Speak Out For Engineering - Calling Entries

Dear members,

Want to win 500 British Pounds and a paid trip to Australia ? Then read on.

The Young Members Panel is proud to announce that we are now accepting entries for the "Speak Out for Engineering" public speaking and presentation competition!

This competition is open to all IMechE Young Members. Just give a speech on any mechanical engineering topic of your choice and stand to win GBP 500 and a chance to represent Malaysia in the Asian Regional Finals in Malaysia - ALL EXPENSES PAID!

The competition is all about being able to present to a group of people who may know next to nothing about engineering. As engineers we must understand that we will at some point have to express out knowledge in layman's term. You may have developed the world's most efficient car engine, but if you can't sell it what use is it?

The rules are simple present any mechanical engineering topic of your choice in 20 minutes. The score is 90% for your presentation and 10% for the contents. This means that a simple engineering topic can have just as much of a chance in winning as one that is technologically complex.

So what are you waiting for? There are no joining fees you know. There is no harm trying. After all even the runner-up still gets GBP 250! For more info please take a look at the flyer or email us. Hurry the closing date for your entry is 31^st October 2008.

Click here to view the flyer

YMS Secretariat

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Dr Satesh Namasivayam

PhD ( London ) CEng MIMechE

Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering

Monash University Sunway Campus

Tel: + 6 03 5514 6201

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Report on Industrial Visit to Cabot Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.

IMechE Uniten Student Chapter co-organized with IMechE Malaysia YMS an industrial visit to Cabot Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan. The person in charge on that day was Mr. Mathew Thomas, the chairman of IMechE Malaysia branch. The visit was strictly for members only and only limited seats were available. 2 fortunate members including me from Uniten and 3 more from University of Nottingham took the opportunity to visit the leading global supplier of carbon black.

Date : 19th September 2008 (Friday)

Time : 2.30 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.

Venue : Cabot Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Port Dickson

Transport : Coach was provided

The coach arrived at the designated venue at approximately 2.15pm. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a warmth welcome by Mr. Rama, the safety manager of Cabot. We were then ushered to the meeting room where we were shown a short presentation of Cabot Sdn. Bhd. and their acclaimed product, the carbon black. Mr. Rama also explained extensively regarding the safety measures and precautions that they uphold. We understood that safety issue is a major issue when producing the carbon black. Fact: Traditionally, Cabot's carbon black has been used as a reinforcing agent in tires. Today, the uses of carbon black have expanded to include acting as a pigmenting, UV stabilizing and conductive agent in a variety of common and specialty products. An intensely black powder, carbon black is produced by subjecting heavy residual oil feedstock to extremely high temperatures in a carefully controlled combustion process. Cabot manufactures dozens of commercial grades of varying size and structure, each produced through minute adjustments in different reactors. A leading global supplier, Cabot produces nearly 2 million metric tons of carbon black annually.

Approximately, 1 hour later, we were taken on a short tour around the Cabot manufacturing plant. Mr. Bala, the maintenance manager of Cabot, was the person in charge. While touring on foot, Mr. Bala explained in detail all the process involved in producing the carbon black. From blower to heat exchanger to pelletizer, Mr. Bala also explained the obstacles and challenges faced when producing the carbon black. One of the main concerns is the leakage of carbon black which will undoubtedly pollute the air and affect the residential area in the vicinity. The tour took about 30 minutes. The session was ended with Q&A session along with the souvenir presentation. We departed from Cabot Sdn. Bhd. at about 5.30pm.

IMechE UNITEN Talk Series - HVAC

Date : 19th September 2008

Time : 2.30pm—5pm

Location : BL Lecture Theatre (BL0-001)

Speaker : Ir. Soong Peng Soon

Topic : “Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC)


Sypnosis

Air-conditioning and ventilation has a great influence in hot climate like our country. Air-conditioning has become a necessity rather than luxury to building occupants. With such widespread use, an efficient air-conditioning system can help the nation to save huge energy bill because for a modern high rise building, not less than 40% of energy bill is spent on air-conditioning. A well designed and maintained HVAC system will reduce fatigue and air-related health problems of occupants. Being one of the largest exporters of HVAC equipment in the world, it is therefore important that the design of our HVAC product in local factories needs to adhere to strict international specification and the manufacturing process has to be well discipline. In this session, Ir. PS Soong is going to discuss and elaborate the various sectors of HVAC industry and the prospective career opportunities.


Speaker’s Profile

Ir. Soong Peng Soon graduated from University of Malaya in year 1984 and has more than 24 years in the design, manufacturing, construction and testing of HVAC system & components. He was Project Engineer for several mega-projects and once the General Manager of one of the largest HVAC contractors in Malaysia. Projects that he has handled include Petronas Twin Towers that was built according to the most stringent specification. Presently he is an advisor for local and international HVAC contractors who involve in prestigious projects locally and in the Middle East. He will discuss the prevailing status of HVAC industry in our country and international market.

Click here for more info.

Short Video Presentation

IMechE UNITEN Lecture Talk Series by Ir. Hsiung Teck Pin

The IMechE UNITEN student chapter held its third lecture talk series on 5th September 2008 Friday in BL Lecture Theater (BL0-001) from 2.30pm to 5.00pm. The topic of the lecture talk series was on “Machine Design”. The emcee for the day was Andrew Lew Fei Meng. Lecturers who turned up were Mr. Tan Chou Yong and Ir. Kannan. There were about 25 participants who turned up for the talk.

Ir. Hsiung Teck Pin started his talk exactly at 3.00pm. During this talk, the dedicated and caliber speaker shared his knowledge and experience on machine design specifically. He also explained about the wrong perception of machine design that building machines are risky business. If engineers have worked with a particular machine for a long period of time and have become very familiar with it, they would try to build the machine locally. If they succeed, it is still an achievement from their point of view, if their locally built machine functions as well as the original, and most important that, it is good enough for sale.

Ir. Hsiung Teck Pin shared his experience on several machines which he built himself. They are HD Shredder, Auto Lacquering Machine, Scissors Lift (5 Ton SWL), Link Bridge in Operation at Star Cruise and Floodgate. Well, it wasn’t a trouble free process as he explained. He faced some obstacles when building these machines. He added that it is an important skill to be able to troubleshoot the problems. He pin-pointed the importance of working in a team, sharing knowledge with others and through trial and error, he learned to solve the problems.

To sum it all up, to avoid problems arising in the machines after their construction, he has to be careful that the correct components with the quality desired, to be used, and select the workshops equipped with the right machine tools and having the skilled personnel to build his machines. At the end of the talk session, the Q&A session was opened to the floor. Lastly, Ir. Hsiung was presented a souvenir by Ir. Kannan. Students left at about 5.30pm.


One of the slides being shown


Ir. Hsiung delivering his talk


Ir. Hsiung getting close to the
audience for the Q&A session



Audience paying full attention

Audience who turned up for the talk


Ir. Kannan presenting the souvenir to Ir. Hsiung

Cooling the Planet - A Young Member Competition

Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Young Members Board


Cooling the Planet - A Young Member Competition
An Environment Theme Project

The Project:

A competition open to young member teams, with a suggested size of 4-6 people; either regional or area based, new or existing. The only restriction; it should comprise of at least one IMechE member.

The Competition:

A two page technical paper detailing a solution to Global Warming aiming to either:

• Reduce the GHG levels in our atmosphere
• Alter climate system beneficially.

Successful regional winners will be invited to develop their concept for a National Final.

The Judging:

This will be a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style event where each team is to pitch their paper to a panel of expert judges in the regions with the successful candidates being invited to the finals at IMechE HQ.

The Timing:

Formal Announcement: September 2008

Regional Competition: November - December 2008

National Final: March 2009

This is a fantastic opportunity to inform IMechE environmental policy and act as a catalyst to public / political debate around alternative solutions to global warming. If you are interested in taking part in this competition then please schedule it into your events diary. A more detailed document is being prepared and will be available shortly.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the picture
or
Click here to view the pdf file

For those for are interested please email your name,id, contact number and the title of your paper to uniten.imeche@gmail.com