A team of five final-year Civil Engineering students from the
Faculty of Engineering and Science (FES) of Universiti Tunku Abdul
Rahman (UTAR) won the first prize of the ASIAN Universities Build
and Break Competition 2010 (AUBBC 2010) held at Universiti Tenaga
Nasional in Kajang on 2 October 2010.
The team,
comprising Chiew Yi Zhong (Leader), Lee Teck Wei, Richard Chai Chen
Foon, Lee Lian Wei and Lee Kok Sheng, received RM2,000 and plaques
for their victorious efforts.
Chiew and
three of his current team-mates participated in last year's
competition (AUBBC 2009) but his team failed to make the grade. His
new team-mate for this year's competition was Lee Kok Sheng.
The
experience and knowledge gained from last year's competition proved
valuable to Chiew and his team. Chiew said, "We know the rules of
the competition better from our participation last year." "After
building the model and testing it, we were confident of doing well
in the competition," Chiew added.
Another team
from UTAR also did well to emerge among the top 17 from a total of
55 teams from 30 institutions of higher learning as the team managed
to qualify for the 2nd round even though it was the team's first
attempt.
Ong Huei
Xing, the only female member of the team, said that building a
structural model on the spot was a new experience for her and her
team-mates.
Her other
team-mates were Lu Hee Ping (Leader), See Tiong Bun, How Kah Choong,
and Ooi Chong Yang, all final-year Civil Engineering students at
UTAR.
Present to
provide moral support to the UTAR students at the competition was
Ir. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Chiang. On the performance of the
winners, Dr. Chiang said, "The winning UTAR team has done well,
because they have used the concept of arching effect of the
bunched-up bamboo broom sticks to good use. And they have also
provided a wider base to ensure stability and rigidity of the
overall structure of the model. Even the judges were impressed with
the model."
In addition
to local public universities, polytechnics and private higher
education institutions, this year's competition saw the
participation of teams from foreign universities i.e. National
University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University
(Singapore), and National Taiwan University.
The
competition requires each team to build on the spot a structural
model as specified in the competition with the given amount of
building materials such as bamboo sticks, cardboards, strings,
masking tapes etc. within four hours using their creativity.
The winning
criteria of the competition include the highest ratio of the failure
load to the weight, aesthetic appearance and structural viability of
the model built on the spot at the competition.
This
competition, open to all students pursuing civil engineering course
in Malaysia and some selected universities in ASIAN Countries, is
organised by the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE)
Malaysia Division in collaboration with Universiti Tenaga Nasional
(UNITEN).
The
Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) is a UK professional
body dedicated to the art and science of structural engineering and
has members in 105 countries.
The winners
from UTAR with their winning structural model
