Monday, April 30, 2012

End of Month 1/36

1st May 2012 - End of month 1/36 of my study.

Started the study leave on 2/4/2012, registered as student on 5/4/2012, fully move to begin study on 16/4/2012. Well, as expected, its already the end of the 1st month.. :)

Last week was a bit busy for me. Drop by at utem for a whole day on thursday, completed several repairs for my car (cost me about rm200 for proton wira clutch pump, air filter, fuel filter and a set of spark plugs). Planned to meet with co-sv, but failed to reach him due to communication error. However, shall meet him on wednesday after labour day holiday to discuss on research matters.Still, managed to meet friends Azli n Daus during the short stopped, lots of things talked about..good to hear everyone is achieving good things at utem :)

I've also attended a level 2 TRIZ training course at KDU Damansara Utama on 23-24/4. The training was very good, learnt a lot and also made new friends from UNITEN, UMS etc. I too visited Pakchaq n family at S.Alam after the training. Alhamdulillah, borhan is already making good recovery on his health. Hopefully he'll regained full recovery as soon as possible, insyaAllah. The training at KDU also help me to be more familiarized with routes around KL, new driving experiences added too.

Alhamdulillah, finally settled down with project direction w sv, so now time to do the work and start delivering results. InsyaAllah hopefully it will go as planned, especially when facing really rough time along the way. Still, no literature review report completed for last week, and got to get it covered next week, insyaAllah.

So tomorrow's the end of a week long break for me, and hope next week some important tasks can be completed i.e. completing the upm supervisory comittee form, cad modeling and lit.review report.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Week Three of PhD

Alhamdulilllah, finally meet the end of week 3 in my study, and more precisely the Week-1 of  ACTUAL research work here in UPM.

Started on Monday by registering myself in a nice and comfortable hostel room, at room 723 on the 7th floor of Kolej-10 UPM, just 15 mins walk to my reserach lab and manage to meet my supervisor in the late evening at KMP 102 (Makmal CAD, Blok G2.5, Kejuruteraan Mekanikal Pembuatan) just after finished unpacking stuffs inside the hostel room. Rezeki, got myself a temporary cubical workspace to start my work there. The lab is good, all the PC's with all sorts of softwares (CATIA,ABAQUS etc) is there, plus access to the internet. There is also a printer provided by my sv for his students to print. The lab is packed with nice n helpful fellow postgrad students, including a post-doc researcher, all under one research theme. The technician is also young n very helpful, so throughout the week  i've managed to settle down myself quite happily there. Not to forget, K-10 also have a nice cafe, water cooler, even service like vending washing machining.

Throughout the week, did plenty of literature downloading n discussion with supervisor n other students, and manage to see student preparing an pre-impregnated sample of his kapok-based composite. The natural fiber raw materials are also there, especially kenaf bast fiber and resin (PU, UP, epoxy, PF etc) + hardeners, so that a good sign. Got some info from lab members that most of the processing equipment are also available, either in Fak.Kej, INTROP or ITMA such as internal mixer, shredder m/c, oven, Uni.Test.Mc, impact tester, simple hot press compression moulder, injection moulder, pellet making m/c, and poltrusion m/c (although so far i've only seen the shredder n oven myself).

The travel from-to UKM is also a short one, especially using the highway but with a rm1.30 toll cost. Managed to get myself lost and end up at putrajaya while trying to try new no-tolled route from UPM to B.B.Bangi. So that's a relief coz i can meet n relax with wan j n afza without much hassle. Infact, still continuing tradition of having bfast together with hmate like in the UTeM days, but now at K-10 cafe :)

So, hopefully i'll make more +ve progress in days to come, got plenty of ideas to do but still haven't decided which one applicable and insyaAllah try to learn as much as possible here while maintaining a good time here.

Difference between strength and stiff/rigid

Strength --> ability to absord the load/force given without breaking or failure

Stiff/rigid --> ability to maintain the original shape (or with less deformation) when load/force applied to it

Example:
Cookies --> Strength: Low, Stiffness: High
Jelly --> Strength: Low, Stiffness: Low
Baby's milk bottle --> Strength: High, Stiffness: High
Nylon cable tight --> Strength: High, Stiffness: Low

Thanks to University of Liverpool for their very useful website in this matter :)
Ref: www.matter.org.uk/schools/content/YoungModulus/introduction.html

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Sabtu, 14-4-2012

Sabtu, 14-4-2012:

Special thanks to my wife n son.. celebrating my besday today with home-cook ikan masak kicap n sayur.. ringkas tp sgt sedap.

Pi shopping brg2 nak dibawa ke hostel UPM di Jusco Tmn U.. cerek & seterika.. juga beli adapter baru utk laptop kesayangan sejak 2006 :)

Harini wat housecleaning.. bilik tido utama.. :D

Wk 2/36 2012

Wk 2 Update:
Alhamdulillah, beraya selesaikan semua urusan berkenaan dokumentasi bagi proses sambung belajar (KPT, UTeM) termasuk urusan serahtugas dgn FKM. Special thanks kpd Afza atas bantuan yg diberi.

Urusan kemas rumah juga selesai pada mlm hr Jumaat, again special thanks kpd Afza. Sempat celebrate penutup hari terakhir di UTeM dan Melaka dgn pekena lauk hidang kat Rest. Seri Tasik.

Sempat juga makan2 bersama geng badminton petang khamis di McD serta rakan FKM di Dima pada hr Jumaat wlupun xrmi yg berkesempatan utk datang.

InsyaAllah hari Isnin, 16/4/2012.. bermula episod baru meneruskan kerja di UPM :D

Monday, April 09, 2012

Opening of a New Book: Route to PhD

5-April-2012:
Finally, i'm opening a new chapter in my life.. as a graduate student at UPM pursuing the hardest and most challenging endeavour of getting myself a Phd certificate!
Officially on 5-April-2012 i've joined the permanent head damage club with many of my friends.. to name a few such as Zaid, Afza, Wan J, Fath, Arab, Faizey..
Semoga Allah mempermudahkan semua urusan dalam misi ini, InsyaAllah.

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Objective: Pass and obtained a PhD
Duration given: 36 months
Official Start Date: 02-April 2012, End Date: 01-April-2015
Venue: Fak. Kejuruteraan, UPM Serdang
Supervisor: Prof Ir Dr Mohd Sapuan b Salit
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