Papers by Wan Mohd Aimran Wan Mohd Kamil
Asian journal of chemical sciences, Jan 10, 2017
Fuel cells are one of the most promising renewable energy sources. However, they are relatively e... more Fuel cells are one of the most promising renewable energy sources. However, they are relatively expensive due to their use of platinum, a precious metal, as the catalyst. Much research has been conducted with the aim of optimizing fuel cell efficiency, including identifying alternative catalysts. In this study, we propose a new parameter known as relative bond strength as an indicator for the catalytic properties of a material. Relative bond strength is calculated based upon the relationship between bond length and bond strength. The results of this study provide evidence for the viability of this parameter through computational calculation involving different types of materials and cluster sizes.
Jurnal teknologi/Jurnal Teknologi, Oct 31, 2022
We proposed a method to detect clouds in a suburban class night sky for the larger purpose of ast... more We proposed a method to detect clouds in a suburban class night sky for the larger purpose of astronomical site testing. A 'threshold criterion' approach was adopted to discriminate between the pixels representing the foreground clouds from the pixels representing the background sky in a single all-sky image. This method was developed based on all-sky images captured at the PERMATApintar Observatory (PpO) in Selangor (2°55'02" N, 101°47'17" E), where the night sky has been categorised as a suburban class night sky. The night sky conditions were divided into three categories depending on the cloud cover: clear, partially cloudy, and overcast skies. Samples of all-sky images for each night sky condition were selected and respective histogram images were generated. These samples were then used to inductively derive the threshold criterion based on the skewness and peak values of the image's histogram. This sky/cloud threshold will enable pixels representing foreground clouds to be discriminated from the pixels representing the background sky under each type of night sky conditions. Our work found that the night sky over PpO requires two thresholds to accurately distinguish between cloud and sky pixels due to the sky glow effect. The first threshold is based on the peak value of the image's histogram. If an image's histogram has a peak value ≥ 80, then the image is considered a clear sky. Otherwise, the image is considered cloudy or overcast sky if the peak value is < 80. The second threshold value is dependent on the night sky condition determined by the first threshold. The sky/cloud threshold value for a clear and cloudy sky is 80 and 180, respectively. If a pixel has a pixel value equal to or greater than the respective thresholds, the pixel will be considered a sky pixel and vice versa.
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 2020
This paper reports our experiences in conducting outreach astronomy programs involving high schoo... more This paper reports our experiences in conducting outreach astronomy programs involving high school students and the general public. These programs are part of an interdisciplinary research project entitled Cross-cultural Computer supported Collaborative Learning for Student Capacity Building in Multifaceted Competencies through Astronomy Online Labs (C3AOL). As part of this research project, two selected undergraduate Physics students were named as STEM ambassadors and tasked in disseminating astronomical facts and concepts via outreach activities, thus consolidating their knowledge, creativity, and identity as STEM ambassadors. The STEM ambassadors have planned and conducted an Astronomy outreach program with high school students from the Pusat PERMATApintar Negara (currently known as Pusat GENIUS@Pintar Negara), UKM. This was followed by a public stargazing session at the National Planetarium, Kuala Lumpur that involved planetary and lunar eclipse observations. This project provided a valuable opportunity for the STEM ambassadors to convey astronomical knowledge effectively and interestingly in multiple contexts, whether amongst their peers or junior students, or even with the general public. A short-term impact of this project is the diffusion of their knowledge and enthusiasms in Astronomy to high school students as well as the general public through outreach programs such as dialogues session and talks at space centers and experience sharing via social media.
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 2019
This is a preliminary survey of astronomy topics incorporated into the Malaysian national school ... more This is a preliminary survey of astronomy topics incorporated into the Malaysian national school syllabus. Topics directly relevant to astronomy are situated within the general science subject from Year 4 (age 10 years old) until Year 9 (age 15 years old) and are grouped under four main themes: Earth-Sun-Moon system, the Solar System, Stars, and Exploration of Outer Space. Contemporary topics such as exoplanets and astrobiology are not explicitly mentioned, but students are required to engage in hypothetical thinking by speculating on planetary diversity and its implications for life in the Universe. We characterize the astronomy content in the Malaysian national school syllabus to be life-centric and relatively open-ended.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2017
The accuracy of Langkawi National Observatory (LNO) relative sunspot number (RSN) data has been o... more The accuracy of Langkawi National Observatory (LNO) relative sunspot number (RSN) data has been officially acknowledged when LNO has become one of the contributors to International Sunspot Number (ISN), R ISN since June 2015. However, RSN from LNO (R LNO) can only be obtained if the weather is favourable and the instruments are working well. These disadvantages can be solved if there are other observers across Malaysia that can contribute data of RSN to LNO. This research aims to compare the RSN collected by an amateur observer at National Planetarium, R NP with R LNO and R ISN. 11 days data between the month of November 2014 and January 2015 are analysed to see the differences between R NP to both R LNO and R ISN. Results show that, the value of R NP is lower than R LNO and R ISN. The highest percentage difference is between R NP and R ISN which is due to the different method and instruments used in observing the sunspot. The correlation of relative sunspot number is high between R LNO and R ISN proving the reliability of LNO as contributor to ISN. The observational index is also determined in this study based on the ratio of correction factor of R NP to R LNO.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2021
The ability of a muon telescope to detect high dense metal elements was experimentally determined... more The ability of a muon telescope to detect high dense metal elements was experimentally determined in previous works. Recently, the muon absorption has become one of the most important data in the tomography technique. In the present study, the absorption coefficients of muon at ground level for heavy alloys, namely brass, steel and stainless steel have been successfully recorded. The experiment was performed in Bangi, Malaysia with coordinates of 101.78º E, 2.92º N and elevation of 30 m above sea level. Muon examination was made by muon telescopes contained of two Geiger-Muller detectors. The muon count rate graphs showed an initial increase, followed by a transition depth and then a decrease with the continuous increase of the alloys thickness. The transition points observed were reliable and consistent with the properties of the alloys. The absorption coefficient of brass was higher than the other alloys; therefore, brass could be detected by cosmic ray muons easily. The results c...
Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences, 2020
The attenuation coefficients of cosmic-ray muons through metal plates were theoretically determin... more The attenuation coefficients of cosmic-ray muons through metal plates were theoretically determined. Three methods (A, B, and C) were proposed by the researchers using the experimental data of count rate which was obtained from the detection of cosmic-ray muons through metal plates of different thicknesses. Method A was applied to Pb, Cu, Zn, and Al, whereas Methods B and C were applied to Pb only. The proposed A and B methods were based on ignoring the detected count rate produced by the shower of electromagnetic cascades to obtain the attenuation of cosmic-ray muons. The values and the formula of the radiation length of metals were used in Method A to obtain a theoretical formula to measure the cosmic-ray muon attenuation coefficients. The results showed consistent behavior with the atomic number, mass number, and mass density. In Method C, the penetrating muon is assumed to generate many sources of photon-electron cascades at every collision. The result was successful in describi...
2019 6th International Conference on Space Science and Communication (IconSpace), 2019
This paper describes the method of determining the night sky conditions for urban areas. The main... more This paper describes the method of determining the night sky conditions for urban areas. The main purpose of this method is to enable digital detection of night sky conditions based on low resolution all-sky camera for urban astronomical observatories. It is crucial to mention here that this method only detects the condition of the night sky and does not measure the cloud coverage. The method involves pixel analysis and it consists of two main stages; (1) the preprocessing which include red-green-blue colour channels splitting and masking and (2) the night sky determination. In this study, we have found that the night sky conditions can be discriminate between clear and cloudy based on the peak of the all-sky image's histogram. Nighttime all-sky images with a peak pixel value of 74.53 and lower will be considered as a clear sky while those with a higher value of peak pixel value is considered as a cloudy night sky condition.
In this paper, we report our experience in using an interactive applet during an astronomy course... more In this paper, we report our experience in using an interactive applet during an astronomy course at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) as part of the Astronomy Online Labs (AOL) activity. This activity is driven by an interdisciplinary project called Cross-cultural Computer-supported Collaborative Learning for Student Capacity Building in Multifaceted Competencies through Astronomy Online Labs (C3AOL) which involved cross-cultural collaborative learning sessions between undergraduates from Malaysia and the United Kingdom. We found that the students welcomed the use of the applet mainly because its multiple representations of a single phenomenon coupled with its interactive flexibility enabled them to gradually draw and develop connections between previously unrelated astronomical concepts into a coherent whole. We also highlighted the potential risk of a “fragmented attention” scenario that may hamper the applet's effectiveness in enhancing the student's learning experien...
Universe
In this study, we explored a new method of cloud detection called the Blue-Green (B-G) Color Diff... more In this study, we explored a new method of cloud detection called the Blue-Green (B-G) Color Difference, which is adapted from the widely used Red-Blue (R-B) Color Difference. The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of these two methods in detecting daytime clouds. Three all-sky images were selected from a database system at PERMATApintar Observatory. Each selected all-sky image represented different sky conditions, namely clear, partially cloudy and overcast. Both methods were applied to all three images and compared in terms of cloud coverage detection. Our analysis revealed that both color difference methods were able to detect a thick cloud efficiently. However, the B-G was able to detect thin clouds better compared to the R-B method, resulting in a higher and more accurate cloud coverage detection.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 14TH ASIA-PACIFIC PHYSICS CONFERENCE
Asian Journal of Scientific Research
Asian Journal of Scientific Research
Sains Malaysiana
Muons produced in the atmosphere by cosmic rays are preferred over gamma rays, X-rays and fast pr... more Muons produced in the atmosphere by cosmic rays are preferred over gamma rays, X-rays and fast protons for the detection of metals in the study of radiography. An alternative method for metals detection involving portable and relatively cheap Geiger-Muller counters are proposed. The objective of this study was to investigate the validity of using a handmade muon telescope with a small solid angle for the detection of muons inside the metals. This experiment was carried out at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi (101.78º E, 2.92º N and elevation 30 m). Measurement of muons was conducted in the vertical direction using 1 set of muon telescopes (MT) consisting of coaxial Geiger-Muller (GM) counters. Different metals-lead (Pb), zinc (Zn) and aluminium (Al)-were used as absorbers with different thickness to observe its influence on the count rate of muons. The efficiency of the experimental setup was evaluated using statistical methods and by obtaining sufficient number of muon detection events to describe the physics of the muon interaction with the metals. Based on the Rossi curve obtained for each metal, the transition point was estimated as follows: 1.5 cm for Pb, 4.0 cm for Zn, and 9.0 cm for Al. The results showed that the proposed alternative setup was adequate for detecting muons and therefore have the potential to be further developed.
AIP Conference Proceedings, 2016
One of the quality parameter of an astronomical site testing is sky brightness. We measure the ni... more One of the quality parameter of an astronomical site testing is sky brightness. We measure the night sky brightness over PERMATApintar Observatory to obtain the first preliminary sky brightness reading. The measurement is done by using an Unihedron Sky Quality Meter (SQM-LU) with a position pointing zenith. Six measurements have been done during the period of January to March 2016. The measurement is taken between approximately 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on each of the night. The best (darken) night sky brightness reading is 19.54 mag/arcsec2 obtained on March 11th, 2016. The preliminary average reading of sky brightness is 17.20 mag/arcsec2. Comparison with previous similar measurement for the same type of area (suburban area) shows that our data is within the range of the sky brightness for suburban area, which is 19.5 to 20.7 mag/arcsec2.
The purpose of this study is to determine the total optical thickness for different atmospheric e... more The purpose of this study is to determine the total optical thickness for different atmospheric extinction and for different wavelengths through the visible region. A portable Avantes AvaSpec ULS 2048X64-USB2 spectrometer was used, over Bangi (2° 55’ N, 101° 46’ E, and 50 m above sea level) in Malaysia. Experimental techniques, sample observation, are presented for obtaining atmospheric extinction from spectrometer measurement. The study has revealed that the total atmospheric extinction for the wavelength 400 nm,500 nm, 600 nm, and 700 nm under cloudless sky was successful obtained by Langley methods.
Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences
The absorption of cosmic ray muons was experimentally demonstrated using the telescope which was ... more The absorption of cosmic ray muons was experimentally demonstrated using the telescope which was proposed in our previous work as a portable detector for high-density materials. The complexity of the muon interaction has pushed researchers to use the simulation program (GEANT) that recently showed some discrepancies with observations at high energy but did not describe the attenuation of all muon spectrum. In this study, the absorption/ attenuation coefficients for different elements, namely lead (Pb), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and aluminum (Al) were experimentally determined. The count-rate graphs obtained verified the familiar behavior of the absorbers, which led to the determination of the exact transition depth of the metals and the results were consistent with the properties of the metals in other previous works. The attenuation of cosmic muon in lead was very high in comparison with other metals; therefore, lead can be very easily detected by muon absorption. Our results indicate that the larger the atomic weight of the absorber, the higher the ability of the muon absorber. The determined coefficients reported by this study will be useful for future work for muon tomography and detection techniques.
Kertas kerja ini merupakan lanjutan kepada kertas kerja bertajuk "Beberapa saranan awal pengisian... more Kertas kerja ini merupakan lanjutan kepada kertas kerja bertajuk "Beberapa saranan awal pengisian bengkel STPD" yang telah dibentangkan sewaktu Bengkel Kursus STPD anjuran Fakulti Sains dan Teknologi yang berlansung pada awal Februari 2013 di Port Dickson.
Penentangan Islam sebagai sebuah agama dan juga sebuah peradaban terhadap falsafah dan sains mode... more Penentangan Islam sebagai sebuah agama dan juga sebuah peradaban terhadap falsafah dan sains moden bertitik-tolak daripada dua kecenderungan dan pengaruh utama falsafah dan sains moden terhadap caragaya insan memahami hakikat kejadian alam tabii, yakni (i) penghapusan makna-makna ruhani yang benar daripada kefahaman insan berkenaan alam tabii, yang seterusnya membenarkan insan untuk bertindak ke atasnya dengan sesuka-hati mengikut keperluan dan rancangannya, dan (ii) penyempitan kaedah perolehan ilmu oleh insan kepada kaedah saintifik semata-mata sebagaimana yang dianjurkan oleh falsafah dan sains moden.
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Papers by Wan Mohd Aimran Wan Mohd Kamil
The talk was presented alongside Prof. Dato' Dr. Roslan Abd. Shukor.
Ianya disediakan untuk dan dibincangkan semasa kuliah kursus STPD2023 Etika dalam Kegiatan Sains dan Teknologi pada semester 1 sesi 2017-2018.
Ianya disediakan untuk dan dibincangkan semasa kuliah kursus STPD2023 Etika dalam Kegiatan Sains dan Teknologi pada semester 1 sesi 2017-2018.
This note was prepared for and discussed in the course STPD2013 Sejarah dan Falsafah Sains in the first semester 2017-2018.
Rencana ini disediakan untuk dan dibincangkan sewaktu kuliah kursus STPD2143 Pengenalan kepada Sains Tauhidik pada semester 1 sesi 2017-2018.