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Faculty of Engineering, University of Mauritius

UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

RESEARCH

BULLETIN

JULY/AUGUST 2013

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2 Faculty of Engineering, University of Mauritius

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Faculty of Engineering, University of Mauritius

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DEAN’S MESSAGE

Wearehappy toshareour irstFacultyResearchBulletin with you. The Research Bulletin ispublished twice a year, in January and July. Theaim is to show the diversity and innovativeresearchandscholarshipbeingcarriedout in theFaculty.AttheFacultyofEngineering,wearecommittedtoan inclusive model of knowledge creation anddisseminationwhereresearchandscholarshiparevalued.TheFacultyhasastrongdriveandagoodtrack record in engaging with industry andgovernment to solve applied problems. Wewelcomeenquiriesfromindustryandgovernmentregardingtheirresearchneeds.We have an increasing number of studentsregistering for M.Phil/PhD degrees, which leadstoasteadystreamofhighlyskilledpeoplemovingon to further their careers in industry oracademia.We hope that you will ind the bulletininformative.Iwishtothankallthestaffwhohavetaken their time, intellect and energy to advanceourresearchportfoliosofar.And,aspecialthanksto the editorial team for their commitment inpublishingthis irstResearchBulletin.HappyReading.ProfTRamjeawonAgViceChancellor,UoMAssocProfDKHurreeramAgDean,FacultyofEngineering

ProfTRamjeawonAgViceChancellor,UoM

AssocProfDKHurreeramAgDean,FacultyofEngineering

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"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" Albert Einstein As the Faculty of Engineering Research Advisor, I am pleased to welcome all readers and contributors to this new Research Bulletin, indeed a commendable initiative of the Faculty Research Committee. Research is not only critical to the mission of our University but also to the economic and social development of the country. The importance of academic research is becoming increasingly more evident especially as one of the factors directly related to good economic performance. Research leads to applications that directly benefit the people of this country and beyond and help to transform and improve our natural, social, and individual worlds. This Bulletin comes as a first in the history of the Faculty of Engineering and it will be brought out on a six monthly basis to allow adequate time for getting some well researched articles and inputs and allow space for meaningful dialogue. The aim of this publication is to create a dynamic forum for research and provide a platform for sharing of research ideas and research works. Further, we would like to foster collaboration with the real sector and focus our efforts towards project outcomes that have a major impact on competitiveness and productivity. To this end, we will put our talents and research competencies to the service of the industry through research seminars, workshops, conferences and consultancy. Through this Bulletin, we also aim at attracting extramural funds that can be applied to specific research projects which will collectively benefit academics and the industry. So let us all join our efforts to pursue our research agenda and look to a vast range of opportunities to build a future economy based on the strengths of our resources backed by research from this University.

Professor K M S Soyjaudah

EDITORIAL TEAM Prof K. M. S. Soyjaudah Dr S. Goolaup Mr R. Doomun Dr K. Amic Dr D. Surroop Dr R. Unmar Mr S. Nunkoo

MESSAGE FROM FACULTY OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH ADVISOR

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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

Since its creation in 1968, the Faculty of Engineering has fulfilled its initial mission of producing and training technicians and engineers, in various fields, who consequently have contributed significantly in the first phase of the industrial development of Mauritius. Up to June 2012, the Faculty has produced about 4500 undergraduates, 1000 postgraduates in engineering, computer science and textile technology and over 2000 students were awarded diplomas/certificates. The Faculty of Engineering comprises six departments namely: Applied Sustainability and Enterprise Development, Civil Engineering, Chemical & Environmental Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the Mechanical and Production Engineering. The Faculty is highly geared towards research and training. The Faculty is composed of 178 staff composed, of 92 full-time academic staff, 50 technical staff and 36 administrative staff. In 2012/2013 the total student population in the Faculty was about 3100 (2631 full-time students and 469 part-time students). 201 students were following MSc programmes. 52 research students are enrolled on MPhil/PhD degrees. The mission of the Faculty is to provide high quality education at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, to develop excellence in research, to foster industry/faculty partnerships and to contribute to the development and application of technology for the advancement and welfare of the community at large.

The Faculty welcomes the following new academic staff for academic year 2012/2013:

Mr Seeboo Asish in the Civil Engineering Department

Mr Seejore Om Prakash in the Mechanical & Production Engineering Department

Mr Toolsy Bhoomitra Sharma in the Mechanical & Production Engineering Department

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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH THEMES ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC Communication Theory Source Coding, Channel Coding and Modulation Network and Wireless Security Telemedicine Renewable Energy and Energy for Sustainable Development Energy Efficient Buildings Energy Management Application Layer Forward Error Correction Codes Robust Transmission of H.264 AVC Over Wireless

Networks Power Electronics and its applications in the Control of Motor Drives Photovoltaic and Wind Energy Systems Power Quality and Harmonic Mitigation Imaging Techniques and Applications Signal Processing Applications Power Systems Computational Intelligence Optimization Control Theory: Optimal and Robust Feedback Control Control Applications: Process Industries, Biological

Systems, Renewable Energy and Smart Grids, Power Systems, Energy-Efficient Buildings, Wind Turbine, Quantum Optics

Multimedia Communications Iterative decoding systems for communication

receivers Energy efficient data transmission techniques Networking and Security Adaptive Coding Techniques for Data Transmission Engineering Education · Renewable Energy Econometrics as Applied to Power Systems

CIVIL Life Cycle Assessments Business Sustainability Assessments Sustainable Buildings and Construction Sustainable Consumption and Production Environmental Modelling Water Resources Management Hydrology & Water Resources Project Management Infrastructure Climate Change Sustainable Development Hydrogeology of Volcanic basins Statistical Modelling & Drought predictions Climate change and extreme hydrological events Applications of Geographical Information Systems Geotechnical site characterisation Engineering behaviour of residual soils Indexing the engineering properties of basaltic rock Slope stability: risk assessment. Urban Planning Environmental Management Physical Planning Environmental Planning Structural Engineering Structural Design Concrete Engineering materials Construction Project Management Surveying Land Measurement Boundary Disputes Environmental Engineering – Sustainable and renewable energies Traffic engineering & Intelligent transport system Traffic studies Concrete Technology Network Security and Privacy Wireless Security Wireless Ad Hoc and Sensor Networks Information retrieval

COMPUTER SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

Intelligent Systems

Wireless Sensor Networks

Nature Inspired Computing, Optimisation

Algorithms

Sustainable Development and Thinking

Transport Engineering

Waste Management

E-Learning

Machine Learning Computer Vision

CHEMICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL Wastewater Engineering Environmental Engineering & Management Environmental Impact Assessment Energy/Renewable Energy/Bio-Energy Sugarcane Industry (Sugar, Electricity, Ethanol Produc-

tion Systems) Energy & Sustainable Development Energy-Environment-Economy-Development Environmental Risk Assessment Persistent Toxic Chemicals- Mercury management Environmental, Quality and Health & Safety Management Systems Process Design Simulation Energy engineering and management Industrial Ecology Life Cycle Analysis of Environmental & Energy Processes Degradability/Biodegradability of Solid Wastes Composting Anaerobic Digestion Processes Waste Management Waste-to-Energy Climate Change Energy & Waste Auditing Remediation of solid wastes, wastewaters & Environmental pollutants (composting, anaerobic diges-

tion processes; ultrasound- & microwave-assisted pre treatment for waste treatment;

adsorption)

Bio-Ethanol Production Technologies (Acidic/Enzymatic)

Composting

Anaerobic Digestion

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MECHANICAL & PRODUCTION Corrosion Phenomena of Stainless Steel 3D Surface Texture of Metal Surfaces due to Common

Wear Phenomena Surface Integrity aspects of Corroded Metal Surfaces Quality Engineering Strategies as Part of a Quality

Excellence Framework Operations Research Business Strategy Formulation and Auditing Performance and Productivity Management Advanced Manufacturing Technology Total Quality Management Energy Management Energy Engineering Environmental Monitoring & Control with Emphasis on Energy Issue Materials and Processes Vibration Assisted Processing Automation and Mechatronics Systems Corrosion: Monitoring, Assessment and Prevention Applications of Industrial Engineering and Lean

Management in different Industries Technology Management Quantifying and Reducing E-Waste Economic Productivity Assessment and Benchmarking Applications of Industrial Engineering and Lean

Management in different Industries Fluid Mechanics

Information Representation and Knowledge Organisation for web Digital Libraries and Organisations Web Science and Social Computing Computer Networks Ubiquitous Computing Mobile and Wireless Computing Enterprise Systems Enterprise Application Integration Context Awareness Knowledge Management Global Internet Economics Biometric Security System Pattern Recognition Routing Protocols in ad-hoc networks Network Services Open Source Software Cloud Technologies Context-Awareness Open Source Software Mobile Ad-hoc Networks Software Engineering Knowledge Management Web-related Technologies Web Agents and Services Computer and Information Security Networking Security and Biometrics Information Retrieval and Classification Social Networks Web Technologies and Web 2.0 Mobile Communication Telecommunication Databases Automated Software Engineering Computer Networks Ontology Engineering Semantic Web Knowledge Engineering Knowledge Based Systems Knowledge Management Information Systems Geographic Information Systems Social Networking Computer Security and E-Learning Operating Systems Distributed Systems Multimedia IPV6 Bioinformatics Image Processing Vision Systems Human Computer Interaction Computational Biology Cloud Computing applied to Bioinformatics Caching Architectures

APPLIED SUSTAINABILITY & ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT Electrospinning Sme Development & Empowerment Surface Chemistry of Polymers Textile Composites Colouration of Polymeric Materials Colour Communication Colour Trends and Forecasting Nanotechnology Application to Textile and Polymeric Materials Garment Comfort and its Measurement Tactile Communication Design Theory & Concept for Fashion, Textiles and

Interior 3-Dimensional Printing & Relief Surface Pattern Assistive Clothing and Fabrics for Specific and Niche

Market Environmental Clothing, Bio Fashion and Recycling

Materials History of Design Design Crafts Geometrical Modeling of Textile Structures Computer Visualisation of Fibruous Materials Realistic Simulation of Surface Appearance Sustainable Product Design and Development Use of Indigenous Materials for Crafts through Design Innovation Textile with Eco Prints and Weaves Designing and Product Development for Recyclable

Textile Materials Surface Design for Textiles

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH THEMES

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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS CONFERENCE PAPERS FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/2013

1. Mr D S Callychurn, “Service Quality through Quality Management in the hotel sector in Mauritius: A case study of hotels X, Y & Z”, 4thWorld Conference of Production and Operation Management in Amsterdam , Netherlands, July 2012

2. Assoc Prof K Elahee, “Maurice Ile Durable Concept: Sustainability for a Small-Island”, 11th Global Conference on Environmental justice and Global Citizenship in Oxford, UK, July 2012

3. Assoc Prof Mr C Bhurtun, “Real-Time Efficiency Estimation of an Electric Motor”, ICUE International Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, August 2012

4. Mrs M Heenaye-Mamode Khan, “A Multimodal Hand Vein Biometric based on Score Level Fusion”, 2nd International Symposium on Robotics and Intelligent Sensors 2012 in Kuching Sarawak, Malaysia, September 2012

5. Assoc Prof D K Hurreeram, “Business Performance Monitoring: Beyond Financial Indicators”, 26 International Conference on Manufacturing Research(ICMR) at University of Aston, UK, September 2012

6. Mudhoo Ackmez, “Effects of microwave heating on biogas production, chemical oxygen demand and volatile solids solubilisation of food residues”, International Conference on Environmental Management and Engineering(ICEME 2012) in Singapore, September 2012

7. Dr N Kistamah, “A New Method for the Determination of Drape of Fabrics”, 41st Textile Research Symposium(TRS) at University of Minho, Guimaraes, Portugal, September 2012

8. Dr R T F Ah King, “Integrating Distributed Energy Resources in the Electrical Grid considering Resource Variability for Reliable Power Planning”, 38th annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society(IECON 2012) in Montreal, Canada, September 2012

9. Mr P Appavoo, “Using Network Protocols’ Fingerprints to Efficiently Determine the Penetration Level of Open Source Software in

Online Businesses”, IEEE Conference on Open Systems(ICOS2012) in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, October 2012

10. Mrs A Meetoo-Appavoo, “OSSpolicy – An Information and Communications Technology Framework based on Open Source for Developing Countries”, IEEE conference on Tecnology and Society in Asia 2012, Singapore, October 2012

11. Mrs V Ramnarain-Seetohul, “A case study of an Online Assignment Submission System at UoM”, ICCESSE 2012: International Conference on Computer, Electrical and Systems Sciences and Engineering in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, October 2012

12. Dr (Mrs) S Baichoo, “GCVT-A Genome Comparison and Viewing Tool’ and ‘GIDT- a tool for the identification and visualization of genomics islands in prokaryotic organisms”, IEEE 12th International Conference on BioInformatics and BioEngineering(BIBE2012) in Larnaca, Cyprus, November 2012

13. Mrs Z Cadersaib, “Improved EAI Methodology”, 3rd Annual International Conference on Software Engineering and Applications(SEA 2012), Singapore, November 2012

14. Mrs A Vaidya Soocheta, “Sustainable Product Development using ‘Pandanus Utilis’ Leaf fibre”, 2nd International Conference on Textile and Apparel, Dhaka, Bangladesh, November 2012

15. Dr B Rajkumarsingh, “Using LabVIEW Software in an introductory Residual current device course”, ICCEIT 2012 in Paris , France, November 2012

16. Mr R Doomun, “Integrated Green Cloud Computing Architecture”, International Conference on Advanced Computer Science Applications and Technologies(ACSAT) in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, November 2012

17. Mrs Y Baguant-Moonshiram, “Sustainable Village: Case Study Goodlands, Mauritius”, International Scientific Academy of Engineering and Technology Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, November 2012

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18. Ms B Gobin, “A domain ontology for capturing knowledge for social integration”, 10th International Conference on ICT and Knowledge Engineering 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand, November 2012

19. Mr R K Moloo, “A Comparative Analysis between Facebook integrated using Open APIs and a normal website: A case for Social Enterprise Computing in Mauritius”, International Conference on Computer Engineering and Network Security ICCENS’2012 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 2012

20. Mr V Oree, “Assessing the energy savings potential in public buildings through retrofit measures in tropical climates – A case study in Mauritius”, 10th Ceo- Energy and materials SWcience and Engineering Symposium(EMSES 2012) in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, December 2012

21. Mr S Pudaruth, “The Effect of Class Attendance on the Performance of Computer Science Students”, 2013 International Conference on Communication and I nformation Technology and Engineering(ICCITE) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, January 2013

22. Dr S Z Sayed Hassen, “Optimal Frequency Regulation of a Two-area Power System”, 2013 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Technology (ICIT 2013) in Cape Town, South Africa, February 2013

23. Dr B Rajkumarsingh, “ Modeling a TN Earthing System using Labview”, IEEE EDUCON2013 Conference in Berlin, Germany, March 2013

24. Mr L Nagowah, “RTET – A Round Trip Engineering Tool”, International Conference of Information and Communication Technology in Bandung, Indonesia, March 2013

25. Mrs S D Nagowah, “A Mobile Knowledge Management Framework for Police Force”, International Conference of Information and Communication Technology in Bandung, Indonesia, March 2013

26. Dr T P Fowdur, “Performance of Turbo Coded 64-QAM with Joint Source Channel Decoding Adaptive Scaling and Prioritised Constellation Mapping”, 6th International Conference on Communication Theory, reliability, and Quality of Service (CTRQ 2013) in Venice, Italy, April 2013

27. Prof K M S Soyjaudah, “Improving the Performance of NEAT Related Algorithm via Complexity Reduction in Search Space”, 10th International Symposium on Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence in Salamanca, Spain, May 2013

28. Assoc Prof V Proag, “ Potential Hurricane Loading Conditions in Mauritius” and “Simulating Drought Conditions for Hydroenergy Generation”, 2nd International Conference Energy & Meteorology 2013 in Toulouse, France, June 2013

29. Mrs V Dookhun, “Industrial Symbiosis and Performance Management: A case study from the sugar industry in Mauritius”, 7th International Society for Industrial Ecology Biennial Conference in Ulsan, South Korea June 2013

30. Mr A A H Khoodaruth, “Exergy Analysis of the potential of the cane bagasse cogeneration plant in Mauritius”, 5th International Conference on Applied Energy (ICAE 2013) Energy Innovations for a sustainable world in Pretoria, South Africa, July 2013

31. Mr V Oree, “Improving Efficiency of a Dual-axis Solar Tracking System via Optimization of Drive Power Consumption”, European Conference on Sustainability, Energy and the Environment (ECSEE 2013) in Brighton, UK, July 2013

32. Assoc Prof K Elahee, “Solar Water Heating: The Case of Mauritius”, European Conference on Sustainability, Energy and Environment (ECSEE 2013) in Brighton, UK, July 2013

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS CONFERENCE PAPERS FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/2013

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ENHANCED MULTIMEDIA COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES DR T. P. FOWDUR*

The advent of broadband internet and the recent emergence of 4G mobile technologies have led to an explosive growth in the volume of multimedia traffic generated on communication networks. Applications such as videoconferencing, video on demand, P2P, online gaming and mobile TV are becoming increasingly popular. In addition, devices capable of supporting multimedia communication such as 3G/4G mobile phones, digital tablets and i-pads are now easily accessible. Already several networks such as LTE and

ADSL are being pushed to their capacity limits to meet the bandwidth requirement for multimedia communication and it is very difficult to ensure an acceptable QoS and QoE, especially during peak demand periods. Multimedia data (video/images/audio) are normally compressed before transmission with powerful coders such as H.264, MPEG4, JPEG, JPEG 2000, MP3, etc., so as to reduce bandwidth requirements. However, the use of compression renders the data extremely sensitive to errors introduced by noisy communication links. Moreover, the quality of service and quality of experience can be seriously compromised due to bandwidth fluctuations and delays particularly during the transmission of real time multimedia data. Hence, several adaptive communication strategies are being developed to meet the challenges of multimedia transmission over different networks such as LTE, IEEE 802.11a, WiMax, DVB-T, DVB-RCS and ADSL.

A significant improvement in transmission fidelity can be obtained for multimedia data by using techniques such as Unequal Error Protection (UEP), error resilient coding, error concealment and strong error correcting codes such as Turbo and LDPC codes. UEP is a technique which is particularly suited to multimedia transmission since multimedia data can be easily partitioned into segments of unequal importance. As such, by giving more protection to the most important part of the multimedia data, a significant improvement

in the quality of the received signals can be obtained. Error resilient coding deals with techniques which can exploit the structure and probabilistic characteristics of the entropy codes used multimedia compression. It can provide significant improvement in quality by preventing error propagation and enabling the detection and correction of erroneous data blocks. Error concealment techniques are also very useful especially in situations where retransmission of lost packets cannot be made due to unacceptable delays. Finally, error correcting codes such as Turbo and LDPC codes have made near Shannon limit error correction possible which implies that they can achieve very low bit error rates at specific power levels. Hence, they can provide a major performance improvement in multimedia communication. Turbo and LDPC codes are iteratively decodable codes that have been adopted by several communication standards such as LTE, CDMA 2000, DVB-RCS, DVB-S2, DAB and IEEE 802.16. Incidentally, all these communication standards are being used for multimedia communication. However, for many applications, it is desirable to further reduce the complexity and optimize the convergence of these codes. Techniques such as iterative detection and extrinsic information scaling have been therefore been developed to reduce the complexity and speed up the convergence of Turbo codes. Interestingly, current investigations have revealed that the coupling of extrinsic information scaling and UEP for JPEG image transmission leads to major improvements in the quality of the images received.

Achieving high quality of Service and Quality of Experience in Multimedia Transmission using Unequal Error Protection and Iterative Decoding Techniques

About the Author

Dr T. P. Fowdur is a Lecturer at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. His research focus is on Joint Source Channel Coding, Unequal Error Protection techniques for image and video transmission, Wireless Communications, Networking and Security. Email: [email protected]

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A SECURE DATA ACCESS MODEL FOR THE MAURITIAN HEALTHCARE SERVICE (MRC FUNDED PROJECT)

The healthcare sector is highly information intensive and a computerization of the sector would have innumerable benefits at different levels. Several developed and developing countries are investing substantially in Electronic Patient Records systems. For an improved and modern healthcare service, Mauritius should also follow suit by working towards a computerized healthcare systems that allow the sharing of data among different healthcare institutions. Among the benefits of such systems are:

Immediate access to patient information (eg. allergies, previous diagnosis), which can be crucial in emergency treatment.

Use of critical data with predictive modeling to identify high-risk candidates. This can enhance healthcare operational efficiency by initiating strategic management tactics to mitigate the potentially significant costs of fully developed illnesses.

Facilitation of statistical analysis and help to identify trends in diseases.

Availability of valuable data that can be useful beyond the boundaries of the healthcare services, eg. for the police department and insurance companies.

Potential to improve the quality of healthcare audit and research.

Access Control is an important component of a healthcare system. This project, undertaken by a team of academics* from the Computer Science & Engineering department of the UoM is looking into design and implementation issues of providing access control based on recent concepts of Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Context-Based Access Control (CBAC).

Motivation Computerized healthcare systems can save lives, speed up treatment, reduce treatment costs and help in reducing long-term costs through strategic planning. Due to the sensitivity of the data and number of types of users involved, access control is an extremely important feature. Access Control should be performed securely and efficiently without getting into the way of valid users to ensure that users only obtain as much access as they are authorized. RBAC introduces an efficient way of assigning access rights to data through roles rather than to specific users. However for enhanced access control, researchers have considered adding a number of context�based parameters, such as time and location of access. In a healthcare institution, this would mean that a nurse is only allowed access to a patient information from the ward where she has been assigned duty, only during her on-duty schedule.

Objectives The aim of the project is to study the applicability of Role-Based Access Control, supported by context�based parameters, to perform access control of patient data in the Mauritian healthcare system. The “Nouvelle Clinique du Bon Pasteur” of Rose-Hill has kindly agreed to collaborate on this project, which is funded by the Mauritius Research Council. The project will entail the investigation of different types of user roles involved in the healthcare institution, how role management can be performed in a computerized healthcare system, the types of context parameters and constraints that need to be applied in such a system and the

Email: [email protected] Project Team

Assoc. Prof O. Moonian, Assoc. Prof K. Khedo, Dr (Mrs) S. Baichoo, Mr. R. Doomun, Mrs. S. Cheerkoot�Jalim, Mrs. S. D. Nagowah, Mrs. Z. Cadersaib, Mrs. A. Meetoo-Appavoo and Miss R. Doomun.

Securing Access to Medical Information Systems For An Improved and Modern Healthcare System

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FIBROUS MATERIAL: PRODUCT DIVERSIFICATION & SUSTAINABILITY

Introduction There is a growing consumer trend towards the use of natural, recyclable, renewable and biodegradable resources and there is a huge potential to exploit locally-available natural and sustainable fibres for commercial applications and product diversification. In addition, these materials are low-cost and in general, are available in abundance. The use of sustainable fibres is predicted to be a growth market in the world economy as environmental awareness grows. Sustainable fibres such as coconut, banana, pineapple, sansevieria, and vacoas fibres and other ‘recuperated’ cotton and wool fibres can be used to manufacture non-woven or other fibrous structures for different engineering applications. They may be used as geotextiles, insulation materials, sound-proofing or filtering materials, or as biodegradable and sustainable materials for automotive applications or in building/construction for the production of ‘green’ composites or laminated reinforcement materials. The aim of the research work is to assess the potential of recycling natural fibres such as cotton and wool and to characterise the properties of different locally-available natural and high performance fibres for the development of specialised fibrous structures for commercial applications. The development of nonwoven textiles structures is also an important part of the project. Nonwoven structures do not require the conversion of fibers into yarn. They are bonded together by entangling fibers or filaments mechanically, thermally or chemically such that the inter-fiber friction results in a strong fabric. They may be given specific properties such as absorbency, water vapour permeability, softness, strength, sound or noise absorption, filtering and bacterial barrier which help to create fabrics for specific uses, while achieving a good balance between product use-life and cost. Nonwoven materials of special properties can be produced in less time and at reasonable prices. The production of nonwovens from popular natural fibres, its waste and agricultural ‘waste’ fibrous

materials such as banana, pine apple and sansevieria fibres have not been fully explored. Results : Degumming of Sustainable Fibres One of the serious limitations of the use of natural fibres such as banana, pineapple and sansevieria fibres is their stiffness and ‘bundled’ fibrous structure. Therefore, the fibres have to be degummed effectively to spin them successfully into a yarn. The degumming process consisted of a steaming followed by an enzyme process. The result of the combined steaming (30 mins)and prolonged (6 hours, at 50oC, pH 4.5) pectinase enzymatic degumming process showed that the hand feel and stiffness of the bundles improved quite remarkably. However, optical microscopic observations reveal that the bundles were only partially degummed. The gums (pectins and lignins) were quite tenaciously bound to the fibres that form the bundles. The untreated sansevaria fibres are less bundled, cleaner and softer than banana or pineapple fibres. The handle and stiffness of the fibres improved marginally after the combined steam and enzymatic treatment. Sansevieria has, therefore, great potential as spin-able material for commercial applications. The industrial trail of the lab recipe of the degumming process gave even more promising results for all the fibres. Work is currently underway for spinning blends of the fibres and producing nonwovens with a mix of commercially available natural fibres such as cotton and wool waste.

“The use of Sustainable Fibres is predicted to be a growth market in the world economy as environmental awareness grows”

Optical Microscopic view of bundles of fibres before combined steam and enzymatic treatment

Optical Microscopic view of bundles of fibres after combined steam and enzymatic treatment

About the Author

Dr N. D. Kistamah is Head of Department of Applied Sustainability and Enterprise Development at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Mauritius. He holds a PhD in Textile Chemistry and has carried out research work on fibrous materials for several years. Email: [email protected]

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ADVANCED PROCESS CONTROL Dr S. Z. Sayed Hassen*

Process control refers to the technologies required to design and implement control systems in the process industries. The goal of process control is to bring about and maintain the conditions of a process at desired or optimal values. Process control technologies include physical and empirical modeling, computer simulation and optimization, automation hardware and software and advanced control strategies. Process industries are those in which raw materials are physically or chemically transformed or

where material and energy streams may interact and transform each other. These include continuous, batch, or sequential processes and can refer to process units, whole plants, and enterprises. Specific industries include biological/ biochemical/ bio-fuels enterprises, cement, chemical, electrochemical, glass/ceramics, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), minerals and metals, petrochemical/refining, pharmaceuticals, power generation, and water systems. Process components are also prevalent in other industries such as automotive, green buildings, microelectronics, and nuclear power.

Modern process industries cannot operate without process control. Control is required to stabilize unstable processes or if the process is stable, the technical impact of process control is to improve dynamic response and reject disturbances. Once the plant is designed and working, process control provides the means for maximizing production and product quality. On average, improvements achieved in various industries can be quantified by increased throughput (3-5%), reduced fuel consumption (3-5%), reduced emission levels (3-5%), reduced electricity consumption (3-5%), reduced quality variability (10-20%) and reduced refractory consumption (10-20%).

Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers have been successful in the process industries because they work reasonably well in most applications. They are generally implemented without the need for a process model and are relatively easy to tune according to well established tuning rules, either manually or automatically, using software supplied by all the major vendors of process control platforms. Although (PID) control has been the king of the regulatory control loop for many decades, advanced process control has over the last few decades moved beyond the laboratory to become a standard in several industries. Many vendors now routinely

offer advanced solutions. The most successful advanced process control technology has been model predictive control (MPC) with its ability to optimize multivariable constrained processes. MPC is often combined with online optimization of the setpoints on the basis of large, rigorous nonlinear stationary plant models. MPC applications are expanding from chemical/refining plants to industrial energy and public power generation utilities. Other high-impact process control success stories include inferential sensing using, for example, Kalman filtering; process modeling and identification tools for the estimation of process variables that are too difficult/expensive or impossible to measure online; automatic fault detection and diagnosis and statistical performance monitoring using multivariate statistical methods; and systems methodologies and analysis tools to deal with highly complex processes. However, the key issue remains that economic justification is crucial for new applications of advanced control.

Mitigating the effects of climate change is perhaps the grand challenge of the 21st century. The process industries are major users of energy as well as major emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG). Energy efficiency has always been an important consideration in advanced process control and is often explicitly included in optimization and control objective functions. A promising application related to energy savings and carbon emissions reduction is climate control in buildings. Advances in control applications are also enabled by other technologies (new sensors, wireless communications, broadband access to the Internet, more powerful processors), and developments in these areas open up new opportunities. All process industries have their individual characteristics, so methodologies and techniques must be tailored to meet their respective requirements.

“Although PID control has been the king of regulatory control loop for many decades, advanced process control has over the last few decades moved beyond the laboratory to become a standard in several industries”

About the Author

Dr. S. Z. Sayed Hassen is the Head of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Dept. His research interests are in control systems, in particular, optimal and robust control. Email: [email protected]

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PRODUCTION OF TEXTILE MATERIALS FROM BAGASSE PAPER Mr J. Chummun*

An interesting step taken is the consideration to manufacture innovative, value-added products from sugar and its by-products

About the Author

Mr J. Chummun is a senior lecturer in the Mechanical and Production Engineering Department at the University of Mauritius. His research interest is in the field of natural and renewable fibres and their applications as technical-textiles. Email: [email protected]

The revenue accruing to Mauritius from sugar has fallen by about 36%. The sugar industry has been one of the main pillars of the Mauritian economy and in 2004, it accounted for about 20% of the value of exports and 5% of the country’s GDP. However, sugar proceeds occurring to Mauritius has fallen by about 36%. The fall in the price of sugar has prompted a lot of re-thinking and re-engineering of the sugar industry in many sugar-producing countries as well as providing an impetus to continuously improve the efficiency of the remaining sugar-cane mills. An interesting step taken is the consideration to manufacture innovative, value-added products from sugarcane and its by-products. Bagasse is one important by-product when freshly harvested and shredded sugarcane stalks are crushed between heavy rollers to extract the juice that is rich in sucrose. This fibrous residue is currently used in Mauritius as biomass mainly for the energy needs of the sugar factory itself. Bagasse, being a cellulosic material, is also widely used for the manufacture of a wide variety of paper products. The aim of this project is to manufacture textiles from bagasse paper. The process consists of slitting paper made from bagasse into narrow strips. The latter is then spun into yarn by conventional spinning methods. The yarn would be used to produce woven and braided structures, which may, or may not, be coated with resin to impart rigidity and water resistance. The first part of the project aims at investigating the relationship between the levels of twists imparted to paper-yarns and their strengths as well as the extent of yarn-contraction that results. For that purpose, paper-yarns manufactured from different paper grammages have been used. The second part focuses on the manufacture of paper-yarns from bagasse paper based on the optimum parameters obtained from the first part of the investigation. The results show that as the level of twist increases, the strength of paper-yarns tend to increase until an optimum twist level is reached. Beyond that value, there is a tendency for the strength

to decrease. For a particular twist per unit length value, the extent of twist-contraction increase as the thickness of paper increases. Light-weight paper tends to yield relatively stronger paper-yarn. It is expected that these results will open new avenues to the area of composite materials whereby paper yarns would be used in some composite applications together with fibres or instead of fibres. The second part is on-going.

A cotton ring-spinning machine that has been modified to twist paper-yarn. Mr Awatar (left), Technical-

Assistant, responsible for modification of the machine and Mr Chummun (right).

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ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK IN MAURITIUS: IMPACT ON SECONDARY EDUCATION (MRC FUNDED PROJECT)

During the recent years, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been identified as beneficial tools for the educational system. The Government of Mauritius has been actively promoting ICT since the last decade. Students are embracing ICTs at an unprecedented rate and given that Internet penetration is increasing within the Mauritian households, more and more young people are getting access to it. The most visited online services among Mauritian youths are Online Social Network (OSN) sites like Facebook and Youtube. It has been found that OSNs have tremendous potential for enabling collaborations and social interactions. Harnessing this potential for learning may bring about an important educational transformation in Mauritius. However, no study has been carried out yet in Mauritius on the usage pattern of online social networks among young people and the impact on their education and social life. This research project has investigated the roles that OSNs play in teaching and learning at secondary school level. The impact that OSNs has on communication and social needs of students has also been examined. Large scale surveys have been carried out on the use of OSNs among the Mauritian students. In addition, experiments have been carried out on the use of OSNs to conduct classes and observations have been reported and analysed.

Around 4500 responses were collected from the survey and the findings showed that Mauritian students are using OSN sites extensively on a daily basis. It was found that students make use of OSNs to discuss school works and teachers also are communicating with students through these online sites. The use of OSNs in secondary education is currently done informally. The main reasons are that these sites are blocked in schools due to the privacy and security concerns for the students. The majority of teachers were found to be reluctant to adopt this new method of teaching and learning. Results from this study have clearly shown the benefits of using OSNs in learning. Students were eager to make use of this new way of learning and therefore this can act as a motivating factor in the learning process. A few negative issues with respect to the use of OSNs have also been pointed out. Policy makers may thus consider the results of this study as a basis for decision making with respect to the use of OSNs in secondary education. A number of recommendations have been made on how OSNs can be integrated in formal education system in Mauritius.

It has been found that OSNs have Tremendous Potential for Enabling Collaborations And Social Interactions

Project Team

Assoc. Prof K.K.Khedo, Mr S.M.R.A. Elaheebocus, Mr R.Suntoo and Ms A. Mocktoolah. Email: [email protected] This research has been funded by the Mauritius Research Council under the Unsolicited Research Grant Scheme award number MRC/RUN/1103

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ATMOSPHERIC CORROSION OF CARBON STEEL IN MAURITIUS DR B. Y. R SURNAM*

Atmospheric corrosion of carbon steel has been the source of widespread studies in many tropical countries worldwide. Large corrosion losses, falling in the corrosion category C 4 and C 5, according to ISO 9223, have been reported in countries such as Mexico, India and Vietnam. Mauritius, being a tropical island, is also expected to experience high atmospheric corrosion losses, especially in the case of carbon steel. Carbon steel is very prone to atmospheric corrosion attacks but, it is still being increasingly used in the country. A study was launched with the aims of obtaining basic information concerning the corrosivity of the Mauritian atmosphere towards carbon steel, understanding the atmospheric corrosion mechanism and proposing other equally viable alternatives to carbon steel in Mauritius. This is expected to benefit both the general public and professionals involved in the use of carbon steel in Mauritius and in other tropical countries, especially in terms of improving atmospheric corrosion inhibition. The first part of the project consisted of determining the corrosivity of the Mauritian atmosphere and the atmospheric corrosion behavior of carbon steel at several sites on the island. This was performed through outdoor exposures of carbon steel samples. The second part of the project consisted of determining the atmospheric corrosion mechanism of carbon steel through the use of Scanning Electron Microscopy and Raman Spectroscopy. This has given a better insight into how carbon steel corrodes in the Mauritian atmosphere. These two parts of the study have been

completed as a Ph.D project and a post doctoral research project.

In last part of the study, the potential use of alternatives to carbon steel, such as weathering steel, would be investigated for applications in Mauritius. Funding is still being sought for starting this part of the study.

“Determining the Corrosivity of the Mauritian Atmosphere”

Outdoor exposure of steel samples at the University of Mauritius

About the Author

Dr B.Y.R. Surnam is a lecturer in the Mechanical and Production Engineering Department since 2007. His field of research is corrosion science and engineering. He is also in charge of the Metallurgical Lab.

Email: [email protected]

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PREDICTING CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS FROM BIOREACTOR LANDFILL MR A. MUDHOO*

Bioreactor landfills have emerged as a more sustainable alternative to conventional landfilling. The bioreactor landfill approach consists in controlling moisture through the recirculation of the leachate generated and/or aeration. Inference from previous lab-scale studies suggest that stimulating aerobic degradation processes in the refuse mass in bioreactor landfill lysimeters by injection of air can speed up biodegradation. On large scale, prior to investing in retrofit/as-built bioreactor landfills, landfill design engineers and operators and investors must ensure that larger short-term expenses mostly related to liquid and/or air injection infrastructure have to be offset by future economic benefits coming from extension of landfill life and reduced leachate treatment costs in the medium to long run as well as possible carbon credit revenues from certified avoided greenhouse gas emissions. The reduction in methane emissions following implementation of retrofit aeration system is one key motivation to consider aerated bioreactor landfills. Understanding the potential effects in variability and implications of heterogeneous conditions and processes will increase the likelihood of optimizing overall waste treatment in bioreactor landfills. Keeping these operational needs into focus, the aim of this work in a one instance has been to develop a one-dimensional model which could be used to predict the time variation of carbon dioxide in a fully aerated bioreactor landfill lysimeter set up. The model incorporates substrates utilization kinetics and microbial growth kinetics taken by considering slowly degradable, moderately degradable and rapidly degradable substrates as metabolized by fungi, bacteria and yeast. Biodegradation-induced settlement following mechanical compression has also been

considered and the criterion for aerobicity equally taken into the mathematical computation loop. As a further novelty, a multi-parameter simulation-based sensitivity analysis has also been designed in an attempt to prioritize the more pertinent parameters which may require consideration when designing such systems combining leachate recirculation and aeration at larger scales of operation. The next steps in this research consist in verifying and calibrating the model using experimental lysimeter data for synthetic MSW substrates decomposition.

A Novel one-Dimensional Mathematical Model Predicting Carbon Dioxide Evolution Dynamics in Simulated Lysimeters

About the Author

Ackmez Mudhoo is a Lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Mauritius His research interests encompass the remediation of solid wastes, wastewaters and environmental pollutants. He is currently pursuing a PhD under the supervision of Professor (Dr) Romeela Mohee (National Research Chair in Solid Waste Management, Mauritius) and Associate Professor (Dr) Bhola R Gurjar (IIT Roorkee, India) Email: [email protected]

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The household sector is considered as one of the major energy consumer as it makes intensive use of Liquidified Petroleum Gas (LPG) for cooking. To a lesser extent, cooking stoves that use electricity are also used for cooking purposes. Both LPG and electricity are derived from fossil fuels, the conversion of which releases carbon dioxide, one of the main greenhouse gases. Therefore, it is most urgent that clean fuels are considered as alternatives to fossil fuels for cooking purposes. Biogas from waste is a renewable energy source that can replace LPG for cooking purposes. Biogas consists of mainly methane and carbon dioxide in varying composition, depending on the substrate, as well as small amounts of other gases. There are many low income households that are still rearing cows and as a result a significant amount of cow dung is produced. Cow dung presents good potential as it can be used for the production of biogas through the process of anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is a proven technique and technology to solid waste to produce methane gas which is a clean and green energy. Anaerobic digestion process technologies are among the oldest availed by humanity and have been developed over many centuries. Anaerobic treatment involves the application of biological processes, in the absence of oxygen, for the breakdown of organic matter and the stabilization of these materials, by conversion to methane and carbon dioxide gases and a nearly stable residue. Anaerobic digestion will be in line with the concept of Maurice Ile Durable (MID) and can contribute to substitute fossil fuels by renewable resources.

A study was therefore initiated to develop a small scale working bio-digestor for the production of biogas. The focus of the study is to produce biogas from cow dung. The main objective of this study was to design and construct a pilot-scale anaerobic digester. The digester was designed and constructed using locally available materials. The bio-digester being the main part of the stand alone system has similar features as the fixed dome digester. A high density polyethylene plastic tank which is readily available locally is used for the construction of the bio-digester and it is fitted with a manual mixing system. The biogas is purified to remove any unwanted and undesirable gases. The scrubbing of the biogas is done using sodium hydroxide in order to remove impurities that are generated during the digestion process mainly carbon dioxide which will reduce the energy content of the biogas and hydrogen sulphide which is highly corrosive to the materials of the cooking stove. Once the biogas is cleaned, it is fed to a normal cooking stove use in a typical household. This study can therefore be used to displace LPG in cooking stove which will contribute in the abatement of the climate change and global warming effect and will enhance the Maurice Ile Durable (MID) concept. The project will also help the low income family to produce their own biogas at very low cost.

“With rising pressure on fossil fuel and increase in amount of GHG emissions, Biogas emerges as a solution”

About the Author

Dr D. Surroop is a Senior lecturer in the Chemical Engineering Department. His field of research is on waste management and conversion of waste into energy. Email: [email protected].

REPLACING LPG BY BIOGAS IN COOKING STOVE

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ENERGY USE OPTIMISATION AND PHOTOVOLTAICS Mr Y. K. Ramgolam*

In line with the ‘Maurice Ile Durable’ vision, the target of the Government is to achieve about 35% self-sufficiency by 2025 in terms of electricity supply through a progressive increase in the use of renewable energies. Mauritius is perfectly located and has the optimum weather conditions to reap the benefits of solar energy. As well, the Government of Mauritius is promoting the integration of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Small Scale Distributed Generators, with the threshold of 2MW capacity increased to 3MW with an eye to integrate Medium Scale Systems (>50kW PV systems) in the near future. Energy has become a key metric, especially for companies. Saving energy means saving operational costs for producers and reduced costs for consumers. Reducing energy consumption also implies reducing greenhouse gas emissions and demonstrating greater care for natural resources by investing in renewable energy sources. These are tangible actions for companies looking to enforce and contribute to sustainable development. But unfortunately organisations tend to implement Photovoltaics (PV) systems without any prior optimisations of their energy efficiency and without performing engineering calculations and evaluations of their investment. Firstly, prior to the installation of a renewable energy system an organisation must ensure optimized energy use. Furthermore, the choice and design of a PV system requires site analysis and intricate engineering calculations such that the PV system produces the highest yield during its lifetime. Besides, financial evaluations are required to support and justify investments in energy optimization and the renewable energy system. Hence the organisation optimize energy use and well as returns on investment in the shortest delay.

The main focus of my research work is on energy use optimisation and PV. A project which performs the evaluation of the current situation of residential buildings in Mauritius and proposes a number of recommendations for the design of sustainable residential buildings has been recently completed and submitted to the MRC. Related to energy performance modelling in buildings, the effects of building components, daylight controls and lighting control systems under climatic conditions of Mauritius are assessed for various types of buildings. Sustainable and cost effective retrofits that can improve energy performance have been identified. Currently, further research is being carried out to assess real and leaking power in households using net metering technique. In the field of PV, a robust tool is being developed to perform behavioural modelling of PV modules of different materials and structures under real weather conditions. The model will consider material and optical properties of commercially available solar cells, real-time measured solar data in Mauritius. The model will assist PV engineers/contractors evaluate and optimise yield of PV systems and focus on the deployment of location-specific modules. The research will also help develop a set of guidelines that can be used by policy makers for the development of appropriate standards related to PV system design in Mauritius. Solar data, which is being measured using state of the art equipment, will be continuously updated and can be used for further research in the field of solar engineering. Besides, research is being carried out on the optimization of energy and power output from commercially available PV modules in Mauritius.

A Robust Tool Is Being Developed To Perform Behavioural Modelling Of PV Modules Of Different Materials And Structures Under Real Weather Conditions.

Yatindra Kumar Ramgolam is a Lecturer, in the De-partment of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Mauritius His main research areas are Energy use optimisation and Photovoltaics. Email: [email protected]

About the Author

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A COMPARATIVE LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF UTILISATION OPTIONS OF COAL ASH ON THE ISLAND OF MAURITIUS.

The use of coal for energy generation is associated with environmental impacts either through direct emissions from the plant or through the disposal of coal combustion by products (coal ash). Coal ash is known to contain trace amounts of heavy metals that are hazardous to health. Government has recognized the need to address the issue of ash disposal in an integrated environment strategy. To reduce disposal problems, it is important to develop applications requiring high volumes of coal ash. It is expected that the major sectors of the local construction industry which are the road construction and cement/concrete production will absorb the totality of the coal ash generated annually. However, one of the barriers to the wide –ranging utilization of secondary products of energy production and industry in the construction industry has been the uncertainty about the environmental impacts. It is therefore important to identify all impacts before implementation of any recycling option of these materials. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is one of the tools that can be used to quantify the environmental impacts and to assess how impacts differ between different recycling options.

In light of the above and as a challenge to the civil engineering community to realize projects with the concept of sustainable development, it is essential that research on the reuse/recycling options of coal ash be carried out. The aims of this research are to investigate the technical feasibility of the use of bottom ash for subgrade improvement in road

construction and carry out a life cycle assessment of that application with that where fly ash is used in cement blending. This research project includes the construction of a pilot road stretch of approximately 15 m long using a mixture of bottom ash and soil in 60% : 40 % proportion by weight of soil to bottom ash as capping layer, which will form part of the road project “Construction of Road at Les Tulipes Avenue-Quatre Bornes”. In order to meet the objectives of this research project, monitoring of engineering performance of the pilot stretch and assessment of the environmental impacts of this application with respect to leachate form the capping layer will be carried out; followed by a comparative LCA of this utilization option of bottom ash against that where fly ash is used in cement blending.

Contact Information Abdus Salaam Cadersa Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering Faculty of Engineering, University of Mauritius ([email protected])

PhD Supervisors: Professor (Dr) Toolseeram Ramjeawon Associate Professor (Dr) Andre Chan Chim Yuk

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Current PhD Projects (Academic)

Academic Staff Project Title Supervisor

Mr Bahadur G K

Integrating Light and Sound in Textile Materials for Novel Effects in Interior Design

Dr M Bradshaw Assoc Prof S Rosunee (Co-Supervisor)

Mr Callychurn D S Developing Decision Support System for Environmentally - Sustainable Manufacturing Strategy

Prof K D Barber

Mr Cadersa A S A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of recycling options of Coal Ash on the island of Mauritius

Prof T Ramjeawon (Main Supervisor) Assoc Prof Chan Chim Yuk(Assoc Supervisor)

Mr Chummun J Production of Textile Materials from Bagasse Prof C M Carr Assoc Prof S Rosunee (Co-Supervisor)

Mr Dhookit J L Simulating the Effect on Traffic of a Second Harbour Dr Swet

Mrs Dookhun V

Assessing Environmental Risks Associated with Persistant Toxic Substances

Prof R Mohee Dr Cliff (Co-Supervisor)

GOBIN Baby Ashwin (Miss)

Modelling of knowledge Based System Prof R K Subramanian Prof L Sterling (Co-Supervisor)

HEENAYE-MAMODE KHAN Maleika Mehr Nigar Mohamed (Mrs)

Biometric Security based on Veins Pattern recognition Prof R K Subramanian

JEETAH Pratima Devi (Mrs)

Investigation of the green energy potential of cellulosic biomass in the Mauritian Context

Prof R Mohee Prof Kim G Clarke (Co-Supervisor)

Assoc Prof KHEDO Kavi Kumar

Misense: A Generic Energy - Efficient Middleware Architecture for Wireless Sensor Networks.

Prof R K Subramanian

KHOODARUTH Abdel Anwar Hossen (Mr)

Potential and Implementation Programme for Cogeneration in Mauritius: Energy and Exergy efficiency

Assoc Prof K Elahee

MUDHOO Ackmez Accounting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Different Treatments of Organic Wastes.

Prof R Mohee (Main Supervisor) Assoc Prof Bhola Ram Gurjar (Assoc Supervisor)

Mr N Pavaday

A Comparative Study of the Application of Pseudo Random Codes and Channel Coding in Spread Spectrum Techniques and in Cryptography for Mobile Communication.

Prof K M S Soyjaudah

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Current PhD Projects (Academic)

Academic Staff Project Title Supervisor

Mr Ragen A K

Investigating the applicability of constructed wetlands for wastewater reclamation and reuse in the Mauritian domestic sector

Candidates Committee Assoc Prof M D Nowbuth Assoc Prof R T Ramessur Assoc Prof A Ruggoo

Mr Ramgolam Yatindra Kumar

Evaluation of Commercially available solar modules for optimum photovoltaic system design in Mauritius


Mrs Ramsamy-Iranah S D

Investigation into Functional and Aesthetic Clothing and Fabrics for the Visually Impaired

Assoc Prof S Rosunee (Main Supervisor) Dr N Kistamah (Assoc Supervisor)

Mr Seetohul Jeetendranath

A Framework/Mechanism for Secure Communications in Ubiquitous Computing

Prof R K Subramanian

Mrs SOOCHETA VAIDYA Anagha (MRC)

Investigation into the use of Sugarcane Bagasse for Producing Fibre - Based Composites.

Assoc Prof S Rosunee (Main Supervisor) Prof M D Teli (Assoc Supervisor)

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Current PhD Projects (Students) Student Project Title Supervisor

ABEL Patricia Julie(Ms)

Computer Modelling of the Thermo-Physiological Comfort of Single Layer and Muliple Layer Woven Fabrics

Dr R Unmar (Main Supervisor) Assoc Prof S Rosunee (Assoc Supervisor)

ANNAUTH Rajendrasingh

Optimisation of Communication System Resources using Evolutionary Algorithms

Prof H C S Rughooputh

AMEERUDDEN Riyad M (Mr)

Design and Optimisation of a PIFA Antenna Using Genetic Algorithms


BAKUNZI Theotime (Foreigner)

Face Image Reconstruction for Face Recognition Assoc Prof S Baichoo

BAYNATH Purvashi (Ms)

Username and Password Authentication through Keystroke Dynamics Artificial Neural Network / Neuroevolution and other evolutionay Algorithms


BEEHARRY Yogesh

Combined Iteractive Source Channel Decoding Strategies for digital Communication Receivers

Prof K M S Soyjaudah (Main Supervisor) Dr P Fowdur (Assoc Supervisor)

BHURTAH Insah(Ms)

Improving the Encoding Process of Low-Density Parity Check Codes for Novel Applications

Prof K M S Soyjaudah (Main Supervisor) Dr C Catherine (Assoc Supervisor)

BHURTUN Bhima Dev

Robust Image and Video Transmission Techniques Prof K M S Soyjaudah (Main Supervisor) Dr P Fowdur (Assoc Supervisor)

BOODOO-JAHANGEER Nazmeen (Mrs)

Evaluation of Biometric Techniques Prof R K Subramanian Assoc Prof S Baichoo (Associate Supervisor)

BOODOO Sajaad Improving the Performance of an Active Noise Control Assoc Prof R Paurobally (Main Supervisor) Dr Y Bissessur (Associate Supervisor)

BRIZMOHUN Ravina (Ms)

Life Cycle Assessment of Electricity Generating Systems in Mauritius

Prof T Ramjeawon

BUNDHOO Muhammad Ali Zumar

Effects of Microwave and Ultrasound Irradiation on Energy Production from Anaerobic Digestion and Dark Fermentation of Municipal Solid Wastes

Prof R Mohee (Main Supervisor) Prof Mohamed Ali Hassen (Assoc Supervisor)

CHINNIAH Rishta

Investigation into the Use of B-Cyclodextrins for the Colouration of Wool and Wool Blends

Assoc Prof S Rosunee (Main Supervisor) Prof C M Carr (Assoc Supervisor)

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Current PhD Projects (Students)

Student Project Title Supervisor

COONJAH Irfaan Muhamad

Design and Analysis of a Modified Open SSH Virtual Private Network using UDP as base

Prof K M S Soyjaudah (Main Supervisor) Dr C Catherine (Assoc Supervisor)

CUNDEN Tyagaraja Sooprayen Modelly

Generation of Electricity Using Wind Power in Mauritius Prof K M S Soyjaudah

DURBARRY Assadullah (Mr)

Supporting QoS in Mobile IPv6 System Dr O Moonian

ESSACKJEE Ismael Adam

The Impact of Distributed Generations on the Mauritian Power Sector

Assoc Prof Ah King

ESMYOT Marie Annick Joanne (Mrs)

Business Process Management System Implementation: A Model for Business Process Outsourcing Companies in Mauritius

Dr F Khodabocus

FELICITE Louis Eric Orlando

Humic Acid Generation and Nitrogen Volatisation during Composting of Municipal Solid Wastes

Prof R Mohee

FOOLMAUN Rajendra

A life cycle assessment (LCA) of used polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles in Mauritian Context

Prof T Ramjeawon

GUNASEE Sanjane Devi (Ms)

Comparing thermo Chemical treatment of Solid Wastes using thermo gravimetric analysis

Prof R Mohee (Main Supervisor) Assoc Prof J Gorgens (Assoc Supervisor)

LATCHOOMUN Lekhramsingh

Leakage Reduction Control of the Water Distribution System in Mauritius

Assoc Prof Ah King (Main Supervisor) Dr K K Busawon (Assoc Supervisor)

MAUTHOOR Sumayya (Ms)

Industrial Waste Management in Mauritius Using Recycling and an Industrial Ecology Approach

Prof R Mohee (Main Supervisor) Mr P Kowlesser (Industrial Supervisor)

MIHILALL Yaswaree

Investigation on the production of best quality compost from biowaste and Cellulolytic Waste to be used as Substrate for the cultivation of Oyster Mushrooms

Prof R Mohee

MOHABEER Heman

Neural Networks Intelligent Agents Using Neuroevolution for Emerging Communication Technologies


PEER Adeela Ahmud Iqbal (Ms)

Development and Marketing of a Clothing Brand for a Small and Medium Enterprise in Mauritius

Assoc Prof S Rosunee

PEERTHY Gayen Elaboration de Méthodes d'évaluation des impacts environnementaux des principales activités anthropiques de l'Ile Maurice utilisant l'analyse de cycle de vie et l'analyse de cycle de vie hybride

Prof T Ramjeawon

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Student Project Title Supervisor

PEYRYE Muhammad Naushad

Selective Secured Network Coding with Error Correction Capabilities

Dr M A Hosany

RADHA Bhoomesh

Quantum - Inspired Algorithms for Power Distribution Optimization


RAJCOOMAR Sachindev Avinash

Life Cycle Assessment and Economic and Social Evolution of Recycling in Mauritius

Prof T Ramjeawon

RAMDOO Mahendra

Energy Management: A Strategic Business Issue for Top Management in Mauritius


RAMTOHUL Avinash

Devising an Information Security Solution including an Institutional Framework for the Implementation of Secure e-Government Transactions in Emerging African States


SOOBEN Darmanaden

Energy Efficiency Analysis in the Cold Chain in the food Industry in Tropical Regions

Prof R Mohee (Main Supervisor) Prof Francis Meunier - Conservatoire Nationale des Arts et Métier (Assoc Supervisor)

SOOBHANY Nuhaa (Ms)

Comparative Assessment of nutrients and heavy metals content during the composting and Vermicomposting of the organic fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)

Prof R Mohee (Main Supervisor) Assoc Prof V K Garg (Assoc Supervisor)

Current PhD Projects (Students)

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Illustrated guide to PhD Imagine a Circle that contains all human knowledge By the time you finish primary school, you know a

little

After secondary school you know a little bit more With a bachelor degree you gain a speciality

A master degree deepens that speciality Reading research papers takes you to the edge of human knowledge

Once you are at the boundary, you focus You push at the boundary for a few years

Until one day the boundary gives away

That dent is called a Ph.D.

Of course the world looks different to you, but do not forget the bigger picture

Source: http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/

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