Curtin Malaysia hosting conference on faculty development and multi-disciplinary research collaboration

Miri – 3 September 2021 – Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) will be hosting a week-long Faculty Development and Research Knowledge Sharing Program on Mechanical, Mechatronics and Soft-computing Engineering (MMSCE2021) online conference from 6 to 10 September 2021.

The conference, which will be hosted on Cisco WebEx, is a collaboration between the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Curtin Malaysia and the Department of Mechatronics Engineering at the Indian Institute of Information Technology Bhagalpur (IIIT Bhagalpur) in India.

It is aimed at providing academics and researchers from the two institutions, as well as any other interested participants, an opportunity to exchange views and research ideas in the field of mechanical, mechatronics and soft-computing engineering.

The conference’s expert sessions will cover recent trends in soft-computing, artificial neural networks (ANN), artificial intelligence (AI), smart sensors and data analysis, electric vehicle technologies, micro-electromechanical systems, composite materials, vibration and predictive analysis, advanced machining, and renewable energy technologies.

Curtin Malaysia’s Pro Vice-Chancellor, President and Chief Executive, Professor Simon Leunig, who is chief patron of MMSCE2021, commented that rapid techno-industrial growth and modernisation of the engineering industries calls for active participation and collaboration between academics and industry experts to develop and discuss new findings, innovations and challenges in modern-day demand-driven research. He said MMSCE2021 will provide an effective platform for such discussions, and will also encourage future research collaborations between the participants and their institutions and industries.

Professor Arvind Choubey, the Director of IIIT Bhagalpur, who is also joint chief patron of MMSCE2021, said IIIT Bhagalpur was delighted to jointly organise the conference with Curtin Malaysia. He said it will be of great benefit to the participants, furnishing them with the latest information on emerging trends and challenges in the use of new technologies. It will also help them enhance their capabilities in research and testing and consultancy in the fields of mechanical, mechatronics and soft computing engineering.

Meanwhile, conference convenor Dr. Sukanta Roy, who heads the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Curtin Malaysia’s Faculty of Engineering and Science, remarked that MMSCE2021 was specifically designed to bring researchers and academia from these prominent institutes together to share their research ideas and recent developments in mechanical, mechatronics and soft computing engineering.

Dr. Sukanta said the conference is expected to draw participants from a number of national and international higher education institutions, as well as from industry. To date, more than 100 participants from 35 universities and organisations in Malaysia, India and Australia have already registered to participate.

The programme will comprise 14 one-hour online sessions covering a wide range of subjects related to mechanical, mechatronics and soft computing engineering delivered by expert speakers from Curtin Malaysia and IIIT Bhagalpur.

Kicking off the programme on Day 1 (6 September) will be opening speeches by Professor Leunig, Professor Choubey and Dean of Curtin Malaysia’s Faculty of Engineering and Science, Professor Tuong-Thuy Vu. This will be followed by the first three sessions delivered by Professor Choubey (Recent Trends in Soft Computing), Dr. Garenth Lim King Hann from Curtin Malaysia (Recent Development in Training Artificial Neural Networks) and Dr. Sandeep Raj from IIIT Bhagalpur (Development of Handheld Device for Heartbeat Monitoring using Artificial Intelligence).

Day 2 (7 September) will see three more sessions by Dr. Sujan Debnath of Curtin Malaysia (Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites in Research), Dr. Purnendu Kumar Mandal of IIIT Bhagalpur (High Temperature Deformation Behaviour of 2219 Aluminum Alloys Micro-Alloyed with Silver) and Dr. Mahmood Anwar of Curtin Malaysia (Acoustic Materials Design Towards Noise Control of a Local Palm Oil Mill: An Industrial Research Project Perspective).

Subsequent sessions over the next couple of days will be delivered by Curtin Malaysia’s Interim Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor Vincent Lee Chieng Chen (Vibration and Predictive Analysis for Machinery), Dr. Tameshwer Nath of IIIT Bhagalpur (Investigations on Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) Behaviour in the Development of MEMS Devices), Dr. Moola Mohan Reddy of Curtin Malaysia (Machining of Nickel-based Super Alloys with Advanced Cutting Tools), Dr. Wong Wei Kitt of Curtin Malaysia (Smart Sensor and Data Analysis for Human Motion and Activity Detection), Dr. Abhinav Gautam of IIIT Bhagalpur (Continuum Damage Mechanics Application for Engineering Alloy), and Dr. Man Djun Lee of Curtin Malaysia (Role of Mechanical Engineers in Mitigating Climate Change).

Continuing the sessions on the final day (10 September), Dr. Gaurav Kumar, Head of the Mechatronic Engineering Department at IIIT Bhagalpur, will deliver a presentation on Introduction to Electric Vehicle Technology, and Dr. Sukanta will deliver a session on Renewable Energy Integration for Off-grid Wind Power Generation.

These will be followed by a closing ceremony with a note of thanks by Professor Choubey and closing remarks by Curtin Malaysia’s Dean of Research and Development, Professor Ramasamy Nagarajan.

Those interested to participate in MMSCE2021 can register online at https://mmsce.curtin.edu.my/ by 5 September 2021. For more information, contact Dr. Sukanta at sukanta.roy@curtin.edu.my.

All participants and speakers will receive e-certificates at the end of the conference.

Information on Curtin Malaysia can be found on its website at www.curtin.edu.my, or look for Curtin Malaysia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or LinkedIn.

Those interested to join MMSCE2021 can register before 5 September.