Accreditation of engineering programs: an evaluation of current practices in Malaysia

The curriculum for undergraduate engineering courses in Malaysia is becoming increasingly structured, following the global trend for quality assurance in engineering education, through accreditation schemes. Generally, the accreditation criteria call for the graduates from engineering programs to demonstrate a range of skills, from technical problem solving to soft skills and an aptitude for lifelong learning. In order to comply with these criteria, accreditation schemes are adopted as a quality assurance measure. This paper shall introduce the characteristics of the engineering accreditation scheme in Malaysia. The impact of the accreditation scheme on the quality of these engineering programs shall be evaluated. Data collection is in the form of benchmarking and questionnaires. The evaluation criteria shall be in terms of benefits to the institution, academic faculty, students, and the challenges encountered. A discussion on the evaluation shall include the supposed dichotomies which arise from this accreditation process, namely the compromise between research versus teaching; and the value of engineering knowledge whether as an academic pursuit or catering to industry’s needs. Ultimately, this paper shall address a fundamental question related to undergraduate teaching in engineering: whether accreditation is a necessary prerequisite in maintaining high standards in engineering programs in Malaysia.     

设立投资者赔偿基金 吉隆坡交易所未雨绸缪

１９８３年，吉隆坡股票交易所为加强对投资者的保护，曾颁布法令设计投资者赔偿基金。至今，该基金数额已逾３亿元。     

The Changes in World Oil Prices, Monetary Factors, and Foreign Index Toward Composite Index Movement： Indonesian Case for the Period of 2005-2011

Capital market is one of the drivers of the economy through the formation of capital investor excess as well as an indicator of a country＇s economy. Movement of stock price index is often influenced by many factors, derived from the company＇s performance, monetary factor, and changes in world oil prices. This study highlights the problem in world oil prices due to political turmoil in the Middle East. The samples are taken from the Jakarta Composite Stock Price Index （JCI）, oil prices, Indonesian inflation rate, Certificate of Bank Indonesia＇s （CBI） rate, and the reserve assets, during the period from January 2005 to December 2011 （84 months）. Using the data published by the Bank of Indonesia, reports of the Central Bureau of Statistics （Biro Pusat Statistik, BPS）, and other relevant sources, the data analyzed through the Eviews 7.1. The main objective of this study is to examine the effect of oil prices, foreign stock price index, and monetary variables （inflation rate, CBI rate, country＇s foreign reserves, and others） toward the JCI analyzed through the error correction model （ECM）. Hypothesis testing with the F-test for the 95% confidence level indicates that the oil price, exchange rate （Indonesian Rupiah （IDR）/United States Dollar （USD））, CBI rate, foreign exchange reserves, the Dow Jones Index, and the Taiwan stock index, both simultaneously as well as partially have a significant influence on the JCI.     

Tool path of lathe machine in flexible transfer lines by using genetic algorithms

In this paper, we present a new approach for tool path generation of numerical control (NC) lathe machine tools during the development of flexible transfer lines (FTL). The approach that uses a genetic algorithm (GA) can automatically generate a tool path of the NC lathe machine tools and decides the part reverse position by just giving the dimensions of a cylindrical type of the work piece. Conventionally, this reverse position is decided by an experienced operator because it was difficult to decide automatically in the FTL. The GA approach of our system adopts the moving points of the tool path as an individual. We propose two individuals expressions. The first expression is defined by adopting an absolute value of the tool path as absolute individuals expression (AIE) and the second expression is defined by adopting the incremental value of the tool path as incremental individuals expression (IIE). After some simulations, it is ascertained that our system is useful.