JOHOR BAHRU, Oct 4 – Amer Iskandar Ra’eis, a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) candidate in Mechanical Engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FKM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), has been awarded the prestigious Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Scholarship. The international award will support his doctoral study from September 2025 to October 2028.
Amer’s doctoral research in field of composite structures, focuses on integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) with composite materials to improve the durability and performance of structural components in transmission towers.
His research is supervised by Ts. Dr. Muhammad Asyraf Muhammad Rizal, Senior Lecturer at FKM and Research Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Composite Materials (CACM), UTM. His co-supervisors are Ir. Dr. Amir Putra Md Saad and Dr. Mohd Syahril Ramadhan Mohd Saufi, also from FKM, UTM, while Ts. Dr. Agusril Syamsir from Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN). Amer’s outstanding academic performance during his Master’s studies and the first semester of his PhD reflects his exceptional research capability and dedication.
During his first semester, Amer successfully published a review article titled “Mechanical Properties and Applications of Jute Fibre Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites: A Brief Review” in the Journal of Natural Fibre Polymer Composites. He also achieved notable success at the International Conference on Composite Science and Technology (COMSAT 2025), where he received the Best Presenter Award and the Overall Best Presenter Award for his presentation titled “Applying Machine Learning in Glass Fibre Composite Cross Arms for Transmission Towers: A Short Review.”
“My success is truly the result of the support and guidance of many people,” Amer expressed.
“First and foremost, I am deeply grateful to Allah S.W.T. for giving me the strength and perseverance to contribute meaningfully to society. I owe my heartfelt appreciation to my parents and siblings for their unwavering moral support, especially during the most challenging moments of my academic journey.
I am sincerely thankful to my supervisors for their constant mentorship and encouragement. Special appreciation goes to Ts. Dr. Asyraf, my main supervisor, for his expertise in composite materials; Ir. Dr. Amir Putra for his guidance in design and simulation; Ts. Dr. Agusril from UNITEN for sharing his valuable experience in cross arm’s transmission tower research; and Dr. Syahril Ramadhan from UTM for his assistance in integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning into my work.
Composite materials possess great potential as replacements for conventional construction materials due to their exceptional durability and adaptability. I believe that combining AI and machine learning technologies will significantly accelerate innovation in this field. This belief drives my passion to explore the synergy between AI and composite systems to achieve smarter, more sustainable engineering solutions.”
The recognition of Amer Iskandar by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) highlights FKM’s and CACM’s growing international reputation in AI in composite science and technology research and its continued commitment to nurturing innovative scholars who can address global engineering and sustainability challenges.
