An impressive display of Physics Projects by Foundation Engineering students

13 November 2015 – A total of 291 second-semester students from the Foundation in Engineering and Science programme (Faculty of Engineering and Science), Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) showcased their Physics projects at the Harry Perkins Lecture Theatre foyer in Curtin University Sarawak. 34 projects were displayed during this event, delving into the deeper realms of Physics knowledge that they have learnt throughout their Foundation year.

The objective of the project is to make a toy or prototype based on the Physics concepts that they have learnt in the 2-semesters Foundation Engineering Physics units. The topics that are covered during the two semesters include Kinematics, Dynamics, Work, Energy, Momentum, Impulse, Rotational Motion, Equilibrium, Elasticity, Heat, Fluids, Electrostatics, Direct current, RC circuit, Photoelectric Effect, Magnetism, Electromagnetism, Optics and nature of light. Students worked in groups ranging from 6 to 10 members to design and build their masterpiece within 13 weeks. The exhibition was facilitated by the unit co-ordinator of Physics 062, Mr Pang Po Ken and teaching staffs Ms Hii Kiew Ling, Ms Lai Zhenyue and Ms Natallee Faith Kwan.

According to Mr Pang, the project exhibition is one of the assessment components of the unit. The students were assessed not only on their understanding and application of the Physics concepts, but also on their creativity, originality, attractiveness and functionality of their projects. Such exposure will develop key skills amongst the students that will help in their Engineering and Science studies.”

“Through this exhibition, students learn to be more organised in terms of presenting their work in an attractive and innovative way. Instead of presenting their project through a conventional method, the students created videos or flow charts to explain the concepts in a simple and understandable way to the audience,” he added.

Overall, both lecturers and students enjoyed the exhibition, and the lecturers were impressed by the students’ creativity and effort in making the exhibition a success. “It is evident that the students put in a lot of effort and dedication, judging on the good quality of project work they showcased this semester. By giving them the right guidelines and expectations, I am sure they will shine!” Ms Lai complimented.

“We are very proud of the students’ dedication and determination in completing their projects. Though they faced disappointments and failures during the process, their perseverance has kept them going. I could see their initiative in finding solutions for the problems encountered and I believe they have learnt more than what is acquired from the textbook. This is also the main purpose of having a project-based learning assessment that will motivate students to search for ideas and solutions,” highlighted by Ms Hii.

Fellow student Chua Wei Jing, said this project gave them the opportunity to have a practical exposure on the theoretical knowledge that they had acquired. “Through this hands-on project, we discovered that theories can only provide us with the fundamental concepts. However, when it is put into practice, there were a lot of unforeseen factors that needed to be considered in the project. And with that, it makes the project very challenging,” opined by Chua.

Besides that, students also learnt to work as a team. “The project would not be accomplished without team spirit. We experienced the power of teamwork and learnt how to manage different team members wisely,” remarked Han Kit Siew, one of the students involved.

Project presentation is held every semester but this is the first time that the projects were showcased publicly in the university. ”We would like to thank our head of department, Mr Foad Motalebi for his full support and our Foundation students for making this exhibition a success.” 

Awards were given to the groups that showed the best relevance to the project theme and also demonstrated the most attractive and creative prototypes. The overall winning team was “ElecTHOR Cannon”, which demonstrated the electromagnetism concept in their project. The first runner up was “Piano Optics”, that demonstrated wave and optics concept while the second runner up was “Unbreakable” equilibrium block, which displayed the concept of equilibrium.

“The process of making the project works was challenging. We even thought of giving up after several failures. Nonetheless, our determination kept us going and after several test runs, we finally succeeded. The feeling of success was indescribable and touching as our hard work finally paid off!” exclaimed Ho Zhi Hong, the leader of the winning group. “I am grateful to have my teammates who are always supportive. Without them, the ElecTHOR cannon project will never be a success,” added Ho.

The winning project – “ElecTHOR Cannon” that demonstrates the concept of Electromagnetism.

Project “Piano Optics” on waves and optics wins first runner-up, with lecturers (centre) Ms Hii Kiew Ling and Mr Pang Po Ken.

The second runner-up team with their project “Unbreakable” equilibrium block.