The Hydraulic Constructions Laboratory at EPFL, upon which Curtin Sarawak may model its very own proposed facility.
MIRI: The Curtin University of Technology Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) are keen to explore possible collaborations on research works as well as students’ exchange programme.
This proposal came following a visit by Assoc Prof Sharul Sham Dol, who is head of the Petroleum Engineering Department under Curtin Sarawak’s Faculty of Engineering and Science, to the Swiss institution where he met senior research fellow Dr Giovanni De Cesare.
Sharul said both parties were keen to promote their respective research works, particularly in the fields of turbulence and hydrodynamics, as well as initiate an exchange programme for research students.
“My meeting with Dr De Cesare was a very fruitful one, as he would be able to promote research activities at Curtin Sarawak, particularly in the area of fluid dynamics,” he said, adding that he toured the Hydraulic Constructions Laboratory at EPFL’s Civil Engineering Institute under its School of Architecture, Civil and Environment Engineering, during his visit there.
According to him, the laboratory has 15 research and technical staff members as well as 30 PhD students.
“These students are studying sediment transport mechanisms in torrents and rivers, assessment of design floods and security of hydraulic schemes, eco-morphology of river networks and confluences, hydraulic schemes, physical and numeric modelling, waterpower and dams, as well as erosion of fissured media due to high velocity jets,” Sharul explained.
Sharul, who is setting up Curtin Sarawak’s very own Turbulence and Energy Research Laboratory, said the visit to EPFL had given him valuable insights into how an active research facility should be developed and managed.
“The Academic Ranking of World Universities currently puts EPFL second in the field of engineering and technology. The QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education World University Rankings rated it (EPFL) second in the same field in 2014-2015.”
The Curtin University – of which Curtin Sarawak is its largest international campus – has 19 subjects featured in the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject, including chemical engineering being in the Top 100, electrical and electronic engineering in Top 150, and civil engineering, computer science and information systems, environmental sciences in Top 200.
Curtin was also awarded with a five-star overall rating in 2015 QS Stars University Ratings.