Curtin University researchers to contribute new knowledge about the solar system

02/08/12By Megan Meates

 

 

Curtin University planetary scientiss have been selected by the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) to undertake geochemical analysis of two of the largest and most precious grains that it recovered from the asteroid Itokawa.

The scientists hope to uncover the formation of the asteroid’s age and ultimately contribute new knowledge about the history of the solar system.

The grains have been recovered from the Hayabusa spacecraft, the first ever space mission to bring back samples from an asteroid, and will undergo argon analysis, a once-only destructive technique.

Dr Fred Jourdan and colleagues at Curtin’s Department of Applied Geology and John de Laeter Centre for Isotope Research, along with colleagues at the Western Australia Museum were recently awarded the grains by JAXA.

“This is a major achievement, in particular due to the fact that the argon technique can only be used on the biggest grains and is a destructive technique which means that these large grains will be vaporised using a laser beam and will not be available for further study,” Dr Jourdan said.

“However, argon analysis of grains from the surface of Itokawa will allow us to constrain the formation age of the asteroid and no other technique is more suited for this task.”

The technique involves the decay of potassium in argon and is used to measure the age of geological events such as volcanic eruptions or the formation of impact craters formation.

The grain samples were recovered in 2005 when JAXA, in collaboration with NASA, sent an unmanned spacecraft to study and sample the asteroid Itokawa. The Hayabusa space mission, the first mission to bring back samples from an asteroid, returned to Earth in June 2010 with about 1,500 tiny grains.

Dr Jourdan was awarded the grains because of the international standing of his laboratory in the study of meteorites and asteroid impacts, as well as the reputation of the John de Later Centre for Isotope Research, which is dedicated to research using mass spectrometer instruments.

Itokawa was believed to have formed recently following a major impact on an unknown parent asteroid. Dr Jourdan and his team will not only aim to date this major impact, but they will also measure the age of the surface of Itokawa by measuring how long the grains have been exposed to cosmic rays.

“We will also measure the argon composition of the solar wind implanted at the surface of the grains,” he said.

This is the first time argon chronology will be attempted on samples from a known asteroid. Usually, it is not known which asteroid a meteorite has come from.

Contact:

Dr Fred Jourdan, Senior Research Fellow, John De Laeter Centre for Isotope Research, Curtin University
Mob: 0424 174 984; Email: F.Jourdan@curtin.edu.au.

Megan Meates, Public Relations, Curtin University
Tel: 08 9266 4241, Mobile: 0401 103 755, Email: megan.meates@curtin.edu.au

MEDIU won ‘Best Website Award for University College and Private University’ for the year 2010

9th June, 2011

Al-Madinah International University (MEDIU) recently was honored with the First Prize for the Best Website Award of 2010 under the ‘University College and Private University’ category; an award reviewed by the Ministry of Education. A total of 39 University College and Private University participated in the competition. The University’s management expressed its deepest gratitude to all the individuals who has worked towards this achievement and praised the constant support of all the staffs for their hard work and dedication to rise and to secure leading positions in all fields of knowledge to become leaders and beacons of light to the new world.

This award ceremony was presented by Y.Bhg. Datuk Ab. Rahim Bin Md. Noor; Secretary General of the Ministry of Higher Education(MOHE) and witness by Y.Bhg. Datuk Haji Omar bin Abd.Rahman; Deputy Secretary General(Management) and Y.Bhg.Dato’ Rohani Binti Abdullah; Deputy Secretary General(Development) was held in Putrajaya Commemoration Hall on Tuesday, May 3 2011. The award presentation reflects the honor to the University’s for its constant effort in supporting and enforcing the technological infrastructure while providing educational services using advanced technologies for the benefit of its students and public.

The evaluation of the competition is based on several factors such as the bilingual interface, ease of browsing, external links access, student services, connection with social websites, supportive technology, along with the quality of design and overall design presentation.

UTP

THE 12TH TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION AND CAREER 2012 (TEC XII) (10 – 11 JULY 2012)

The 12^th edition of the Technology, Education and Career successfully attracted 53 companies to participate in its exhibition held at the Foyer, Chancellor Complex, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) from 10 – 11 July 2012.  This annual event was jointly organised by UTP’s Career Advisory Services Unit and Student Representative Council, in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Ministry of Science and Technology (MOSTI) and Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR).  This year, TEC XII also received support from the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF). 

With the theme ‘Enlighten Your Career World’, TEC XII, amongst others, aimed to:

Expose students with the real world and challenges of working life,

Equip graduates with skills and competencies needed for local and international job market, and

Provide students the opportunity to interact directly with the participating companies’ personnel and obtain first-hand knowledge on the criteria demanded by employers in selecting prospective employees.    Muhammad Hasan Azhari, TEC XII’s Project Manager said this event is significant as it provided an effective platform for the students to establish interaction and networking with the private sectors and government agencies.  He believed that through mutual collaboration with these organisations, students participating in TEC XII would gain invaluable insights into their future career paths and further mould them into becoming well-rounded individuals. In conjunction with TEC XII, several pre-events such as career talks, interviews, Career Seed, Intern Share Forum, SHELL Management Skill Game and a technology conference were held since March.  These programmes were designed to increase the interaction between future graduates and representatives from global industry giants and local companies, as well as government agencies from various sectors.  This would then help future graduates to find suitable employers and industries that are relevant to their qualifications and interests. The event was officiated by YBhg. Leftenan Jeneral Dato’ Wira Allatif Mohd Noor, Vice Chancellor of National Defence University of Malaysia, representing Y.B. Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Minister of Defence Malaysia. In his speech, YBhg. Leftenan Jeneral Dato’ Wira Allatif was delighted that MINDEF was involved in events such as TEC XII as  he believed it will help students develop themselves further into becoming professionals in their chosen fields.  As such, he said, the organisation of TEC XII was a step towards creating an enviable workforce in the age of globalisation. YBhg. Leftenan Jeneral Dato’ Wira Allatif also remarked that, “As the world is evolving towards more technology-based systems either in the civil or military context, it is becoming increasingly important for us to move with this trend where our younger generation needs to develop new skills and greater capabilities in order to keep up with the growing technology.  As such, we are most happy to work with UTP in our search for graduates who are prepared to rise to these new challenges in the working world. Students nowadays are very much dependent on technology and very eager to explore new things in various fields. This curiosity can lead to inventions of promising new technology that could put Malaysia at par with the developed nations.” Also present at this event was YBhg. Datuk Dr. Zainal Abidin Hj Kasim, Vice Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS. Among the companies that took part in TEC XII were PETRONAS, SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd., Shell People Services (Asia) Sdn. Bhd., Schlumberger WTA (M) Sdn. Bhd., Technip Geoproduction (M) Sdn. Bhd., Aker Solutions (M) Sdn. Bhd., Baker Hughes (M) Sdn. Bhd., Halliburton Energy Services (M) Sdn. Bhd., SapuraAgercy Sdn. Bhd. and MINDEF.

Limkokwing 

Grads with analytical skills

21 July

Business is the driving force of an economy. Business organisations bring together different types of resources in a creative and innovative environment to maximise opportunity and profits.

Every organisation needs business experts to help them resolve problems they will face on a daily basis. Employers want graduates with the right mix of digital skills and global business exposure.

Limkokwing University offers globally recognised degrees specialising in International Business, Accounting, Business Administration, Islamic Banking, Marketing and Entrepreneurship that also equip students with the right digital skills.

Students will gain essential exposure to how a real-world business environment works through Limkokwing University’s close collaboration with partners across a wide range of business sectors.

Business managers are in high demand among forward-thinking companies. Top employers are looking for highly skilled problem-solvers who are not afraid of taking risks to create new opportunities for growth.

Students will learn to analyse problems from an international perspective.

They will learn to formulate business operations and strategies to take a business to new heights. Studying business does not restrict their career choices. It is simply a stepping-stone to a wide range of opportunities.

ICT and multimedia

Information and communications technology (ICT) is the driving force behind almost every business organisation today. In Malaysia, the Economic Transformation Programme is emphasising on ICT and the creative industries especially multimedia, to enable the country’s migration to a high-income economy.

Limkokwing future-focused ICT and multimedia programmes will help students learn to use the latest computer software and improve their skills and talents to excel in their relevant industries.

Exhibitions are held often and the recent Prismatic event showcased the skills of the multimedia students. The main structure which stood in the middle came with large LED panels and plasma TVs and drew the attention of the students.

The Faculty of Creative Multimedia

Offers a wide range of programmes which are carefully tailored to nurture creative and innovative talents.

Communication and film production

The communication sector is abuzz with opportunities and the future holds exciting possibilities for those with the right skills. Worldwide, there is a huge demand for skilled people in the industries related to telecommunications, the internet and broadcasting.

Start by learning the technical skills and the use of software and the technology related to this field. Students can excel whether in front of the camera or behind the scenes. The audiovisual team of Limkokwing University has won six awards in the 2012 Communicator Awards that featured some of the world’s top brands recently.

This year’s Communicator Awards received entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world. Limkokwing Film & Television Academy won an Award of Excellence (Gold) for Film/Video (Art Direction) category for Lim Kok Wing: A Tapestry, Film/Video (Editing) category for Lim Kok Wing: A Tapestry, Film/Video (USe of Animation) category for Malaysia Digital Inovation Centre Launch.

The team added to their haul of Gold awards with an Award of Distinction (Silver) for Film/Video (History/Biography) category for Lim Kok Wing: A Tapestry, Film/Video (Educational Institutions) category for Malaysia Digital Innovation Centre Launch, Film/Video (Use of Visual Effects) category for Malaysia Digital Innovation Centre Launch.

This was the team’s first appearance in this competition which attracted household names such as MasterCard, Cisco, Samsung, Nike, Ford Motor Company, Panasonic, General Electric, Citibank, Intel and Microsoft.

UMS

UNIMAS launches its new version website

KOTA SAMARAHAN: A new version of UNIMAS website was launched on Wednesday by the university’s Vice Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Khairuddin Ab Hamid at the CTF1, UNIMAS.

Also present to witness the launching of the website was Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation) Prof Dr Peter Songan, the Deans, other officers and staff of the university.

UNIMAS is among public institutions of higher learning (IPTA) which have created their websites as early as 1994 and is still using the url www.unimas.my without “edu.my” like the other IPTA.

The other IPTA also using url without “edu.my” are USM, UTM and UKM.

Prior to the launching ceremony, the Dean of the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Prof Dr Narayanan Kulathuramaiyer, who is also the Chairman of UNIMAS Webometrics Working Committee, gave a general lecture on Webometrics: Contemporary & Forward Looking.

In his lecture, Dr Narayanan urged the campus community to work together and increase their effort to improve UNIMAS position in the Webometrics evaluation and star rating by MDec.

Various changes had been made on the website in line with new development in technology and UNIMAS is confident that with the new features and high commitment from the campus community, it would succeed in achieving its goal.

Recognition of changes to UNIMAS official website was also certified by outside observers.

This was obvious when the SarawakBloggers.net evaluated UNIMAS website through their Twitter account during the launch ceremony.

Source : Sarawak Tribune

UPM cipta sistem pantau pergerakan pesakit Alzheimer

SERDANG, 8 Ogos – Empat penyelidik dari Institut Gerontologi (IG) Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) membangunkan alat Alzheimer’s-Real Time Location System (A-RTLS) yang menggunakan gelombang radio berfrekuensi rendah bagi memantau pergerakan pesakit Alzheimer.

Teknologi yang dibangunkan selama tiga tahun membabitkan Prof. Madya Sr. Dr. Abdul Rashid Mohamed Shariff, Prof. Madya Dr. Ahmad Rodzi Mahmud, Dr. Zaiton Ahmad dan seorang pelajar siswazah Mohd Fadhil Abuhan.

Ketua penyelidik, Dr. Abdul Rashid  berkata A-RTLS berfungsi  menjejaki pesakit Alzheimer secara wayarles di mana satu alat penjejak (tag) akan dipakaikan kepada pesakit.

“Lokasi tag dijejak melalui frekuensi radio dengan menggunakan alat pengesan yang diletakkan di sekeliling pusat jagaan. Pemantauan jarak jauh terhadap pesakit dibuat melalui paparan sistem di komputer.

“Melalui paparan sistem itu, penjaga mendapat gambaran keseluruhan pergerakan setiap pesakit berdasarkan pelan lantai pusat jagaan berkenaan dalam bentuk dua dimensi. Pemakaian tag juga tidak mengganggu aktiviti seharian pesakit kerana ia bersaiz kecil dan ringan.

“Penggunaan teknologi ini dapat meringankan beban penjaga di pusat jagaan dan pemantauan rapat ke atas pesakit dapat dipertingkatkan. Selain itu, ia turut membantu meningkatkan kualiti hidup pesakit dan penjaga,” katanya pada sidang media Putra Cipta di sini.

Dr. Abdul Rashid berkata peralatan sistem itu dibahagikan kepada dua bahagian iaitu perkakasan sistem yang melibatkan komponen alat peranti penjejak (tag), alat penerima (pembaca) dan komputer serta perisian sistem yang terdiri daripada perisian enjin lokasi, perisian pelayan dan perisian aplikasi.

Beliau menambah teknologi A-RTLS bersifat mesra pengguna, efektif, menjimatkan masa penjaga, tidak memudaratkan kesihatan pesakit dan kos yang berpatutan.

“Pemantauan jarak jauh tanpa wayar dapat dilakukan untuk persekitaran dalaman (indoor) sejauh 100 meter dan 200 meter untuk persekitaran luaran (outdoor).

“Frekuensi radio yang digunakan adalah 5.8GHz. Penggunaan frekuensi ini mematuhi piawaian yang ditetapkan Kementerian Kesihatan dan tidak memudaratkan pengguna. Selain itu, kelebihan A-RTLS ialah ianya dapat menjejak banyak pesakit Alzheimer yang membawa tag pada satu-satu masa.

“A-RTLS tidak hanya sesuai digunakan di semua pusat jagaan Alzheimer malah ianya juga boleh diaplikasikan di pusat jagaan golongan tua dan rumah sakit mental di seluruh Malaysia,” ulas beliau.

Sementara itu, Pengarah IG, Prof. Dr. Tengku Aizan Hamid berkata jumlah pesakit Alzheimer turut bertambah dengan peningkatan penuaan penduduk di negara ini di mana bilangan pesakit akan meningkat sekali ganda dalam tempoh 18 tahun lagi dari sekarang.

“Peningkatan jumlah pesakit Alzheimer sekaligus menyebabkan permintaan terhadap penjagaan kesihatan pesakit turut meningkat,” katanya.

Hasil kajian Dr. Abdul Rashid  bersama kumpulannya turut mendapat pengiktirafan dengan memenangi pingat emas di Pameran Reka Cipta, Penyelidikan dan Inovasi Malaysia (PRPI) 2012 pada 17-19 Julai lalu.

Berita disediakan oleh Muhamad Najkhan Mazlan, Tel: 03-8946 6011 dan foto oleh Marina Ismail, 03-89468985

UIA

07/30/2012
Sunnyvale, Calif.

WLAN Detects and Contains Over 1,500 Severe Independent Security Events

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – July 30, 2012 – Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARUN), Black Hat USA’s WLAN provider for the fourth year running, delivered another successful, secure network for attendees at this year’s event. The conference, held last week in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the world’s largest gathering of computer security professionals and hackers, and has become one of the most important computer and networking security shows as a result.

Aruba’s ability to safeguard network infrastructures against wireless security threats was put to the test at the event. The network, which was accessed by 3,155 attendees with a maximum of 904 simultaneous clients, detected and quickly contained a total of 1,561 severe independent security events. These events included more than 280 rouge access points (APs) – with some rogue APs attempting to impersonate the official event network. Other wireless attacks that were detected included Block ACK DoS attacks, Power Save DoS attacks, Deauth Broadcast, AP Spoofing and “Hotspotter” attacks. The Aruba network also detected some malicious fragmentation-based attacks from the wired side, which were all contained very quickly.

Aruba’s innovative device-fingerprinting capabilities allowed a clear picture of which devices were being used on the network. Apple devices were most prevalent at this year’s event, with iOS devices at 29.6 percent of the total and 13.7 percent for Mac OS. Linux users came in at 19.9 percent of the total, Windows were 19.2 percent and Android 17.6 percent.

The network, which covered a 200,000 square foot facility in the Caesar’s Palace Conference Center and was quickly deployed by two technicians in just over four hours, consisted of 23 mesh point Aruba AP-134 APs and 16 mesh portal Aruba AP-134 APs. The 16 mesh portal APs were wired into the hotel’s infrastructure. Also included in the network were an Aruba 3600 Mobility Controller and an Aruba S3500 Mobility Access Switch. The network was managed by Aruba’s AirWave network management system, which employs a user-centric approach to monitor network utilization, identify where the network is being accessed, the types of mobile devices in use and how much bandwidth is being consumed by specific devices.

“Black Hat USA provides an environment that puts Aruba’s WLAN solutions to the test like no other,” said Aruba engineer Robbie Gill, Ph.D., who led the design and deployment of the Black Hat network. “You simply don’t see the kind of traffic, users or volume of security incidents that you see at Black Hat USA anywhere else. This is the fourth year in a row that Black Hat USA has asked Aruba to provide the wireless network, reaffirming their confidence in the high level of performance and security we deliver to  attendees. Our enterprise customers can feel secure knowing that Aruba WLANs can effectively handle the most difficult and hostile of environments.”

* Do you know that IIUM Wireless Network Infrastrucuture is using Aruba ...

Source from http://www.arubanetworks.com/news-releases/aruba-delivers-wlan-at-black-hat-2012/

UiTM  Untangling Technology

The partnership between Norzaidi Mohd Daud, Ph.D, from the Faculty of Business Management and Intan Salwani Mohamed from the Faculty of Accountancy has led to the development of TECHPROVED^TMSystem, a new business information technology system that could prove to be the way forward for detecting user resistance to technology and other IT usage problems.

Today more than ever, the momentum for employing emerging technologies to ensure more efficient delivery systems is building throughout industry and government. No one wants to be left behind and huge investments are made to acquire new information technology systems to this end. These investments, however, involve a complex mixture of technological, managerial and policy related challenges. Such investments often fail to live up to expectations if these risks are not fully understood or addressed in the first place. When this happens,  policy makers need to know what went wrong but few have the resources to accurately and continuously evaluate the problem.

The Business-Accountancy research duo has shown how to get around this problem by developingTECHPROVED^TMSystem, a system based on their research on IT implementation in the Malaysian port industry. The study involving 357 middle managers from the port authority, immigration, customs and marine departments, incorporated three levels of analysis. Specifically, they sought to identify the perception of the middle managers on the effects of IT usage, examine the relationships between variables such as technology characteristics, task characteristics, task-technology fit, perceived usefulness, perceived resistance, user resistance, user satisfaction and the level of impact of the said variables on performance.

UTHM PEIS Platform Pelajar Antarabangsa Kuasai Bahasa Inggeris

Dalam usaha memperkembangkan peluang pembelajaran sepanjang hayat kepada semua kelompok masyarakat  di peringkat tempatan mahupun antarabangsa, Pusat Pendidikan Berterusan (CEC), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn  Malaysia (UTHM) terus memainkan peranan aktif dengan menganjurkan program Preparatory  English for International Students (PEIS) 2012 selama 72 hari bermula 25 Jun hingga 30 Ogos. Program yang melibatkan kursus intensif bahasa inggeris untuk pelajar antarabangsa ini tidak mempunyai  kelayakan minimum bahasa inggeris seperti yang telah disyaratkan dalam peraturan akademik dan setara  dengan kelayakan ILETS 5.0 dan TOFEL 500 . Penekanan intensif diberikan dalam kursus ini melibatkan  beberapa modul  iaitu modul writing, reading, listening dan speaking. Pendaftaran program ini telah dijalankan pada 23 Jun lalu dan melibatkan 32 orang peserta. Sepanjang  kursus berlangsung, peserta dilibatkan dengan pelbagai aktiviti pembelajaran berbentuk kuliah, video,  "role play", kerja lapangan, kuiz, Internet dan pelbagai pendekatan pembelajaran aktif lain.  Peserta juga diuji dengan peperiksaan akhir dan bagi mereka yang lulus program ini akan berpeluang  melanjutkan pengajian ke peringkat Ijazah Sarjana Muda di UTHM yang dijadualkan pendaftarannya pada  September 2012.   Selain daripada pendedahan intensif bahasa inggeris, peserta juga didedahkan dengan pengetahuan  mengenai kebudayaan Malaysia melalui modul Malaysia Culture. Pendedahan mengenai kebudayaan  masyarakat setempat ini bertujuan untuk membantu peserta berkenaan mengadaptasi diri dengan cepat bersama masyarakat setempat.  Di samping itu peserta turut dibawa melawat pasar pagi pada 28 Jun lalu untuk memberi peluang  merasai sendiri budaya kehidupan masyarakat di Parit Raja. Peserta juga berikan pendedahan  mengenai kemahiran komputer melalui modul Library Skills manakala pendedahan kepada penggunaan  komputer dan sistem yang digunapakai oleh UTHM didedahkan melalui modul IT Skills. Kesemua  aktiviti ini dilaksanakan dengan menggunakan bahasa inggeris. Oleh kerana sambutan daripada para peserta amat menggalakkan, program PEIS ini akan diteruskan lagi pada tahun-tahun berikutnya bagi memastikan hasrat UTHM menjadi universiti bertaraf  antarabangsa akan terus disemarakkan melalui peningkatan bilangan pelajar antarabangsa yang  melanjutkan pengajian ke peringkat Ijazah Sarjana Muda di UTHM.

UteM

ARTICLE TITLE	:	UTeM Cipta Brek Magnetik
NEWSPAPER RELEASE	:	Kosmo
DATE	:	08.01.09

UniMAP 




PENYELIDIK UniMAP DIBERI PENGIKTIRAFAN OLEH MTSF

Penyelidik UniMAP iaitu En. Lee Boon Beng, pensyarah  di PPK Bioproses telah berjaya memperolehi geran berjumlah RM 20,000.00 daripada Malaysia Torey Science Foundation (MTSF) melalui projek penyelidikan yang bertajuk Development of a Novel pH Regulator Capsule to In-Situ Control Lactic Acid Concentration Level in Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) Fermentation.

Majlis penganugerahan tersebut telah diadakan pada 21 Disember 2011, di Hotel InterContinental, Kuala Lumpur yang telah dirasmikan oleh Y. Bhg. Dato’ Dr. Sharifah Zarah Syed Ahmad Timbalan Ketua Setiausaha (Dasar) wakil kepada YB Datuk Haji Fadillah Haji Yusof, Timbalan Menteri di Kementerian Sains Teknologi & Inovasi.  Daripada 245 projek yang turut serta, hanya 16 projek sahaja yang terpilih untuk menerima geran tersebut.

Selain UniMAP, antara universiti lain yang berjaya memperolehi geran tersebut adalah Universiti Malaya, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Universiti Sains Malaysia, International Medical University, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman dan Universiti Teknologi MARA.