| 31 March 2018 |

written on March 14, 2022

This was my first competition at university. Time flies, it has been 4 years. However, I still remember the moment when I first heard about this competition. It was a hot afternoon, and I was waiting for others to get on the bus before heading to the hostel. While waiting, I received a message from my mentor via Whatsapp and she told me that she had nominated me to take part in this competition and asked me if I would like to participate. At that moment, I felt very honoured because only two first year students were selected, and I was one of them. Meanwhile, I was overwhelmed because I felt that I didn’t know anything. Am I really capable of participating in this competition? Fortunately, the idea only stayed in my mind for a short time. I knew I will definitely regret it if I reject it. Therefore, this competition kicked off my competition journey during my university years. I would like to thank my mentor for giving me this opportunity and of course myself for giving it a try at that time.

Overview of SES 2018

Structural Earthquake Stability Competition 2018 (SES 2018) was an inter-university competition organised by the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) Student Chapters of The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) and the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), in collaboration with Lee Kong Chain Faculty of Engineering and Science’s (LKC FES) Department of Civil Engineering. Sunway Construction Group Berhad was the sponsor of this event. It was held at UTAR Sungai Long Campus on 31 March 2018.

The main objective of SES was to provide students with hands-on experience in earthquake engineering through a small-scale structural model, with the aim of training future engineers to design buildings that can withstand natural disasters. The competition allowed students to improve their engineering knowledge, management skills, creativity, and innovation.

A total of 15 private and local higher learning institutions participated in this competition, namely Heriot-Watt University, INTI International University, Monash University, Politeknik Sultan Azlan Shah, Politeknik Sultan Idris Shah, Politeknik Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, SEGI University, UCSI University, Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) and University of Nottingham.

SES 2018 required participants to build a tower model with an observation deck, which aimed to resist the simulated earthquakes generated by the shaking table. Each team of 3-5 undergraduate students were given 3.5 hours to design and construct a tower model using materials provided by the organiser. Upon the completion of model construction, the model was placed on the shaking table to test its stability. The test consisted of 7 levels, each level with a duration of 45 seconds. Prior to testing, a total weight of 600 g will be placed on the observation deck. If the tower model failed to meet the criteria set by the organiser, a penalty of 100 g load will be charged based on the violation of rules.

The materials and tools provided by the organiser during the competition included:

Feature of the Model

The day of competition

The participating teams were divided into zone A and zone B. Our team was group 15 in zone B. Despite having 2 practice experiences, we were still very nervous during the competition, afraid that we could not complete the tower model on time. 3.5 hours have passed in the blink of an eye. Tick tock... tick tock... the time was counting down. There were still a few minutes left and we haven't completed our tower model yet. As the saying goes, nothing is impossible for a willing heart. Finally, we managed to complete our model before time's up.

Now came the tense part of the competition, that was, the moment when your model was being tested on the shaking table. There were a total of 7 levels with a duration of 45 seconds each. Since our tower model met all the criteria set by the organiser, hence there was no penalty for our team. A total weight of 600 g was placed on the observation deck. Our tower model managed to sustain up to level 5 during testing. This marked the end of our team in this competition.

Photo | Video