PENANG, 15 August 2020 – A multidisclipinary research team from the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) led by Professor Ir. Dr. Md Azlin Md Said from the School of Civil Engineering was awarded a research project by the National Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM) to develop the NAHRIM ENVIRONMENTAL SENSOR SYSTEM (NUESS) for water quality monitoring.

This research grant amounting to RM260,000 is for a ten-month period, starting from May 2020 to February 2021.

The team consisted of researchers from the USM School of Civil Engineering (SOCE), Collaborative Microelectronic Design Excellence Centre (CEDEC), School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (SOE&E), National Advanced IPv6 Centre (NAv6), and the School of Physics.

Research Team with NAHRIM sampling water samples at Site 3, with MBSP personnel as observers

A team of co-researchers from the Water Quality Laboratory, NAHRIM led by Dato’ Ir. Dr. Hj. Nasehir Khan E.M. Yahaya will collaborate in this research project.  

This project exemplifies the transformative potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) in research for Monitoring/Control and Services/Integration Technologies, as the project would develop and integrate sensors for environmental monitoring and water resources for the future, utilising Internet of Things (IOT), Cloud Computing and Big Data.  

A detailed site work in Seberang Perai is being coordinated with NAHRIM and the Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP) for validation and verification of the sensors being developed.

This research project was made possible under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked between USM and NAHRIM.

USM is lending its expertise in the areas of environmental engineering, optical sensors and non-optical sensors development, design and system development, system integration and IOT, big data management and database systems to develop an integrated environmental system to monitor water quality parameters, including some heavy metals, several air quality parameters, several soil parameters and water flow.

Research Team with NAHRIM and MBSP personnel at Site 3

This project aims to provide NAHRIM the capability of monitoring multi-sites in real time and displaying the information gathered via web/internet for water quality and other environmental data.

It also provides a unique opportunity and experience for researchers in USM to work in a multidisciplinary team, for similar projects in the future.

Source & Photo: Professor Ir. Dr. Md Azlin Md Said/Editing: Tan Ewe Hoe