Sustainable Infrastructure
This is where all the disciplines come together to create sustainable solutions for our transformative urban environment.
Spotlight story: Constructing in a challenging geology
Assoc. Prof Ir. Dominic Ong is committed to finding sustainable solutions for construction in Sarawak, which is well-known for its soft soils and highly weathered soft rocks.
His past projects have included tunnelling and deep excavation works to minimise the detrimental effects on the environment which would be caused by these construction activities. Currently he is working on a green cement geoplymer and green paver blocks, which uses bacteria as a binder.
Thermal energy conversion
Assoc. Prof Basil T. Wong’s aim is to manipulate energy at the nanoscale level by harnessing the energy generated from waste heat/renewable energy and converting that into electricity. To make this happen he is exploring ways of maximizing the conversion efficiency and understanding how heat is transferred at the nanoscale by tackling the fundamentals of energy conversion.
His research entails modelling of how light travels inside the cell and converts to electricity or heat at the small scale, as well as studying the issues which arise during this process.
Artificial neural networks to predict rainfall
As an impact of climate change, periods of draught and torrential rain are set to increase testing the city’s infrastructure. Dr. Kelvin Kuok has developed two artificial neural networks which draw upon the climatechange.org data and localise Malaysian climate change data to a specific city and predict future rainfall.
This tool is invaluable for city planners, as infrastructure and drains in particular can be modified keeping future rainfall in mind.
Building in challenging geology
Our research in construction methods, especially pipe-jacking, is so useful that an engineering company, Hock Seng Lee Berhad has partnered with a research group from our Centre for Sustainable Technologies for advice on their building projects.
These are some of our Spotlight research stories. If you would like to pursue a research degree or do research in one of our impact areas, please contact the School of Research.