For better and safer living
TECHNOLOGIES that help to increase our safety, support our health and raise our quality of life have always inspired Dr Pu Suan Hui to improve the design and manufacture of environmental and wearable sensors.
‘’By making these sensors small while increasing the amount and precision of environmental data, we could change the way that data is gathered, analysed and consumed. In the near future, everyone will be wearing a device with environmental sensors, allowing them to get real-time data on things such as temperature, particulate levels in the air and even detect toxic pollutants,’’ he said.
An Associate Professor at the University of Southampton Malaysia (UoSM), Dr Pu is developing sensors that measure physical parameters like temperature, moisture, strain, visible light, environmental gas concentrations and other important data.
He believes that with the miniaturisation and cost reduction of sensors, it opens up countless possibilities for utilising these small and energy-efficient devices.
He shares enthusiastically: “For instance, the trend towards developing smart homes and smart cities is just beginning to take off, fuelled by a boom in the Internet-of-Things (IoT) phenomenon.
“A large proportion of the data generated by IoT devices come from the sensors embedded within and I’m excited that there will be many novel use cases for sensors in this field.
“Before you can apply smart algorithms for data analytics or machine learning, you first have to generate the signals and this is where the sensors are needed.”
Advice for future engineers
“Engineering careers are very diverse with some requiring more technical depth and others requiring more people management expertise. In all cases, being mentally agile and creative in problem-solving leads to the best outcomes for any engineer. Apart from detailed sector-specific technical knowledge, engineers often work in teams across business functions within an organisation so being a team player is extremely important as well.
“A well-rounded engineer has the ability to grasp technical concepts, has good communication and negotiation skills and ultimately the ability to build a business case for every decision that is proposed.’’
Dr Pu also emphasised the need for future engineers to demonstrate they are resilient as most recruiters are looking for engineers who are determined and can pick themselves up after a setback.
He also added that engineers need to be more holistic while having fundamental skills which revolve around conversation and action, being able to interact with the situation and converse with others in order to turn great ideas into solutions.
“You need to work hard, aim for a good degree qualification, but in the process, make full use of your university years to enrich your learning through extra-curricular activities.
“At UoSM, we have a rich selection of clubs and societies, and students have the opportunities to get involved in activities like TEDxUoSM, IET on Campus, IMechE Student Chapter, Robotics Club and many others. There are also research opportunities offered to our undergraduates during the summer break.’’