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Year: 2021

Teams from Kazakhstan, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Tomsk Make It to Next Round of TPU’s Urban Greenhouse Challenge

Posted on by Editorial Team

The jury of Urban Greenhouse Challenge: Reforest, an international competition currently being held at TPU, has selected the best projects to the next round. Ten interdisciplinary student teams have made it into the final.

It is the first time Urban Greenhouse Challenge: Reforest has been held at a Russian university. Tomsk Polytechnic University became its main organizer. The students are to develop a prototype for a city farm, an autonomous greenhouse for growing coniferous and deciduous seedlings on multi-tiered shelving units. The prize pool of the competition is $10 000.

“Over 20 teams from 12 countries of the world including Kazakhstan, Portugal, Italy, France, China, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria and others took part in the selection round. We had students from 57 universities, 11 of them were foreign,” Maxim Volkov, Head of TPU International Cooperation Division, says.

“It was challenging to select the best projects for the final. The experts note a high level of the concepts submitted. The final top ten was difficult enough to choose. In the nearest time, the contestants will work with our mentors to polish and fine-tune their projects. We will sum up the results in the summer of 2021,” adds Maxim.

The finalists are: Accelerator (St. Petersburg Mining University, St. Petersburg); Engineers of the Future (Udmurt State University, Izhevsk); Environmental Engineering Group (TPU, TSU, TUSUR, TSUASU, Tomsk); Green Garden (Ugra State University, Khanty-Mansiysk); Green Spot (Voronezh State University of Forestry named after G.F. Morozov, Voronezh; Gubkin Petroleum Geoecologists (GUBKIN UNIVERSITY National University of Oil and Gas, Moscow) REWIND group (Karaganda Technical University, Karaganda BUKETOV University, Republic of Kazakhstan); Skyff (UrFU, TPU, Higher School of Economics, Yekaterinburg, Tomsk, Moscow); TimiryazevLandscape (Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, ITMO University); YOLKA-IGOLKA (Kryachkov Novosibirsk State University of Architecture, Design and Arts, Novosibirsk State Technical University).

“It is a particularly powerful feature that the projects are presented by truly interdisciplinary teams. We have students of very different fields of study like ecology and nature management, environmental management and water management, design, chemistry, landscape architecture, chemical technology, materials science and many others. Only teamwork and knowledge sharing help to achieve really interesting results,” Maxim Volkov adds.

Urban Greenhouse Challenge: Reforest is supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Nuffic Neso Russia (Netherlands Education Support Office) – the official representative of Dutch higher education in Russia, Schneider Electric – the world expert in energy management and automation with divisions in over 100 countries, and iFarm – a company developing solutions for modern urban farming.

The official media partner of the competition is Social Navigator, an outreach project of Rossiya Segodnya international news agency.

Thammasat Business School receives international award from AMBA & BGA

Posted on by Thammasat University

Thammasat Business School has received the “Best Lifelong Learning Initiative Award 2021” presented by the Association of MBAs (AMBA), a global accreditation body in MBA programmes, and Business Graduates Association (BGA), a global accreditation body in business school from the UK for introducing “Thammasat Model”. Thammasat University was the one and the only institution in Thailand and ASEAN to be ranked in the top 6 finalists.

Thammasat Model is one of the courses in the Integrated Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree Program (IBMP or 5-years Program). The third-year students with business and accounting skills will be sent to the community having the professors as the project advisors.

This initiative helps to promote the necessary lifelong learning skills for the community in order to enhance the career and quality of life. The three pillars of the  “Thammasat Model” are students, communities, and industry.

Professor Dr Ruth Banomyong, the Dean of Thammasat Business School, explained, “Thammasat Business School has encouraged students and graduates to apply the knowledge for improvement and development in each business sector, including the enhancement of community-based livelihood in order to create an impact thoroughly and sustainably on the global society. Hence, we have joined the Government Savings Bank and the Community Partnership Association (Puenchumchon) from Rayong Province to initiate “Thammasat Model” project as the prototype and guide to enhance the community enterprises.”

“The core principle of this model is to learn throughout life and sustainably. Students have been sent to over 170 community projects until now.”

“I feel so proud that Thammasat Business School is the first and only school in Thailand and ASEAN who has been nominated and won the Silver Award for “Best Lifelong Learning Initiative 2021” from Association of MBAs (AMBA), a global accreditation body in MBA program, and Business Graduates Association, a global accreditation body in business school from the UK. It has shown the new innovation of teaching extends its effectiveness not only to the level of students but also faculty, organization and external community,” said the Dean.

Curved plasmonic fluxes reveal new way to practical light manipulation within nanoscale

Posted on by Editorial Team

Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University jointly with Russian colleagues and researchers from the Technical University of Denmark for the first time have experimentally proved the existence of a two-dimensional (2D) curved flux of plasmonic quasiparticles, a plasmonic hook.

A flat 2D hook is smaller than a 3D hook and possesses new properties, due to them, the researchers consider it as the most promising transmitter in high-speed microoptical circuits. The research findings are published in Applied Physics Letters (IF: 3,597; Q1) academic journal.

Electrons transmit information in existing calculation devices. The scientists suppose if electrons are replaced by photons, light quanta, it will be possible to transmit the data literally at the speed of light. In order that microoptical circuits and optical computers would become ordinary devices and become mass-produced, it is required to find a way to compress light to the nanoscale.

“We are searching for new types of curved wave fluxes, which can solve this task. Previously, we simulated and experimentally proved the existence of photonic and acoustic hooks and now we have proved the existence of a plasmonic hook. Nowadays, it is the most promising method to transmit a signal. The plasmonic wavelength is shorter than a 3D wavelength in free space and the area of radiation localization is in nanoscale. It is a crucial indicator for miniaturization,” Igor Minin, Professor of the TPU Division for Electronic Engineering, a supervisor of the research work, says.

The authors of the article obtained a flat plasmonic hook using a simple and cheap focusing element. The flat plasmonic hook is an asymmetric dielectric particle sized 4-5 μm and about 0.25 μm thick. According to the scientists, the participle shape can be various, in this case, it was a microcube with a docked prism. This particle was placed on the 0.1 μm thick gold film, on the other side of the film, the diffraction grating was deposited.

During the experiments, the laser ray was directed at the diffraction grating. Plasmon resonance occurred next to the surface of the diffraction grafting under sunlight that is the sunlight was converted into plasmonic waves. These waves passed through the asymmetric dielectric particle focused in a 2D curved ray.

“We obtained a 2D curved ray due to a special shape of a dielectric particle. One of the mechanisms of sub-wave structured focusing is based on the phenomenon of a plasmonic nanojet that we managed to experimentally fix for the first time earlier. When we shift the free 3D space to plasmon polaritons, in other words, 2D space, the quantum nature of matter reveals,” Igor Minin, TPU Professor, initiator of the research work, says.

“It allows implementing implicitly new opportunities to control the interaction between matter and light, for instance, to implement biosensing methods based on the detection of micro- and nanoparticles, biomolecules in the near field. ”

“Of course, it is too early to speak about the application of results, it is a task for future research. Therefore, any research and experiments to transmit signals based on optical principles are still in the practice of fundamental research. Scientists of various fields will have to overcome many challenges to create, for instance, a productive optical computer or even efficient microcircuits. To overcome these challenges, 10-15 years might be spent,” Igor explains.

The research work was partially supported by a grant from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (20-57-S52001) and the TPU Competitiveness Enhancement Program.

The researchers from Technical University of Denmark, Institute of Ultra-High Frequency Semiconductor Electronics of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology took part in the research work.

UiTM receives grant for Digital Datapreneur Incubator Project

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Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia, Kelantan branch campus was recently awarded a grant valued at RM94,000 from the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education for the Digital Datapreneur Incubator Project.

The grant which was awarded on 23rd November 2020 will allow Dr Wan Fairos Wan Yaacob, the leader and her team members, Dr Syerina Azlin Md Nasir, Dr. Nurazleena Ismail, and Dr. Wan Marhaini Wan Omar to continue building on the digital datapreneur hub initiative. This project primarily aims to centralise the mobilisation of young entrepreneurs from public universities nationwide.

The Digital Datapreneur Incubator is aimed at equipping the growing number of participants with data-based analytical skills and encouraging the use of data analytics approach for innovating the decision-making phase. This is expected to add value to the entrepreneurs as skills in advanced technology will give them the competitive edge to not only run their businesses, but to also thrive in the fast-paced economic landscape of Industrial Revolution 4.0.

Apart from providing the platform for young entrepreneurs to polish their skills in data analytics, this project will reach the local community in Kelantan by providing hands-on experience in using a wide array of applications to do their business activities.

This programme has very far-reaching aims and hopes to facilitate the entrepreneurs involved through the identification of important business data which are pivotal for the decision-making process. Hence, this will enable them to make an informed selection of the target market, determine market segmentation, and better strategise the market placement.

The Digital Datapreuner Incubator is one of the 10 collaboration incubators under the Structured Entrepreneurial Incubator Programme (SEIP) which is an entrepreneurship programme at the Ministry of Higher Education. Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, as the key figure for SEIP has been working hand in hand with Malaysian higher educational institutions, government agencies, as well as the industry to bring this project together.

Overall, this initiative is observed to principally produce human capital who is knowledgeable, skilled and competitive to pursue the development of digital entrepreneurship in Malaysia.

The Digital Datapreneur Incubator project will contribute towards improving both data management and data analytical skills, and also ensure sustainability across various sectors in Malaysia such as engineering, technology and digital entrepreneurship. This project will play an important role in national development.

TPU scientists obtain high-entropy carbide in electric arc plasma

Posted on by Editorial Team

Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University have synthesized high-entropy carbide consisting of five various metals using a vacuum-free electric arc method. The research findings are published in the Journal of Engineering Physics and Thermophysics.

High-entropy carbides are a new class of materials simultaneously consisting of four or more various metals and carbon. Their main feature lies in the capability to endure high temperatures and energy flux densities. Combining various elements in the composition, it is possible to obtain the required mix of features (melting point, oxidation temperature, specific weight and others).

“High-entropy materials are called in such a way due to a relatively high degree of disorder in the crystalline lattice, as an atom of every chemical element possesses a certain size in the crystalline lattices. It causes structural distortions and can positively affect material properties,” Alexander Pak, Research Fellow of the TPU Research Center – Ecoenergy 4.0, explains.

The TPU scientists managed to synthesize high-entropy carbide consisting of Ti, Zr, Nb, Hf, Ta and C. Carbide was obtained using a vacuum-free electric arc synthesis. High temperatures are required for a reaction, in order, every primary component interacting with C connects to the face-centred cubic lattice and forms ultra-refractory carbide. Scientists use electric arc plasma to obtain it.

“We became the first who could obtain high-entropy carbide using a vacuum-free electric arc method. It is a great rarity and success for us to synthesize a material that has recently been discovered and to use our method at electric arc reactors created by our research team,” Alexander Pak adds.

“We are planning to improve a synthesis process to obtain a clearer and uncontaminated material, to reduce energy intensity, as well as to research material properties and synthesize high-entropy carbides of the other chemical composition.”

The research work is being conducted jointly with scientists of the A.V. Luikov Heat and Mass Transfer Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. The scientists applied for a patent (method of producing TiZrNbHfTaC5 high-entropy carbide).

Experts to work on setting up site for testing energy technologies in Russia

Posted on by St. Petersburg Mining University

A site for testing energy technologies may be constructed in Sablino, Russia. It would be used to approve well-drilling equipment and equipment utilised in the development of hydrocarbon deposits. 

Russian energy corporations were among the most affected by the sanctions imposed by Western nations in 2014. Then, America and the EU banned supplying Russia with software for modelling hydraulic fracturing. It was also prohibited to provide all kinds of machinery for extraction activities on the Arctic shelf, various installations, units and machine parts for the oil & gas industry, even pump sets.

The process of import substitution shortly followed. In fact, it is still going on, but not as fast as subsoil users would expect. Moreover, Russian analogues are not always up to the standard. There have been many cases when equipment breaks down right after getting started.

“Unfortunately, the system of evaluation and approval of intelligent technologies used for prospecting, extracting and processing hydrocarbons is underdeveloped in Russia. To change the situation, we need to build test sites. Experts working there will assess the maintainability of batch-produced and prototype samples. They will also check if they are usable in permafrost areas and at ultra-low temperatures. Finally, they will issue certificates of product conformity to manufacturers. Testing done at such sites will help minimise the risks resulting from equipment failure during an expected lifetime,” says Mikhail Dvoinikov, Head of the Arctic Competence Centre at St. Petersburg Mining University.

The first test facility in Sablino may be opened before 2023. Therein scientists will work on technologies of oil & gas recovery enhancement and test industry-specific equipment. Three wells simulating the conditions of actual fields are planned to be drilled particularly for this purpose. Two of which – vertical and inclined – will be from 350 metres to 3 kilometres in length, depending on business needs.

Six well models with built-in cryogenic units will be designed as well. They will simulate climatic conditions of Antarctica to help improve technologies of permafrost drilling. The latter is needed to ensure that samples of water and body sediments from the unique Lake Vostok are pollutant-free. It is a subglacial lake located at a depth of over 3700 metres. The field in Sablino will also house laboratories for scientific research in hydrogen production, transportation and storage.

The location was not chosen accidentally: Mining University’s scientific and training centre has been operating there for years, with students of such programmes as ‘Oil and Gas Engineering’, ‘Geological Exploration Technology’, and several others coming to it to acquire practical skills. The centre’s infrastructure is impressive: drilling rigs, equipment for well operation, a station for in-process monitoring, lots of field-specific machinery, administrative premises and living accommodations.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation supports the idea of enlarging the centre and transforming it into a field site. They say the project will be operationally effective.

“More than 30 oil & gas, service and industrial companies took part in a survey. Based on its results, a list with 7 technological areas of import substitution was compiled – these must be tested at a facility imitating a natural field. By building it, we will facilitate the development of over 60 new types of domestically produced equipment. It will also stimulate the creation of a market with a potential capacity of over 100 billion rubles and ensure about 10 billion roubles of additional tax revenue to the country’s budget. The expected annual demand is tests of 30-35 pieces of equipment,” notes Vasily Osmakov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade.

Under a preliminary plan, technical specifications should be elaborated by mid-year. Then the first phase of construction-and-assembling operations starts. It will include drilling test wells and is supposed to be completed by the end of 2022. Provided everything goes according to the plan, the first tests at the field will take place already in 2023.

Chulalongkorn University partners with CP-Meiji to develop Thai dairy farming

Posted on by Chulalongkorn University

The Center for Research and Technological Transfer for the Development of Dairy Farming in Humid Tropical Zones, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CP-Meiji Co., Ltd. for a dairy development project.

The agreement is to apply ‘smart farming’ knowledge and innovation for the benefit of Thai dairy farmers and the milk processing operation in order to upgrade the Thai dairy industry and improve the safety standards of milk from cows.  Furthermore, both parties aim to develop 150 Thai dairy farms and add more than 3,000 milk cows.

With the focus on creating quality dairy farms, systematic farm management ideas will be used to analyse food balance and measure targeted healthcare.  The knowledge will then be transferred to the dairy farmer’s network to deliver high-quality cow’s milk to consumers.

The MoU was signed by Professor Dr Roongroje Thanawongnuwech, Dean of Faculty of Veterinary Science, Assoc. Prof. Dr Kittisak Ajariyakhajorn, Head of Center for Research and Technological Transfer for the Development of Dairy Farming in Humid Tropical Zones, Chulalongkorn University, and Ms Salinrat Pongpanich, Managing Director of CP-Meiji Co., Ltd.

UiTM’s virtual graphic design showcase gathers more than 100 young designers

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On 20 March 2021 a total of 105 final year students of the B. A Graphic Design (Hons.) from Graphic Design Programme (Puncak Alam Campus, Selangor), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malaysia, displayed and exhibited their final year projects of new ideas and designs virtually.

This year the team presented ‘Gallant-by BOLD’ as the exhibition theme.  Symbolically, ‘Gallant’ depicts little or no fear of danger or difficult things thus portraying the determination, perseverance, and courage of these young designers in completing their first degree, amidst the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19.

Inspired by the Tanjak/Tengkolok (the traditional Malay headgear for men) and Keris (an illustrious dagger renowned for its capacity as an object of cultural heritage and priceless heirloom amongst the Malay people throughout the history of their civilisation), four icons had been designed to portray the emergence of the warriors’ psyche and spirit. Each of the icons represented the students’ specialisation namely advertising, illustration, multimedia, and graphic design, and each icon demonstrated a superpower character, glistening in galactic vivid hues.

Gallant is a celebration of the ideas, creativity, originality, and richness of the work produced by these graduating students, and simultaneously demonstrates their agility, tenacity, and fearlessness in the face of the pandemic challenges. Consequently, the obstacles and difficulties experienced by them such as connectivity problems, limited materials and equipment, time and space barriers, etc. testified to how successful the students had been in applying their knowledge aptly, optimizing their skills and resources creatively, adapting to the changes swiftly, and achieving the objectives without compromising the importance of quality.

During the virtual event, Muhammad Adib Sukri Hanafiah was announced as the winner for the best advertising project, meanwhile, Khairunnisa Musa and Zamiatul Atifah Zulkaflee shared the same victory as the winner of graphic design major.  Through an Augmented Reality (AR) application known as “Fardhukids: Fun Learning”, Maisarah Mohd Hanafiah received the Multimedia award, for her exceptional interactivity content.  The final award was given to  Mohamad Nor Anwar Hussin in the Illustration category for his project entitled “Emergency State”.

A Perak born designer, Adib who was the advertising project winner, produced an advertisement Campaign titled “Kids Play” to assist young children’s development via sensory play and learning. It serves as the best alternative to managing screen time among children who have been excessively exposed to digital devices at an early age. The sensory play facilitates the exploration activities and encourages scientific processes to naturally stimulate their brain development. Upon completing his final year project, Adib was offered to work at an international advertising agency where he works as a graphic designer.

Before the event, the students had been assessed via an online platform by the lecturers as well as a panel of experts from the industry during the assessment week. All projects were aligned to meet the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), outlined by the United Nations (UN) through a holistic approach encompassing the quality of education, promoting peace and justice, and ensuring healthy lives and well-being for all.

Officiated by the Dean of Art & Design faculty, Prof. Ts. Dr Ruslan Abdul Rahim, the event was organised in cooperation with UiTM GESTURZ and managed by the event team led by Muhamad Fakrurrazi Mohd Abduh Ng together with his batchmates.

The students were supervised by Mr Wan Zamani Wan Zakaria, Mr Mohd Nizar Mohd Mohd Mokhtar, Mrs Fazlina Jaafar, Mrs Jamizan Jalaluddin, and Mrs Farrah Hanani Ahmad Fauzi, senior lecturers of the Graphic Design programme.

TPU scientists develop hybrid solar storage system for gym in Baghdad

Posted on by avborovskaia

Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University have conducted a research and presented a concept of a hybrid solar energy storage system based on a photovoltaic (PV) installation with electrochemical and thermal energy storage for a gym in Baghdad, Iraq. The development is estimated to be 20 percent cheaper in total than its alternatives.

The research was conducted by Boris Lukutin, Professor of the TPU Division for Power and Electrical Engineering and Karrar Hameed Kadhim, a postgraduate student of the School of Energy and Power Engineering.

“Despite the fact that Iraq is an oil-rich country, it suffers from power shortages and has to import electrical energy. Another problem is the underdevelopment of electrical grids in remote areas, which are not connected to central electric power systems. Therefore, the use of renewable energy resources is a relevant issue,” Boris Lukutin says.

The PV system completes two tasks: it collects and stores electrical energy in batteries, as well as accumulates solar energy as thermal energy of heated water. This PV system consists of an array of PV modules converting solar energy into electricity, which is accumulated in electrochemical batteries paired with a charge controller and supplied to a consumer through an inverter. The thermal part of the PV installation intended for heating water is a thermally insulated electric hot water boiler powered by the same PV modules through a special thermal controller, bypassing the batteries.

Solar energy is accumulated by a combined method: in electrochemical batteries and in cheaper heat-storing water boilers.

Under the conditions of Iraq, the cost of the solar energy collection system can be reduced by 20 percent. As a result, the estimated cost of photovoltaics for a gym in Baghdad turned out to be lower than the national average electricity rate.

“Photovoltaic power is very irregular, since it directly depends on the season, time of day and night and weather conditions. Nevertheless, the advantages of PV technologies allow generating energy at a lower intensity of solar radiation in comparison with the direct heating of a solar collector. Therefore, we can use a wider range of solar radiation to convert it into electricity by PV elements with the further conversion, rational accumulation and use of the electrical and thermal energy by consumers,” the professor explains.

The developed system is flexible and scalable, which ensures customization of its characteristics for a particular project.

Chulalongkorn University students wins SCG Bangkok Business Challenge

Posted on by Chulalongkorn University

“Staplect”, a team of Chulalongkorn University students from the Faculty of Engineering and Chulalongkorn Business School, have won the SCG Bangkok Business Challenge.

As part of Asia’s longest-running Global Student Startup Competition, the SCG Bangkok Business Challenge competition in Thailand, organized by Sasin School of Management, Chulalongkorn University, and the Siam Cement Group (SCG), was held during 19-20 February 2021.   This year, the competition theme was “Growing Beyond Profit with Sustainable Innovation 2021”.

The Staplect team competed against 58 teams from 8 academic institutions and won first place, receiving a cash prize of US$ 3,000.  The team will soon step up to represent Thailand in the upcoming global competition.

The Staplect team members included Mr Krit Uthaisang and Mr. Thanapat Pornsirianant from the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Engineering Program, Faculty of Engineering; and Mr Chavaroj Thongpoch and Ms Napassorn Triwiratchakul from Chulalongkorn Business School.

The winning team was supervised by Dr Jing Tang, lecturer of the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Engineering Program, International School of Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University.