoum
The acheievement of Curtin
Sarawak’s Electrical Power
Engineering program has been
excellent in the research area
over the past three years. Over
RM 900,000.00 research funds
from
external and internal
granted projects was obtained,
and more than RM 50,000.00
was awarded to the staff of the
program.
Many projects have been
developed at Curtin Campus,
expressed in prototypes, small
devices, pilot projects and
installation of real systems.
These are shown in the attached
figures.
Many students, listed in the
attached table were involved
in these projects and they
successfully published many
scientific
research
papers
in international journal and
conferences. The students
Student name
were working very closely with
the staff in the program and
found that many parts of these
projects were developed by
their final year projects before
publications.
The power program provides
bachelor degree on the source
of electricity (high voltage and
low frequency), and emphasizes
on energy resources (solar,
wind, biomass, hydraulic, steam,
diesel, gas), electrical power
distribution (transmission line,
transformer, cable, protection,
insulation), design of electrical
generators and motors (dc,
induction, synchronous), power
electronics and drive systems
(rectifier, inverter, converter),
and design of hardware
controllers (logic program,
embedded
programming
micro-chip).
The
projects,
therefore,
introduce the new technology
based on their respective
courses and the Curtin needs
by the industry, markets and
environment. The importance
of the new technology is to
develop friendly and reliable
systems which work at optimum
operating conditions that have
high efficiency, high quality and
low cost.
In order to collect most of
the information of the new
technologies and to use it in
modern developments, the
power engineering program at
Curtin Sarawak has successfully
made global collaborations with
many scientific societies and
publishers. Curtin Sarawak’s
Electrical Power program has
also taken part in organizing an
annual conference in different
places in the world. The
conference focused on power,
Proceeding/Journal
Topic
Daniel Adrian
Global Journal of Technology
and Optimization GJTO 2011
Solar Tracking Pilot Project
Din Abrar, and Mohd Arif
Global Journal of Technology
and Optimization GJTO 2010
Solar Tracking Prototype
Yii, Ming
Journal of Electromagnetic
Analysis and Application (JEMAA) 2010
Power Converter device
Raymond Choo Wee
International conference on
Computer Design (CDES) 2010
Sensitive Motor Speed
King Seh Horng
American Institute of Physics AIP Temperature Control of motor
2010
Cheong Zhi Xiong
American Institute of Physics AIP Energy Saving Controller
2010
Cheong Zhi Xiong and Hwo
Kink
Global conference of power con- variable speed drive
trol and optimization PCO 2009
Sim, Ee
Global Journal of Engineering &
Technology JET 2008
Solar/wind Energy cost
Janet Wong and Tan Ling
Proceeding of Asia Modelling
Symposium AMS 2008
Biomass Energy cost
Hee Yong and Annie Chang
Proceeding of power system
analysis, control and optimization PSACO conference 2008
Micro-hydro Energy cost
Cho Zin Myint
International journal of Biomechatronics and Biomedical
robotics; Inderscience 2011
Body sensor; Pulse Oximeter
16
control and optimization. It
was held for the first time in
Chianmai, Thailand in 2008,
then in Bali, Indonesia in 2009,
and later two times in 2010 at
the Gold Coast, Australia and
Kuching, Malaysia.
This year it will be held in Dubai,
UAE and is planning to be held
in Las Vegas, USA by 2012. The
program also plans to establish
a global journal for online
publication.
These journals and conferences
publish articles and news
on the new technologies in
order to design cheap, long
life, high quality and more
efficient systems. They work
in collaboration with IEEE,
Springer, Elsevier, Inderscience,
IAEng, Hindawi, EUROPT, IOS,
ILOG, Bentham, WSEAS, Wiley,
Taylor and Francis, and other
publishers.
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
Associate Prof. Nader Barsoum
“Over
RM 900,000.00
research funds from
external and internal
granted projects was
obtained, and more
than RM 50,000.00
was awarded to the
staff of the program.”
Reflections: Achievements of Curtin Electrical Power Engineering in Three Years
Continued from Page 16
Speed Drive with Logic Program
RTOC operators remote monitoring well drilling in soundproofed room
Solar Tracker Pilot Project
Solar Tracker Prototype
Tracking Controller
Pulse Oximeter
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
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17
Research Collaboration
By: Dr. Low Siow Yong
C u rt in Sa r awa k
R ese a rc h F u n d
(CSR F )
C u rt i n Sa r awa k
Coll abor at i v e
R ese a rc h Sc h em e
(RM 10,000)
(RM 25,000)
MMSE Based Transceiver Design for NonRegenerative MIMO Relay Systems.
Speech Intelligibility Enhancement Using
Psychoacoustics Approaches
Lenin Gopal, Associate Prof. Zhuquan Zang
Dr Low Siow Yong, Associate Prof. Zhuquan Zang,
Prof. Sven Nordholm, Lenin Gopal
Project Summary:
In this research, the problem of transceiver design in a nonregenerative multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relay system
is addressed, where linear signal processing is applied at the
source, the relay and destination to minimize the mean-squared
error (MSE) of the signal waveform estimation at the destination.
Two scenarios will be considered in this research for optimizing
the transceiver design to minimize the MSE of received symbols.
Where precoding is only performed at the relay for scenario
one and an alternative algorithm will be developed to perform
precoding at the source, the relay and destination for scenario two.
Lenin Gopal
18
Dr. Low Siow Yong
Project Summary:
Noise is ubiquitous and it is well known that speech intelligibility
decreases in the presence of noise. This problem is exacerbated
by hearing loss, which makes it more difficult to achieve the same
speech intelligibility level compared to people with normal hearing
capability in the same noisy and reverberant environments. This
research is expected to break this barrier through psychoacoustics
signal processing methods to improve speech intelligibility.
Specifically, the aim of this project is to study the relationships
between human auditory model and sonic cues. The key here is
to compensate the human auditory system as a means to improve
speech intelligibility by exploiting the synergy between the human
auditory model and signal processing techniques. It is expected
that this research will significantly improve speech communication
in various noisy environments or even social settings. From a
psychoacoustics point of view, the proposed research will also
develop a better understanding of the human auditory modalities
and its relationship with modern signal processing methodologies.
Associate Prof. Zhuguan Zang
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
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Prof. Sven Nordholm
Curtin University Staff Awards 2010
Dr. Wong Kiing Ing has won the Teaching and Learning Excellence Award 2010. The award was given on
the basis on his achievements in areas such as Undergraduate unit coordination; Reflective practice
that results in improvement of the unit & its design, good quality assessment practices, presentations
at conferences, and seminars on T&L practice .
Dr. Wong Kiing Ing
Associate Professor Nader Nassif Barsoum has won the Research and Development Excellence Award
2010. The award was given on the basis on his achievements in areas such as research publications,
research supervision, research projects and grants, research leadership, and member of editorial board
of Elsevier journal of computers & mathematics, Idea Group Incorporated (book chapters), American
Institute of Physics, and Editor in chief of global journal of technology and optimization.
Associate Professor
Nader Nassif Barsoum
Mr. Lenin Gopal has won the Service to the University Excellence Award 2010. The award was given
on his achievements in areas such as significant service to the school & department, Service to the
community: significant contribution in a major on going duties on committees.
Mr. Lenin Gopal
ECE STUDENTS’ NEWSLETTER
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19
AECES & IEEE - Curtin Sarawak Student Branch,
ECE Department, School of Engineering,
Curtin University,
Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia.
E-mail: aeces.curtin@gmail.com
Newsletter TEAM
EDITORS::
Cornel Naing (EP)
Nanthakumar Rajakumarian (EP)
Akilan Thangarajah (CSE)
Atif Qazi (EP)
Tanvir Ahmed (EP)
Alexander Lau (CSE)
Lue Ik Hong (E&C)
Surendiren (EP)
Thei Sha Htoo (EP)
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT::
Saud Iqbal (CSE)
Photo Credits to Furuqan Hussain (CSE)
FEEDBACK AND COMMENTS: EMAIL US AT aeces.curtin@gmail.com