Silver winners from left: Shao Qi, Kor Yin, Ong and Soo
Three teams from UTAR Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology (FEGT) won silver medals after putting up good presentations at the National Innovation and Invention Competition through Exhibition 2018 (iCompEx’18). It was held at the Politeknik Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah (POLIMAS), Jitra in Kedah from 20 to 22 March 2018.
Organised by POLIMAS, the competition was held for six consecutive years since 2013. The competition was categorised into three stages, namely project innovation, research academic paper presentation and innovation paper presentation. The three teams presented their winning inventions and walked away with a silver medal and a certificate each.
From left: Kor Yin, Ong and Dr Toh
The first winning team which was comprised of FEGT lecturer Dr Toh Pey Yi, Petrochemical Engineering student Ong Chong Leh and Master of Science student Tan Kor Yin won a silver award in agriculture, environment and renewable energy category. Their invention was called “Microalgae Removal from Environmental Water Body through Embedding-Flocculation Strategy”. Their invention uses the chitosan as flocculants or binder and silica to flocculate the microalgae. The silica is used to increase the weight of microalgae in which it will increase the sedimentation rate. The method was applied onto a lake algae that was collected from a fish pond located in Tapah, Perak and the result was effective. The water quality of the fish pond water in terms of Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Chemical Oxygen Demand, turbidity, and phosphorus and nitrogen level was improved. By using non-toxic substances such as chitosan and silica, efficient removal of excess microalgae from fish pond wastewater was achieved. The water quality was also improved, thus potential pollution was avoided.
Kor Yin and Ong said, “By participating in this competition, we had an opportunity to broaden our horizons and knowledge as there were many other innovations and projects shared from various higher learning institutions. It was quite an informative competition and it has given us a chance to learn more about the wastewater treatment from other participating research teams. We believe, our research caught the attention of the judges due to the fast flocculation and sedimentation process which was proven during the presentation. The water that was polluted with microalgae became transparent within five minutes. That obviously attracted the judges.” They added, “Thank you UTAR for giving us the platform to join the competition and for giving us a wider research exposure by providing adequate material and apparatus for us to conduct our experiment.”
From left: Dr Sin, Shao Qi and Dr Lam
The second team also won a silver award in the agriculture, environment and renewable energy category. Their invention was called “A Dual Function Magnetic Separable Photocatalysts for Solar Photocatalysis and Antibacterial Applications”. The members in the second team were FEGT lecturer Dr Sin Jin Chung and Petrochemical Engineering student Tan Shao Qi. Their winning invention was on developing ZnO/Fe3O4 photocatalyst as a magnetic separable photocatalysts in solar photocatalysis and antibacterial applications. Phenols are found in effluents from industrial resin manufacture, coal conversion and petroleum-based processing. Their recalcitrant and acute toxicity properties had negatively impacted the environment and human health. Furthermore, the pathogenic bacteria infiltration in the effluents had also been a persistent problem. Therefore, sustainable treatment method such as heterogeneous photocatalysis was introduced to degrade and disinfect both contaminants. In heterogeneous photocatalysis, the photocatalyst is the main component of the system. Zinc oxide (ZnO) photocatalyst with unique properties of high catalytic efficiency, low cost, non-toxic and chemical stability was preferred in this study. ZnO/Fe3O4 coupling was done to improve the cost-effectiveness of the treatment as its magnetic properties allowed convenient separation and recycling. This distinctive attribute can aid in photocatalytic degradation of phenols and bacteria in large-scale treatment plants.
Shao Qi shared, “I joined this competition to share about this innovation. It's a whole new experience for me. I am honoured to represent UTAR and I am very grateful to win a silver medal. All credits go to my advisor Dr Sin for his support and guidance. I also gained plenty of new exposures and knowledge from other competitors’ project. The skills that I have learnt in UTAR such as the laboratory skills and presentation skills were very helpful for me to complete my research and competition. My research caught the attention of the judges due to the advantageous of synthesized ZnO/Fe3O4 photocatalysts which are cost effective, easy separation and recyclability, eco-friendly and it can apply to phenol and bacteria degradation.”
From left: Dr Sin, Dr Lam and Soo
Another duo from the faculty, lecturer Dr Lam Sze Mun and Environmental Engineering student Soo Jian Wen won the third silver award also in the agriculture, environment and renewable energy category. Their innovation was called “Photocatalytic Fuel Cell (PFC) for Sustainable Treatment of Greywater Effluents and Simultaneous Electricity Production”.
Soo explained, “The research is about using PFC system that operates under irradiation of UV and visible lights and their capabilities in treating wastewater such as greywater to simultaneously generate electricity. The PFC is actually a synergistic integration of two emerging technologies, namely photocatalysis and fuel cell. On the other hand, the greywater was selected as wastewater in this work since it is a household water that has a great potential to be recycle and reuse.”
One of the supervisors Dr Toh, enthused, “The main objective of participating in this competition was to cultivate and promote innovation and creativity among FEGT undergraduate students. Furthermore, the students were able to apply their science knowledge and skills during the presentation in order to give an amazing exhibition to the audience and judges. In addition, the students had the opportunity to learn to work in a team, enhance their skills in troubleshooting to solve engineering and technical problems, improve their interpersonal skills and finally build their own networking through interaction with students from other institutions of higher learning.”
She added, “The iCompEx’18 was a good platform for the students to showcase and present their innovative idea in research. They also gained some experiences and built up their social networking among university students nationally. As part of the students’ final year project, their participation in the competition has given them the opportunity to gain experience in the research field and exposure to various new innovations. The competition was not only an eye opener, but also a platform for all innovators and inventors to present their inventions to the world.”
This year, ICompEx has attracted a total of 624 projects from universities, technical colleges, Institut Latihan Perindustrian, Institut Kamahiran Mara, Kolej Vokasional, Government Agencies and Industry. iCompEx'18 aim to be the best platform to develop new ideas and innovations among young students. This is the third time UTAR FEGT students taking part in this prestigious competition. They were highly motivated and committed to this competition. They carried out a comprehensive preparation for this event.
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