JOHOR BAHRU, 28 Oktober 2014 – Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) students successfully bagged the first and third position at the Intervarsity High Strength Geopolymer Competition (IHSGC) 2014 held at Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) in collaboration with Geopolymer Malaysia (Geopolymer).
The three day event which took place between 10 and 12 October 2014, received sponsorship from NL Scientific Sdn. Bhd, Sustainable Resources Mission Oriented Research (SUREMOR), and Wisuda Sdn Bhd dan Portray (M) Sdn Bhd.
Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Prof. Dr. Shahrin Mohammad said that UTM teams were successful in this competition due to the strength of concrete without cement they built that reached up to 57 and 49 MPa.
“Our civil engineering teams also managed to reduced the release of high carbon dioxide gases as much as 50 percent in the process of making this concrete,” he said.
12 contesting teams from public and private institution of higher learning (IPTA/IPTS) from across the nation participated in this competition.
IHSCG 2014 was held with the objective of inventing one hundred percent concrete without cement, through the innovation of university civil engineering students in order to reduce the release of carbon dioxide gases to the atmosphere in response to the government’s policy of green technology.
“This competition tested the capability of students in producing environmental friendly concrete without cement in the duration of 24 hours.”
“If successful, this invention has a huge potential to be patented because of its durability and high strength,” said Prof. Shahrin.
Prof Shahrin added that UTM has always provided support to any students wishing to contest in this kind of competition with the purpose of giving enough exposure to these future young engineers in order to nurture creativity and innovativeness.
The UTM IHSGC 2014 contestants were supervised  by Dr. Abdullah Zawawi Awang, Dr. Mohd Azreen Mohd Ariffin and assisted by Yang Mulia Raja Ezar Ishamuddin Raja Abdul Latiff and Nawawi Mohd Salleh.
The participating students were Lee Hoong Pin, Nor Hasanah Abdul Shukor Lim and Nur Farhayu Ariffin (PhD Students) and Nurhana Azlin Yahaya, Nooraniza Zulkifle and Syahira Nabilla Ahmad Hisham (undergraduate students).