Search

The importance of industrial and vocational collaboration in producing competent graduates is evident. However, there are still issues with the collaboration between industry and educational institutions, including the lack of appropriateness in the collaboration, the mismatch between student competencies in vocations and industry requirements, and inadequate alignment of graduate outcomes with industry needs. This research aims to explore the differing perspectives of universities, vocational schools, and industries in West Sumatra, Bandung, and Malang on the formation of CIPP components. Additionally, it seeks to reveal the direct and indirect influences between CIPP components--context, input, process, and product--to enhance the quality of cooperation and collaboration between industry and universities in Indonesia. The research employs a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods. The samples include vocational schools, involving teachers and leaders, and universities, involving lecturers and leaders in West Sumatra, Bandung, and Malang. The research instruments consist of a questionnaire and an interview guide. Both qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques are applied, including descriptive analysis, difference tests using two-way ANOVA, and factor analysis tests using the SMART PLS application. Based on the findings, it is concluded that the evaluation results encompass the Context, Input, Process, Product (CIPP) variables in an ideal vocational school-university-industry collaboration model. The results indicate a direct and indirect positive influence between CIPP components. However, the evaluation results also highlight existing problems, necessitating improvements. This research contributes by providing recommendations for the collaboration program to enhance input capacity and generate relevant outcomes. In terms of input, the value is classified as very good, emphasizing the need for improvement in the dimensions of the context components, especially the competency environment, stakeholders, and policies that support optimal cooperation. Recommendations in the product section aim to increase student competency achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improper management of organic industrial wastes, such as empty fruit bunch (EFB) from the palm oil industry and pressmud, i.e., a by-product of the sugar refinery industry can lead to environmental problems. This study aims to investigate the potential of pressmud and EFB as adsorbent materials in wastewater pollution removal. The chemical analysis in this study revealed that the EFB sample contained 7.30% of SiO2, 2.11% of Fe2O3, 1.91% of MgO, 28.02% of CaO, 37.59% of K2O, 1.45% of P2O5, 14.51% of Cl, 4.39% of SO3, and 2.38% of other elements. Meanwhile, the pressmud sample contained 14.32% of SiO2, 1.39% of SO3, 81.71% of CaO, 1.03% of Fe2O3, and the remaining 1.56% of other compounds. The possible adsorption capacities of pressmud and EFB were determined using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The absorption of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Zn in these samples was analyzed using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. By comparing both models, the research revealed that the Langmuir model provided a more precise description of the adsorption process for the EFB and pressmud samples and was competently compared to the Freundlich model, as indicated by the highest R2 values. The results indicate the potential of EFB and pressmud as promising reactive materials for heavy metal adsorption, and this involves recognizing possibilities for repurposing these economical and sustainable waste materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent industrial developments have focused more and more on the applications of lightweight foamed concrete (LFC) in the construction industry, having advantages over normal-strength concrete. LFC, however, has several drawbacks including brittleness, high porosity, excessive drying shrinkage, rapid cracking, and low deformation resistance. Practical engineering typically chooses steel fiber or polymer fiber to increase the tensile and fracture resistance of LFC. The polypropylene twisted bundle fiber (PTBF) was added to the LFC with varying weight fractions of 0.0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0% and 2.5%. Three low densities of LFC were prepared, specifically 500 kg/m3, 700 kg/m3 and 900 kg/m3. The mechanical and durability properties of PTBF-reinforced LFC were determined through compression, flexural, splitting tensile, flow table, porosity, and water absorption tests. The results show that the addition of PTBF in LFC significantly improves the strength properties (compressive, flexural, and splitting tensile strengths) and reduces the water absorption capacity and porosity. The optimal weight fraction of PTBF was between 1.5 and 2.0% for mechanical properties enhancement. The inclusion of PTBF increased the ductility of LFC, and the specimens remain intact from loading to failure. The PTBF reduces the original cracks of the LFC and inhibits the development of further cracks in the LFC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the cost of construction rises along with the ongoing impact on the environment, and it has led the researchers to the acceptance of biomass natural fibers, such as biomass frond fiber (BFF), for the improvement of the mechanical properties of cement-based materials. BFF is abundantly accessible, making it relatively pertinent as a reinforcing material in foamed concrete (FC). In addition, natural fiber-reinforced concrete has been progressively employed in construction for several decades to reduce the crack growth under the static load. This paper intends to experimentally investigate the effectiveness of the addition of BFF to FC to improve its mechanical properties. The FC samples were strengthened with BFF at the weight fractions of 0.12%, 0.24%, 0.36%, 0.48%, and 0.60%. This study used three FC densities: 600 kg/m3, 800 kg/m3, and 1000 kg/m3, with fixed constitutions with 0.45 and 1:1.5 cement-to-water and cement-to-sand ratios, respectively. The evaluated strength characteristics included bending, splitting tensile, and compressive strengths. The experimental outcomes indicated that adding 0.36% BFF to FC facilitates optimal splitting tensile, compressive, and bending strength results. BFF enhances material strength by filling the spaces, microcracks, and gaps inside the FC structure. The BFF helped to reduce crack spreading when the plastic state of the FC cementitious matrix was loaded. Furthermore, the optimum level of BFF inclusion and the accumulation and the non-uniform distribution of BFF were detected, which caused the lowering of the strengths of the FC significantly. Beyond the optimum level of BFF, the agglomeration and the non-uniform dispersion of the BFF were seen, which resulted in a drop in mechanical properties. The output from this research will give a better insight into the potential utilization of plant fiber in FC. It is of profound significance to guide the sustainable development and application of FC material and infrastructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a tool to involve employees in the continuous improvement. SMEs are a well-known as the vital sector to Malaysia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, SMEs still face issues of their performances. Most of SMEs have issue in TQM implementation due to the lack of awareness and accepting of TQM. The objective of this paper is to examine the TQM implementation amongst SMEs, in order to enhance their performance by using Balanced Scorecard (BSC). 130 respondents from Malaysia SMEs in manufacturing sector have been sent in this survey. Finally, 64 respondents have responded, representing 49.2 of response rate. The result shows that TQM practices have positive and significant relationship towards the BSC with r=0.64 at P<0.05. Hence, TQM practices also have significant relationship with all of the four BSC perspective with p<0.05. This study demonstrated that TQM is important tool for improving BSC performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facilities Management (FM) industry players must be mindful of the current economic digitisation. It aims to empower the community and industry players with digital skills and digital-based businesses. Positively, this also will benefit FM industry players. Therefore, many FM organisations are starting to take advantage on IoT, big data analytics and mobile phone application in their activities. This paper utilised a literature review to discover the application of IoT, big data analytics and mobile application in FM processes. Then, a case study on Al Nabooda Chulia Facilities Management Co LLC (AN.C) success story as the recipient of Urbanise Smart City Pioneer Award 2017 were cross-examined on the tools they use in digitisation FM. The novelty from the integration of IoT, big data analytics and mobile phone application towards digitisation FM has significantly reducing management costs and improving facilities performance and service quality. The paper highlight an example of digitisation of FM activities that successfully optimising and innovating the current FM practices with the paradigm shift from cost management towards value creation in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the competitive Malaysian residential market with a large number of residential projects that offered almost similar features lead to difficulties of residential purchasing among homebuyers. These days, homebuyers are very selective, careful, and required more time in deciding due to the high numbers of abundant, and problem residential projects in Malaysia. As a result, a high number of unsold residential projects were reported. Therefore, understanding homebuyer criteria in a residential purchase is crucially important towards successful Malasia residential projects in the long term. This paper identifies and prioritizing homebuyers criteria in mainland Penang, Malaysia from user-generated data in online property forums. 6000 data was extracted through RapidMiner software. Once data were processes, statistic analysis is used to determined and prioritize the homebuyer's criteria. The classification of criteria is made by the real estate experts. The result of the study provides fresh insight into homebuyers' criteria. The findings should offer developers, government, potential homebuyers, and real estate agents a better understanding of homebuyers criteria in Penang, Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flooding has become one of the most rapidly growing types of natural disaster that has spread around the globe. It is one of the major natural hazards in many countries and mostly affected in the low-lying or flood prone areas. In order to minimize loss of life and economic losses, a detailed and comprehensive decision-making tool is necessary for both flood control planning and emergency service operations. In this paper, we demonstrate our research design for mobile based decision support of Flood Early Warning System (FEWS). We outlined four research objectives. Firstly, critical criteria for flood risk assessment will be identified and the second step will involve develop measurement model for relative flood risk using Geographic Information System (GIS), Multi Attribute Decision Making (MADM) and data mining technique. In the third objectives, the holistic architectural design is developed by incorporating the communication technology and other related ICT requirements for the mobile decision support. The fourth objective is to validate the mathematical model and architectural design. Case study approach is chosen in order to understand the flood event and validate the decision support model. Following well-defined procedures, flood maps were drawn based on the data collected from expert responses to a questionnaire, the field survey, satellite images, and documents from flood management agencies. It anticipates that by integrating of mathematical model, GIS and mobile application in flood risk assessment could provide useful detailed information for flood risk management, evacuation, communication. The decision support design from this study is perhaps to improve the warning system and contribute to reduction of casualties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government agencies are constantly looking for viable strategies to strengthen their newly implemented policies for nation building. Grassroots or customer sentiments are very important to develop an inclusive policy with a mixed of bottom-up approach to incorporate customer opinion. However, due to the unique political and multiracial landscape in Malaysia, current commercial off-the-shelf Social Analytics are irrelevant to capture sentiments of the multilingual characteristics of Malaysian native speakers. Current Social Analytic tools lack the quality of analysis for foreign languages, such as Malay, which limits businesses to localize advertisement for a specific geographical area. Hence, this research was to develop a real-time social media analytic tool with sentiment analysis specifically in the Malaysian context, in order to engage and analyze customer reviews and opinions. The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate an approach to utilize data from social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, in gaining valuable insights to drive and improve marketing strategy in the property industry. This research developed a tool, namely Property Analytics, to assess public sentiments on specific property projects or services. The methodology and approach to enhance from lab scale to precommercialization activities are outlined in this paper. It is anticipated that this work is relevant to real world application, improve stakeholder's decision making, and the people's quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the moment, there is a great interest in most universities to achieve higher ranking for better international standings and visibility. With shrinking resources such as financial and infrastructures, there is also a huge demand for the university to move forward and perform better in Research and Development (R&D) in each evaluation year. Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is an excellent tool to enculturate research in a Higher Education Institution (HEI). The culture must be built upon HEI's strength and weaknesses. Hence, the right decision making tool must be develop to priorities different agendas such as QSWUR, THE, etc. Mobile platform provide an efficient way to engage with stakeholders particularly to measure HEI performance on R&D. There are three main activities involves for developing a decision support tool for measuring R&D impact in HEIs i.e. development of decision model using multi criteria decision making, dashboard prototype development including and UI/UX for mobile platform. This paper describe the importance of measuring the impact of R&D, prioritization technique and the process of prototype development. It is anticipates that our work could mitigate the gaps and improve the research ecosystem in HEIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we discuss aboutWhatsApp application practice around project managers in managing IBS construction projects. The WhatsApp application offer a great advantages, especially in collecting, managing information and data in a timely manner. Previous study highlighted effective communication become as a bridge between practitioners to share a knowledge, information and integration. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of empirical studies on how efficiencies of WhatsApp application overcome the communication barriers while managing distributed project teams on construction project. Thus this study seeks to explore communication performance perceived through WhatsApp application. The semi-structured interview methodology was used to gain in-depth knowledge from several project managers who have experiences in managing construction projects virtually through WhatsApp application. The finding from this study revealed that WhatsApp application has become an effective communication channel to overcome the barriers of communication while managing distributed teams and allowing timely information sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological theory emphasizes headwater streams and wetlands as hotspots for metabolism of terrestrially derived organic matter and biogeochemical transformations. Time of concentration Tc is defined as the wave travel time from the most hydraulically remote point to the point of study. Tc is an important element in hydrological studies, especially in drainage system designs and the estimations of flood arrival time. The common approach in the estimation of Tc is based on Kinematic Wave (KW) approximation for both overland flow and river routing. This approximation, however, may not be appropriate on a flood plain with inundations. The main objective of this study is to propose the estimation of Tc with Diffusive Wave (DW) approximation considering the effect of flood inundation. The proposed method is demonstrated in the Kelantan River basin, Malaysia, focusing on a severe flood event in December 2014. This study compares the estimated Tc with other estimations based a Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation simulation and with a simple correlation method between rainfall amount in different durations and peak river discharges. In consequence, the proposed method with DW approximation with flood inundation showed closer estimations of Tc by the other two methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For construction stakeholders to fully embrace sustainability, its long-term benefits and associated risks need to be identified through holistic approaches. Consensus among key stakeholders is very important to the improvement of the ecological performance of industrialized building systems (IBS), a building construction method gaining momentum in Malaysia. Sustainable construction has become an increasing concern in the Malaysian construction industry nowadays. One of the approach by the Malaysian Government to enhance the ecology or sustainability is through the implementation of IBS in the construction projects. IBS has been introduced in Malaysia since year 1960s and many industries players and academics acknowledge the advantages of IBS. Nevertheless, there have several obstacles faced in order to increase the implementation of IBS and most of the obstacles are rooted from the issues of readiness. To change from conventional or traditional method to a modern method of construction or IBS is not an easy to execute. The key point of the change is a readiness and how to ready for change. Therefore, this highlights the factors which are the key readiness factors to improve sustainable construction through the implementation of IBS. This paper used qualitative approach and interview as a research technique in data collection process. Finding from data interview and literature review, there are three key factors that influence readiness in the implementation of IBS. The key factors are suitability, knowledge and ability. The output can also be used as a guideline for construction players towards the betterment of IBS implementation by introducing the factors that should be emphasized to make sure they ready to implement IBS and get advantages from it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research strives to improve safety cultures to reduce work-related injuries in the hazardous environment of the construction industry for foreign workers using a training course. It focuses on developing a framework for needs of information delivery used by foreign workers based on misunderstanding problem in, Health, Safety and Environment Induction Training (HSEIT). The aim of this study is to discover the needs and redevelop a framework for information delivery for foreign workers in the course. This study has been carried out using quantitative approach with convenient sampling. The respondents are foreign workers who are involved in construction works in a natural environment. They are trained how to protect themselves against hazardous environmental and ecological events. Research findings revealed that among the needs for information delivery by the foreign workers in training course include printed text in their own language for the notes, books, booklets; oral delivery is also expected to be in their own language, which includes face-to-face delivery, slides, film, and video. This is found to be very beneficial when they confront dangerous environmental risks. Also, they need printed visual materials like notes as well as video. In overall, the needs framework is able to greatly impact and contribute in construction industry, in which it could be the guidelines and alternative reference for various parties like the course instructors, safety officer, and the Construction Industry and Development Board (CIDB). In fact, the environmental framework is able to increase the gained information and understanding in satisfying the needs of the foreign workers in the natural site besides advancing the instructors' delivery of the contents in training course and eliminating the language barrier in HSEIT. It is also potential to help the CIDB achieving the course objective and increase the safety performance in open environments as well as the safety awareness among foreign workers. The findings of the study indicate that the training has played a role in decreased work-related injuries and changing attitudes to safety training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective communication process is an important element in distributing information to various project teams. The previous study demonstrates the importance of communication in the project management process in order to encourage project delivery processes successfully. Unfortunately, the issue of communication still dominates Industrialization Building System (IBS) because the project development process are still based on traditional methods. This research aims to explore the cause of communication challenges between construction players in managing IBS projects. The research methodology implemented for this paper was a semistructured interview approach used to investigate the communication problem. Five experienced project managers were chosen from across the industry. The findings of this study are valuable for improving the communication level of project teams, which will indirectly increase the level of the IBS project delivery process and strengthen team integration on IBS projects in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to identify the success factors and challenges of implementing load-bearing masonry (LBM) technology in the Malaysian construction industry. The success factors and challenges of implementing LBM technology have been identified in previous literature. Further, this research has been carried out in which interviews were conducted to explore the real-life construction situation in Malaysia. The findings indicate that the success factors for LBM-technology implementation are organizational readiness, good collaboration, easier to install, skilled labor, continuous improvement of knowledge, excellent work coordination, improved efficiency of construction work, and environmentally friendly methods. The issues faced by construction firms, however, are related to a lack of knowledge, expertise, and government incentives and promotion as well as a lack of local demand. Based on these findings, it can be agreed that all the factors gathered from the previous literature are significantly related to the success factors and challenges in this study. Further study should be performed to improve the understanding of success factors and challenges on LBM-technology implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the major problems in modern housing design is overheating. Occupants suffer higher indoor temperatures due to a lack of natural ventilation. This issue arises because of poor passive design. A good passive design promotes natural ventilation and provides better indoor air temperatures without reliance on mechanical cooling systems. The roofing system plays an important role in a house's design. Since the roof contributes to 70% of the total heat gain, it is important to investigate its design to reduce the impact of overheating. It has been found that many roofs lack a ventilation system in the top part of the house. These openings in the roof provide areas for trapped hot air to exit into the environment. The openings also enhance natural ventilation and allow for effective air circulation inside the house. The optimum roof is designed to tackle this matter by reducing the overheating inside the house, especially during the hottest hours of the day. The hot air exits based on the differences in air density and due to prevailing wind. In this study, the optimum roof was tested on a small-scale model and verified by simulation using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) software, namely ANSYS 18.0. From the data obtained, it was proven that the opening in the roof reduced the indoor temperature. In conclusion, the optimum roof could improve the passive design and help to reduce overheating inside a house. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inability to complete a project before its deadline has been a severe dilemma in Malaysian public sector projects. Despite initiatives introduced by the government to improve performance, few positive outcomes have been achieved due to inappropriate implementation and a lack of contemporary approaches. Past methods in delay studies have also fallen short in identifying the underlying causes of delays,thus, delay has remained an incessant phenomenon. Thus, this study was conducted in an attempt to shed light on the current delay scenario, taking the "pathogen" approach in identifying the very root of the causes of delay in an effort to propose a way forward for its mitigation via a contemporary approach known as Supply Chain Management (SCM). The research design that was adopted involved three stages. The first stage was an identification of factors that cause delay, whereby six industry experts with a minimum of 20 years of experience were interviewed to gain their insight on this matter. Then, the factors were grouped into pathogens and pathogen sub-categories using a concept taken from other prominent research that took a similar research approach. The third and final stage involved matching beneficial SCM tools that were carefully selected from a literature review that had the potential to overcome each of the delay pathogens and pathogen sub-categories. The conceptual framework, as concluded by this research, provides a thorough overview of the delay factors, pathogens, and pathogen sub-categories, as well as the available tools via SCM that could be used to overcome these issues. It is anticipated that this framework will lead to better time management in future Malaysian public sector construction projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The usage of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, either by the public or by organizations, has been rapidly increasing. The decision-makers in the organizations use social media to engage with their customers since public users tend to express their opinions about certain products and services through this popular mechanism. Hence, this valuable data can be useful for marketing and business decisions. However, the main obstacle is obtaining meaningful information from these platforms due to the unstructured data they present. Sentiment analysis is seen as the best tool to analyze insights or opinions in this huge amount of data. In this article, we extract data on public opinion about property in order to understand the reason behind the imbalances of supply and demand currently faced by the property industry in Malaysia. In addition, we visualized the sentiment results in the form of a dashboard so that it may help property players to understand the public sentiments toward their housing or construction projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An urban heat island (UHI) is a climatic phenomenon caused by modifications to the climate due to changes in the form and composition of the land surface and atmosphere. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of road pavement types for mitigating or intensifying UHI. This study was conducted in the Kota Samarahan area. Since Kota Samarahan is classified as a suburban area, it is still a developing district. Hence, there is still an opportunity for proper planning, such as choosing the most suitable type of pavement, before this area becomes a UHI. Data was collected by studying four types of pavements (asphalt, concrete, permeable, and industrialised building system (IBS) StormPav) in terms of their characteristics, performance, and maintenance costs. Additionally, their surface temperatures were investigated using ThermaCam and then plotted against the surrounding air temperature. Interview sessions were also conducted with the personnel of Jabatan Kerja Raya to obtain valuable information for this research. As a result, this study found that the construction of asphalt pavement can produce numerous potential impacts on the environment, which further contribute to air pollution and the UHI effect. Concrete, permeable, and IBS StormPav pavements retained less heat compared to asphalt, and can be implement to mitigate the UHI phenomenon. Furthermore, the implementation of green walls, cool roofs, vegetation and trees, and altering the properties and construction of asphalt pavement can help in mitigating this phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All stakeholders should participate in striving towards sustainable construction in order to embark upon the environmental impact issues. Construction industry has been recognised as a major contributor of economic growth and sustainability of a country, however, it could have a negative impact for the economy, quality of environment as well as social contexts, if this industry is not managed properly. This research would like to address the issue of the increasing use of natural resources that leads to increasing construction waste. This subject is not only a major issue debated in Malaysia, but it has also become a major issue globally. It occurs due to the lack of awareness of good construction waste management practices among stakeholders. Accordingly, this research paper will discuss the issue of waste management in more detail that including stakeholders' awareness, future's impact and also the best practices of waste management in improving the sustainability of construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worsening environmental issues combined with incessant global warmings has given rise to environmental awareness as well as "green-trends" within the construction industry worldwide, including Malaysia. As people become more concerned of the state of global atmosphere; their attitude towards the ecology also starts to show positive inclination. Within Malaysia, Green Hotels are among sustainable initiatives that have started to grow and are becoming a trend. Nevertheless, considering the infancy of such initiatives in the country motivates this paper to have deeper insight into the subject matter by investigating the environmental attitudes of the Malaysian hotel consumers as well as their perception towards Green Hotels. A total of 115 questionnaire survey forms were distributed and 51 of them were returned in proper manner for analysis thus yielding a satisfying 44.35% response rate. Frequency and descriptive analysis mere undertaken using the 21st Version of SPSS software and in the end, it was found that Malaysian hotel consumers are generally positive towards the ecology and that the Green Hotel concept is very much welcomed by them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the fastest growing trends in the field of innovations is energy efficiency. This area can contribute to the sustainability development of the country by reducing the energy intensity of the economy. Energy and environment plays a key role in achieving the desired economic growth for the country. Worldwide industries use 40 percent energy for material and consumption protection to fulfil human needs. One of the approach in order to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases to the environment is by conserving energy. This could be executed by implementing energy management especially in office buildings. Energy management can also increase the efficiency of energy in the building. This study focus on the performance indoor environment and energy management system implementation in office building. Energy management is one of the contemporary challenges, thus study adopts an exploratory approach by using a tool developed by UNIDO called EnMS or Energy Management System. Findings show that by implementing indoor environment and energy management can reduce electricity consumption up to 30%. However, the awareness on energy management in Malaysia is still very low. The lack of awareness towards energy conservation among users can be enhanced by implementing indoor environment and energy management. Therefore, serious initiatives by the organization are needed to promote the effectiveness of indoor environment and energy management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]