Undergraduate Focus: Varsity wins medals at ITEX

uala Lumpur Infrastructure University College (KLIUC) participated in the recent 23rd International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition (ITEX 2012), which was held at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. This was the first time KLIUC’s Research Management Centre participated at ITEX and it displayed two products which won medals at the exhibition.

The gold medal recipient in the Environmental and Renewable Energy classification was titled ‘A novel approach to reuse alum sludge in pottery manufacturing using silica and thermal curing’. This was a showcase of the university’s research on the reclamation and reuse of alum sludge.

“Aluminium sulphate is the most commonly used coagulant for water treatment in Malaysia and as a result, tons of sludge containing aluminium hydroxide, which pose considerable health and environmental hazards, is dumped irresponsibly into the environment. Many researchers have tried to stabilise this material but none have been successful thus far,” says Associate Professor Dr Siti Maziha Mustapha, Director, Research Management Centre of KLIUC.

This research will not only help to solve the deposition problem of alum sludge into the environment, but also to produce useful material from alum sludge that is more economical and environmentally friendly.

The reclamation and reuse of alum sludge is yet to be commercialised but there has been positive feedback so far from the industry for this product and the university has plans to commercialise it in the future.

The second product which won the Silver Medal in the ICT and Multimedia category was the College InterComm. The invention of the College InterComm was to overcome the limitations of the current learning management system by incorporating social interactivity features, document sharing, and collaborative tools.

“Through the added features, the learning process in and outside the classroom can become more efficient and interactive and students can now communicate directly with their lecturers and friends via the College InterComm, reducing the cost and time consumed compared to traditional method of learning,” explains Associate Professor Dr Siti Maziha.

“The College InterComm underwent improvements to make it more effective and KLIUC will begin to commercialise it if there are demands for the system to be implemented by other learning institutions,” she says.

Through its participation at ITEX, KLIUC gained not only accolades that will add more value to the inventions and serve as precursors for commercialisation opportunities, but also champion innovation by embracing and practising creativity and sustainability.

KLIUC offers a wide range of programmes including engineering, ICT, architecture, construction management, quantity surveying, geomatic engineering, communication, English, business management, e-Commerce, accounting, integrated marketing communication, biotechnology, network technology, and sports management.

For more information: www.kliuc.edu.my

Undergraduate Focus: Varsity wins medals at ITEX

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