MIRI: Two teams from Curtin University Malaysia won silver at the International Final Year Project Competition and Exhibition (I-CPEX) 2022, organised by the Malaysian Institute of Information Technology (MIIT) at Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) recently.
According to a statement, I-CPEX aimed to provide a platform for teams or individuals from various institutions of higher learning in Malaysia to showcase their projects or innovations.
The first team comprised undergraduates Jordan Chin Shin Yiin, Kou Tzer Shawn, Brandon Ng Kah Meng, Wong Jia Man and Lim Zi Hao under the supervision of lecturer Dr Timothy Ting Zhi Hong from Curtin Malaysia’s Department of Civil and Construction Engineering.
Their project submission titled ‘Slag Concrete Comprehensive Strength Prediction with Big Data Analysis’ involved the use of alkali-activated slag (AAS) concrete to replace ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete to reduce the carbon footprint of the construction industry.
Big data analysis was used for non-destructive tests of strength prediction where an artificial neural network (ANN) was applied to predict the strength of the AAS concrete.
Four ANN models were developed with different architectures to investigate the accuracy of the compressive strength prediction. Other parameters altering the concrete strength were also discussed.
The project’s findings were that ANN was able to predict AAS concrete strength with high accuracy, and the team believed the ANN strength prediction model could be effectively applied in the construction industry.
The second team comprised Daryl Loh Ming Kay, Alan Tiong Ka Wei, Sia Chun Wan, Yii Zhi Sheng and Tan Zhen Shiun, who were supervised by Assoc Prof Garenth Lim King Hann from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Their project titled ‘Real-Time Physical Competency Assessment using Depth Sensing’ focused on a fully marker-less, vision-based method of conducting physical competency assessments of the effects of fitness exercises.
The project was based on the algorithm used on Functional Movement Screen and Bronco Fitness to compute biomechanical parameters (joint moments, joint angles, human characteristic measurements) which gave users a preliminary assessment of their competencies in physical fitness, as well as a general idea of weaknesses and pain to be tackled throughout their fitness journey.
