Introducing the 9Introducing the 9Introducing the 9ththth Edition of our Edition of our Edition of our

Annual NewsletterAnnual NewsletterAnnual Newsletter

Welcome to yet another edition of the DME Newsletter—our ninth! It is with great

pleasure that I take the opportunity to fill the role of editor of this year’s publication. The

DME Newsletter allows us all to take stock of the work and progress that has been

achieved over the previous academic year.

Indeed, looking at earlier versions of our newsletter, it is immediately noted that what

started as a four-page publication in 1999, has grown into a twelve-page newsletter in

recent years. This is clear evidence, if any is

needed, of the degree to which the DME has grown over the years!

In this edition there is certainly a lot of exciting news to report! During this past

academic year, the DME has taken an

initiative on a national scale, and has organized a national conference to examine

and discuss the future of manufacturing in European Malta. This conference was

attended by over a hundred delegates and was a huge success. On the research side,

the DME has continued to participate in

numerous University and EU projects, and has recently received the very good news

that two projects proposed by the DME have been accepted for funding under the National

Research and Innovation programme. Both

of these projects will serve to enhance the performance and profi le of the

manufacturing sector in Malta. The DME continues to offer a very strong and

important contribution to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching at the University of

Malta, and this year you will find an update

on this crucial service that we provide.

Dr Ing. Michael A. Saliba, editor

University of Malta Issue No. 9 July 2007

Message from the Head of Message from the Head of Message from the Head of

DepartmentDepartmentDepartment

Dr Ing. Jonathan C. Borg

Browsing through the list of achievements

disclosed in this newsletter gives me a sense of great satisfaction to be surrounded by a few, yet very dynamic

team members who aim to work collectively with a common goal. As a result, the Department has been very active in

training our student engineers, such as in the supervision of a

number of final year undergraduate degree projects, some of which were once again carried out with industrial partners.

Another important milestone was the very positive response we had by relevant stakeholders to the National Conference on the

Future of Manufacturing in Malta we organized in Dec ’06. Major

steps forward have been also made in terms of research activities, both at the international level through active

participation in EU projects and also on the local scene through the award of 2 National R&I projects being led by DME. At the

postgraduate level, the Department is also making yearly

concrete progress, not only with the MSc IPD degree but also with students increasingly doing their MPhil/PhDs with the

Department, this probably reflecting the relevance of our training to industry as engineers feel the need of specializing in

this domain. The coming months will of course bring new, challenging yet exciting milestones – the expansion of the

department with new academic staff members, the restructuring

of our undergraduate degree to satisfy the EU Bologna Bachelor–Master Structure and our re-naming to the Department of

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering to allow us to expand and better align our academic activities with emerging industrial

trends and demands. At this stage, I heartily welcome you on

behalf of my colleagues, to our 9th Newsletter Edition which I hope you find informative!

Department of Manufacturing Engineering Page 1 DME Newsletter 2007 Department of Manufacturing Engineering Page 12 DME Newsletter 2007

DEPARTMENT OF MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING

Editor : Dr Michael A. Saliba Printing : Ms Sharlene Cachia (Secretary)

Dept. of Manufacturing Eng., Faculty of Engineering, University of Malta, Msida MSD06. Tel : +356 2340 2061 Fax: +356 2134 3577

Inside this issue:

• The DME organises the first national conference on the fu-

ture of manufacturing in European Malta - Pages 2, 3

• DME undergraduate update - Pages 4, 5

• Postgraduate taught courses: the DME focuses on both the

national and international stages - Pages 6, 7

• The DME wins TWO research grants under the 2006 na-

tional R&I funding programme - Page 9

• Focus on our newest postgraduate research student - Alexia

Grech - Page 10

Department of Manufacturing Engineering Department of Manufacturing Engineering

Other News Other News

DME Technical Staff News

An internal course on ProEngineers was held for CERU Research members.

Mr Josef Attard and Mr Joseph Curmi successfully completed the ACAD - Level 2 (Modelling and Static Rendering

AutoCAD 3D) course run by Malta University Services Ltd in conjunction with the Department of Manufacturing Engineering.

In May 2007, Messrs Michael Curmi, Joseph Curmi, Josef Attard and Jesmond Pace successfully completed an in-

house training course on the Dieter Hansen EDM. The Dieter Hansen EDM Operation and Programming Course was delivered by Mr Michael Saliba of Playmobil Malta Ltd.

In May 2007 Messrs Michael Curmi, Joseph Curmi, Josef Attard, Marvin Sultana and Jesmond Pace attended an in-house training course on the CAD/CAM software MasterCAM Mill V.9.0 . The course was delivered by Ing. Philip J.

Farrugia of the DME.

Short Courses presented in 2006-2007

As in the past years, the Department was active in

running a number of short evening courses, including

those by Dr Ing. Jonathan C. Borg on 2-Dimensional and 3-Dimensional CAD Modelling using AutoCAD, and those

by Dr Ing. Conrad Pace on the use and programming of programmable logic controllers. Details can be found at

http://www.eng.um.edu.mt/~dme/dme_training.html.

The DME provides technical research support to local organizations in various areas including:

• Engineering Consultancy - Design, ISO 9000,

Technology Selection, Product Development Support.

• Services - Calibration, CNC Machining, Spark

Erosion , CMM Measurement.

Further details may be found at: http://services.eng.um.edu.mt

The Department of Manufacturing Engineering is in the

process of acquiring a number of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC’s) as well as various peripherals for such

controllers to be used within the Industrial Automation Laboratory, both for practical work related to study units

as well as for project work. Furthermore, the PLC’s will

form an essential element in the development of a test bed within the IAL for the experimentation and

development of innovative industrial automation solutions. In addition state-of–the-art RD equipment is in

the pipeline through ERDF Funds.

Short Courses Short Courses

New Facilities New Facilities

Industrial Support Services Industrial Support Services

Visiting Academics in 2006-2007

Prof. Marton Balazs of Richmond University (UK) vis-ited the DME in November 2006 to deliver lectures

to our undergraduate students on the Applications of AI in Engineering.

Prof. Tim McAloone of the Danish Technical Univer-

sity of Copenhagen in Denmark visited the University of Malta in July 2006 as external examiner for the

MSc IPD degree.

Thanks!

The DME would like to thank the outgoing Dean Prof.

Maurice Grech, for the support that he always gave to the DME in its work during his deanship.

The DME would also like to thank Prof. Robert Ghir-lando for his contributions while a member of our

department, and extends its congratulations for his recent appointments as Head of the Mechanical Engi-

neering Department and Dean of the Faculty of Engi-

neering.

Left: A class that

attended one of the AutoCAD courses at

the DME during 2007.

Right: Prof. Ghirlando

accepting a gift from Dr Borg in recognition of

his contribution to the DME.

Department of Manufacturing Engineering Page 11 DME Newsletter 2007

On the 7th December 2006, the Department of Manufacturing Engineering organised the first National Conference on “The Future of Manufacturing in European Malta”, in collaboration with Malta Enterprise, the Malta Federation

of Industry (FOI) and the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST). This one day conference was held at

the Westin Dragonara Resort in St. Julians and was attended by over a hundred registrants from various industrial sectors ranging from manufacturing, to IT, business consultancy and finance.

The objective of this conference was to raise awareness amongst the different stakeholders of the challenges faced by the Maltese manufacturing industry in a global economy. Furthermore, the conference was to provide a

platform and a forum for discussion on how such challenges can be met, and how the Maltese industry can exploit opportunities that are arising, particularly as a consequence of Malta’s membership within the European Union.

Ultimately, the conference was to serve as one more stepping stone towards the definition of a clear vision and

strategy for Malta’s manufacturing sector to remain industrially competitive and sustainable.

The conference was presided and inaugurated by the Hon. Prime Minister, Dr Lawrence Gonzi. In his speech Dr

Gonzi emphasised the strategic and economic importance that the manufacturing sector has and will continue to have in Malta. The Prime Minister noted that the success of such a sector, now and in the future, will depend on

the sector’s ability to adapt to the changes, occurring at an ever-faster rate, brought about by new technologies

and globalisation. The key to this, Dr Gonzi specified, was a manufacturing sector that should be driven by knowledge, through Malta’s human resources.

The Prime Minister’s speech was followed by presentations from Dr John C. Grech, one of Malta’s leading economists, and Mr Wilfred Kennely, Director General of the Malta Federation of Industry. Both presentations

provided an insight into the importance of sustaining such a sector for Malta’s economy as well as giving a picture of the current Manufacturing scenario, including the sector’s strengths and weaknesses.

A National Conference on Manufacturing

The DME takes on a leadership role in the national debate on the future of manufacturing in European Malta

Department of Manufacturing Engineering Page 2 DME Newsletter 2007

The late morning session offered pres-

entations by Mr Andy Gatesy, CEO at Toly Products Ltd., Dr Ing. Joseph Cilia,

from the University of Malta and Mr Guy Chamberlain, Commercial Manager at

Gutenberg Press, who provided a spec-

trum of views on how local enterprises, ranging from relatively large to smaller

SME’s, are dealing with the challenges of global competition. Strategic deci-

sions in terms of maximising the utility of production resources, research and

development as an essential element in

being first on the market, and penetra-tion into new foreign markets, where

described as keys to sustainability and success.

Academic Staff Appointments and Activities Academic Staff Appointments and Activities

• In Aug. 2006, Dr Ing J. C. Borg was appointed by

Government as member of the Malta Gov. Scholarships Scheme Board that was instrumental in

the award of various postgraduate scholarships to a

number of Maltese citizens.

• In Aug. 2006, Dr Ing J. C. Borg attended and lead a

delegation of departmental researchers to the NordDesign 2006 Conference held at the Dept. of

Mechanical Engineering at the University of Iceland, Reykjavik in Iceland.

• In Sept. 2006 Dr Ing. J. C. Borg and Ing. O. Fenech

attended and participated in a partners meeting of the EU FP6 project COOREERS (www.cooreers.org) held

at Estoril in Portugal.

• In 2006, Dr Ing. J. C. Borg was appointed by DG

Research of the EU Commission to act as an independent expert reviewer of the FP6 IST Project

DIFAC (Digital Factory on Human-Oriented Production

System), with the first project review taking place in Paris, Nov. 2006.

• Between Oct. and Dec. 2006, Dr Ing J. C. Borg was

appointed by the University of Malta Academic Staff

association (UMASA) to chair the sub-committee on EU funded projects.

• In Nov. 2006, Dr Ing J. C. Borg was appointed by the

Malta Council for Science & Technology (MCST) as Malta's National Contact Point and also as Malta's

Programme Comittee Member for the FP7 thematic area on Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials

and new Production Technologies.

• On 5th Dec. 2006, Dr Ing J. C. Borg delivered a

presentation to various participants from across the

EU working in the area of regions of knowledge and meeting in Malta, entitled 'Towards effective

knowledge transfer to SMEs'.

• In Feb. 2007, Dr Ing. J. C. Borg was appointed as

UMASA representative on the University Welfare Committee.

• In Mar. 2007, Dr Ing J. C. Borg was appointed by

Government through the Secretariat for Small

Businesses within The Ministry for Competitiveness

and Communications as Chair of the DesignMalta S t e e r i n g A c t i o n C o m m i t t e e ( s e e

www.designmalta.com.mt).

• In 2006, Dr Ing. M. A. Saliba was appointed and

commissioned by DG Information Society and Media

of the EU Commission to act as an independent expert evaluator of the FP6 Information Society Technologies

(IST) programme.

• In Sept. 2006 Dr M. A. Saliba attended a meeting at

the Frascati Research Centre of the Ente per le Nuove

Tecnologie, l’Energia e l’Ambiente (ENEA) in Italy in

order to explore areas in which the University of Malta

and ENEA would be able to collaborate, under a proposed collaboration agreement between the two

institutions, under the framework of the EU EURATOM fusion energy research programme.

• In Oct. 2006, Dr M. A. Saliba was appointed Publicity

Chair for the 3rd IEEE International Symposium on

Communications, Control and Signal Processing to be

held in Malta in March 2008.

• On 1st Nov. 2006 Dr M. A. Saliba delivered a

presentation entitled “Liberate Your Public Speaking Skills” to a group of officer cadets of the Armed

Forces of Malta. Dr Saliba delivered a similar presentation to the UOM Faculty of Engineering

students during the IEEE student branch professional

awareness conference held on 30th March 2007.

• During 2006, Dr M. A. Saliba chaired the UMASA

collective agreement sub-committee. In early 2007, he was appointed to the UMASA collective agreement

negotiation team as secretary of the association.

• During 2006/07 Dr M. A. Saliba continued to organize

and chair the research seminar series of the Faculty of

Engineering.

• In Apr. 2007 Dr M. A. Saliba was re-elected Faculty of

Engineering representative on the Senate of the University of Malta.

• In Jun. 2007, Dr M. A. Saliba was elected Senate

representative on the University Council.

• In Sept. 2006 Dr C. Pace attended the 4th Symposium

on Mechatronic Systems held in Heidelberg, Germany.

The conference was organised by the International

Federation of Automatic Control.

• Dr C. Pace was appointed to chair the committee

responsible for the organisation of the National Conference on the Future of Manufacturing in

European Malta, which was held on the 7th Dec. 2006, at the Westin Dragonara Resort.

• In Mar. 2007 Dr C. Pace was elected departmental

representative on the Engineering Faculty Board.

• In May 2007 Ing. P. J. Farrugia delivered a training

session on the CAD/CAM software MasterCAM Mill V.9.0 at the CNC Machining Laboratory in the DME.

• In 2006, Ing. C. Spiteri was Appointed as IT technical

person for the Asia-Link EU project entitled

“FastAhead”. See http://www.eng.um.edu.mt/~dmeu/FastAhead/.

• In Jun. 2007, Dr J. C. Borg and Ing. O. Fenech

attended an FP6 Cooreers partners’ meeting held in parallel with the EU NanoForum event in Dusseldorf,

Germany.

Department of Manufacturing Engineering Department of Manufacturing Engineering Page 10 DME Newsletter 2007 Page 3 DME Newsletter 2007

The conference additionally had two keynote speakers from the European Commission, Ms Roberta Salonna and Ms

Federica Roffi. Ms Solonna spoke about the EU’s initiative towards the future of Manufacturing in Europe, known as MANUFUTURE. Ms Salonna, indicated how such a platform can provide an ideal forum where all stakeholders can con-

tribute towards the definition of a strategy for Malta’s manufacturing future. Ms Roffi’s presentation focused on the opportunities that the EU offers through the FP7 programme in terms of Research and Innovation, and how such

mechanisms can be exploited to improve competitiveness for the local Manufacturing industry.

The conference ended with a Panel Discussion chaired by Dr Jonathan Borg, which focused on policies, strategies and mechanisms in sustaining and building a successful future for Malta’s Manufacturing Industry.

The National conference proved to be a success in raising the right awareness about the role of Manufacturing, and

provided a further impetus towards defining a clear vision for the industry’s future. From here the Department would like to take the opportunity to thank the co-organisers, all conference speakers, as well as the conference sponsors,

namely, Abertax Quality Ltd, Actavis Ltd, Playmobil Ltd., Baxter Ltd., Foster Clark Products Ltd., and the FOI through

its METIC project, for the contribution given in making the conference a success.

Dr Ing. Conrad Pace, conference chair

Focus on the DME’s most recent research postgraduate student

Ms Alexia K. Grech joined the Department in January 2007 as a post-

graduate trainee, after she was awarded a three-year scholarship by the Malta Government to carry out a PhD. She is currently reading for her M.Phil. degree

related to Intelligent Design and Manufacture of Micro Biomedical Devices, under the supervision of Dr Ing. Jonathan C. Borg.

As part of her research, Ms Grech attended a conference in April 2007 at Minnea-polis (Minnesota, US) on 'Design of Medical Devices', which she describes as a

very enriching experience. She was able to attend a live cardiac surgery via video

conference which from an engineering designer perspective gave her insights on how some surgical tools could be improved. She was also given the opportunity

to visit an Experimental Centre where surgeons carry out teleoperated robotic assisted surgery on animals prior to performing surgery on patients.

A couple of days after her arrival from the US Ms Grech delivered a public pres-

entation on 'Industrial Challenges and Opportunities of Micro scaled Devices'. She has written two articles for the Chamber of Engineers (Malta) publication “Engineering Today”, and an article which is to appear in the

“Engineering Designer”, the journal of the Institution of Engineering Designers (UK). Ms Grech is also a co-author of a paper to be presented at the International Conference of Engineering Design, to be held in Paris in August

2007.

After the re-launch of the postgraduate scholarships, Ms Grech was invited to forward her feedback on scholar-

ship funding and provide information related to her postgraduate studies on a TV programme Newsroom which

was shown in May 2007. This was an opportunity to promote the ongoing research within the Concurrent Engi-neering Research Unit (CERU) of the DME.

Ms Alexia Grech was one of the six Mechanical Engineering graduates who were awarded First Class Honours degrees in December 2006. On her graduation Ms Grech was also presented with two awards:

- Award for the ‘Best Mechanical Project presented during the Final Year Engineering Project Exhibition’, by the

Chamber of Engineers (Malta)

- Award for the ‘Most Innovative Design Mechanical Engineering Project’ by the Institution of Engineering Design-

ers (Malta).

On the 26th and 27th October 2006, the Department of

Manufacturing Engineering hosted a meeting for repre-sentatives from the University of Strathclyde (UK), the

Universite’ de Technologie de Troyes (France) and the University of Malta. The meeting was organised to dis-

cuss the possibility of developing a joint MSc degree in Global Design and Manufacture. During this meeting the

structure of the programme was discussed as well as the

programme content. Following this meeting, representa-tives from the three institutions have been in contact to

further develop the programme of study with the aim to launch the Joint MSc programme in the coming months.

Working towards a Joint MSc in Working towards a Joint MSc in Global Design and ManufactureGlobal Design and Manufacture

The Department of Manufacturing Engi-

neering in collaboration with the Univer-

site’ de Technologie de Troyes is cur-rently organising a study tour to France.

The tour will be held between the 27th August and 1st September 2007, and will

include visits to the Airbus A380 final assembly plant in Toulouse as well as

the Peugeot vehicle manufacturing line

in Montbeliard. The tour is open to all engineering students.

France Study TourFrance Study Tour

Department of Manufacturing Engineering Page 4 DME Newsletter 2007 Department of Manufacturing Engineering Page 9 DME Newsletter 2007

Recent Research Publications

Undergraduate UpdateUndergraduate UpdateUndergraduate UpdateUndergraduate UpdateUndergraduate UpdateUndergraduate UpdateUndergraduate UpdateUndergraduate UpdateUndergraduate UpdateUndergraduate UpdateUndergraduate UpdateUndergraduate Update

One of the core missions of the DME is to develop and de-

liver undergraduate modules covering a wide range of sub-jects in the field of manufacturing engineering. Apart from

forming an integral part of the B.Eng.(Hons) degree offered by the University of Malta, these modules are also made

available to foreign students who spend a number of semes-

ters studying in Malta through international student ex-change programmes. Over the years, the DME has devel-

oped a broad portfolio of highly relevant, up-to-date, and exciting undergraduate modules, and it is important to stop

for a moment and to take stock of what has been achieved.

The list of modules on the right shows that the DME, in line

with current trends and with the requirements of a competi-

tive industry, has developed a strong training programme in automation technologies and methodologies, modern manu-

facturing systems development, cutting edge design meth-ods, industrial and environmental engineering, and quality

engineering, while retaining its traditional strength in areas

such as manufacturing processes and metrology.

Undergraduate Modules offered by the DME

Mechanical Engineering Science – Manufacturing

Machining Processes and Analysis Non-conventional Manufacturing Processes

Engineering Metrology

Computer Aided Engineering Design Engineering Design Methodology

Introduction to Manufacturing Systems Manufacturing Systems Modelling & Control

Computer Integrated Manufacturing Mechatronics I and II

Manufacturing Automation

Industrial Robotics Applications of AI in Engineering

Industrial & Environmental Engineering Quality Management & Control

Quality & Reliability Engineering

Bi-weekly Industrial Visits Throughout the whole academic year, second year students who are interested in manufacturing have the opportunity

to visit a wide range of manufacturing companies throughout Malta, in order to observe first hand the methodologies and technologies that are employed by these companies in their production processes. These visits are organised and

led by Mr Pius Gatt, a senior lecturer of the DME. The visits are held on Wednesday afternoons, normally once every

two weeks.

During this past academic year, the companies visited have included Abertax Quality Ltd., Actavis Ltd., Aeromaritime

Mediterranean Ltd., Delta (Malta) Ltd., Gutenberg Press Ltd., LBM Breweries Ltd., Methode Electronics Malta Ltd. (twice), ProMinent Group of Companies, Seifert mtm Systems Malta Ltd., and Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Malta.

The DME would like to take this opportunity to thank the above companies for hosting our students and for offering

highly interesting guided tours of their facilities.

Collaboration with TU - Berlin

In January 2007, Ms Aleksandra Postawa from the Technical University of Berlin (TU-Berlin) submitted her final year research project

(Studienarbeit) report to her University, for work carried out at the Uni-versity of Malta during the previous academic year. Ms Postawa worked

on a project entitled "Modelling, Analysis, Simulation, Performance

Evaluation, and Evaluation of a Three-directional Incipient Slip Sensor", under the supervision of Dr Ing. Michael A. Saliba. This new collabora-

tion between the UOM and TU-Berlin started after a visit to our Univer-sity by Prof. Dr-Ing. Lucienne Blessing of TU-Berlin. The resident super-

visor in Germany for Ms Postawa's project was Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg

Krüger of the Institute for Machine Tools and Factory Management (IWF) of TU-Berlin. The Studienarbeit is a precurser to a Masters thesis.

Ms Postawa was awarded a grade of 1.0 (excellent) for her work.

C. G. Amza, J. C. Borg, and A. Lenkevicius, Training for ECDL CAD Certification, ISBN 978-973-718-668-3. Translated

in Dutch (Training voor het Europese CAD certificaat, ISBN 978-973-718-733-8) and Lithuanian (ECDL CAD Sertifikavi-mas, ISBN 978-9955-25-250-4).

P. J. Farrugia, J. C. Borg, K. P. Camilleri, A. Bartolo, and J. D. Restrepo-Giraldo, “An Evaluation of a Language for Pa-per-based Form Sketching” in Proceedings of the 6th NordDesign Conference Reykjavik, Iceland, August 2006, pp.

287 – 297.

P. J. Farrugia, J. C. Borg, K. P. Camilleri, X. T. Yan, and A. Bartolo, “Drawing Standards for Early Design: Where Do We Stand?” 16th Intermatonal Conference on Engineering Design (ICED ’07), Paris, France, August 2007, (in press).

O. C. Fenech and J. C. Borg, "Towards A Sensory Approach for Designing Pleasurable User-Product Experiences", in Proceedings of the 6th NordDesign Conference, Reykjavik, Iceland, August 2006, pp. 223 - 228.

O. C. Fenech and J. C. Borg, "A Sensation based Model of Product elicited Emotions", in the 5th Conference on Design and Emotion, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2006, p. 27.

O. C. Fenech and J. C. Borg, "Exploiting Emotions for Successful Product Design”, 16th Intermatonal Conference on

Engineering Design (ICED ’07), Paris, France, August 2007, (in press).

M. A. Saliba and M. Axiak, “Design of a Compact, Dexterous Robot Hand with Remotely Located Actuators and Sen-

sors”, Proceedings of the 15th IEEE Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation (MED’07), Athens, Greece, June 2007.

D. Seward, C. Pace, and R. Agate, “Safe and effective navigation of autonomous robots in hazardous environments”,

Autonomous Robots, Vol 22, No. 3, April 2007, pp 223-242, Springer Netherlands.

C. L. Spiteri and J. C. Borg, “Investigating mobile Knowledge Management support in Engineering Design – an empiri-

cal study”, in Proceedings of the 6th NordDesign Conference, Reykjavik, Iceland, August 2006, pp.148-157.

C. L. Spiteri, J. C. Borg, E. Cachia, and M. Vella, “Requirements for a mobile knowledge management system in engi-

neering design”, 16th Intermatonal Conference on Engineering Design (ICED ’07), Paris, France, August 2007, (in press).

P. Vella, J. C. Borg, A. K. Grech, D. Spiteri, and J. Randich, “Design for Micromilling Guidelines”, 16th Intermatonal

Conference on Engineering Design (ICED ’07), Paris, France, August 2007, (in press).

In August 2006, academic staff members of the

DME together with postgraduate trainees attended the NordDesign 2006 Conference, held at the Fac-

ulty of Engineering, University of Iceland in Reyk-javik. Although coming from a small island, the

Maltese delegation was by far the largest in this

conference. Three research papers were presented in the areas of computer support for early form

design, mobile design management support and design for emotions.

Research Visit to Lancaster University

In April 2007, Dr Conrad Pace paid a research visit to Lancaster University where he has been involved

in a research project on the development of an intelligent robotic control architecture. The project

involves the development of a control architecture

which embeds the modelling of various robotic be-havioural aspects for autonomous decision-making.

The work is presenting an innovative way of inte-grating architectural and decision making tools to

provide for a better decision making structure

whilst still maintaining abilities in reasoning under uncertain operational conditions. The architecture

utilises stochastic based models for interpreting the environment from sensory perceptual information,

as well as for reasoning on the system actions as a basis for decision-making and action execution. Dr

Pace’s visit has further contributed towards

strengthening the collaboration between the two universities in autonomous robotics.

Acknowledgements

The DME would like to thank Methode Electronics (Malta) Ltd. and Toly Products (Malta) Ltd. for sponsoring a number of final year undergraduate projects during the academic year 2006-2007 as indicated above, as well as Malta Enterprise for sponsoring the third-year engineering design awards.

Department of Manufacturing Engineering Page 5 DME Newsletter 2007Department of Manufacturing Engineering Page 8 DME Newsletter 2007

Undergraduate Student Projects

Undergraduate Final Year Projects 2006-2007 supervised by DME staff members

Automated In-Line Cosmetic Case Inspection

Student: Mr Agius Karl David Supervisors: Dr C. Pace, Ing. P. J. Farrugia Industrial Partner: Toly Products (Malta) Ltd. Continued Development Of An Autonomous Guided Vehicle Platform

Student: Mr Azzopardi Sandro Supervisor: Dr C. Pace

Parametric 3D Modelling through Freehand Sketching

Student: Mr Balzan Franklin Supervisor: Ing. P. J. Farrugia

Emotion-driven Design For A User ‘Flexible’ Mouse Student: Ms Caruana Fleur Supervisors: Dr J. C. Borg, Ing. O. Fenech

Optimisation Of Robot Hand Design Through Human Manual Dexterity Testing Student: Mr Chetcuti Alistaire Supervisor: Dr M. A. Saliba Design for Maintainability (DFM)

Student: Mr Gatt Christopher Supervisor: Ing. P. Vella

Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) – Construction Products or Plastic Products

Student: Mr Mangion Matthew Supervisor: Ing. F. E. Farrugia

Towards a Portable Knowledge-Based Design Tool Student: Mr Piscopo Giovanni Supervisors: Ing. P. J. Farrugia, Mr C. Spiteri

Enhancement Of Gear Hobbing Machine Student: Mr Sargent Adrian Supervisor: Ing. F. E. Farrugia Design, Testing And Construction Of A Torque Calibration Test Bench

Student: Mr Sciberras Yevegene Supervisor: Ing. F. E. Farrugia Evaluation And Concept Development Of An Automated Handling System

Student: Ms Sultana Ilona Anne Supervisor: Dr C. Pace Industrial Partner: Methode Electronics (Malta) Ltd. Design of a “Universal Mirror Cutting” Dis-Assembly System

Student: Ms Xuereb Cathryn Supervisors: Dr J. C. Borg, Dr C. Pace Industrial Partner: Toly Products (Malta) Ltd.

Design Of A Cosmetic Case Manipulator Student: Mr Vella Zarb Andrew Supervisors: Dr M. A. Saliba, Dr J. C. Borg Industrial Partner: Toly Products (Malta) Ltd.

Research ActivitiesResearch ActivitiesResearch ActivitiesResearch ActivitiesResearch ActivitiesResearch ActivitiesResearch ActivitiesResearch ActivitiesResearch ActivitiesResearch ActivitiesResearch ActivitiesResearch Activities

Major Success for DME in National Research and Innovation Funding Competition

Two research proposals submitted by the DME have been ranked in the top four from among over eighty propos-als submitted nationwide for funding under the National R & I programme, and will receive funding from the

Government of Malta. These results were obtained following an extensive evaluation and peer review exercise, carried out under the auspices of the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST). The project proposal

entitled “Intelligent Design and Manufacture of Micro-parts for Biomedical Applications: Case Study - The Devel-opment of a Laparoscopic Surgery Tool”, led by Dr Jonathan C. Borg and with the participation of Dr Conrad Pace, Dr Michael A. Saliba and Ing. Pierre Vella, was ranked in second place overall, while the project proposal

entitled “A Rationalisation of Industrial Automation Requirements and Service Provision in Malta, with a Focus on the Development of New Modular Reconfigurable Industrial Automation Systems”, led by Dr Michael A. Saliba

and with the participation of Dr Conrad Pace and Ing. Martin M. Zammit (the latter from the UOM Department of

Management) was ranked fourth overall.

Both projects will involve the contribution / participation by a number of industrial partners. The Micro-parts pro-

ject will involve the participation of Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Malta (Dowty), The Malta Federation of Industry (FOI), Jamesco trading Ltd., the Malta Innovation Relay Centre (IRC), and Engineria Ltd. as associate partners in

collaboration with the DME and the Institute of Health Care of the University of Malta. The industrial automation project will involve the participation of Cheops (Malta) Ltd., ProMinent Group of Companies (Malta) Ltd., Toly

Products Ltd., and the FOI as full partners in collaboration with the DME and the Department of Management of

the University of Malta. The two projects are expected to kick off later this year.

An Emotion-driven Approach to Design

Launched in 2006, the Emotional Support Tool For Early Product Design (ESTRED) project is an internal research project funded by the University of Malta. The project's long term objective is the conduction of research contribut-

ing towards the development of a technology supporting designers in adopting an emotion-driven approach to prod-uct design via paper sketch-based 3D modelling. Other short-term objectives of ESTRED include the rapid genera-

tion of a 3D model directly from a paper based sketch description; emotional classification of a designer’s form con-

cept; and inference of an enhanced emotion-driven design guidance resulting from an emotional classification of the design concept. The project team members are Dr Ing. J. C. Borg, Ing. Philip J. Farrugia, and Ing. Oliver C. Fenech.

Far left: A new robot hand is un-

der development in the DME. It has three fingers and a thumb, with

joints that can execute human-like motions, and is equipped with posi-

tion and force sensors.

Left: A new autonomous guided vehicle (AGV) is under development

in the DME. The picture shows the vision sensor mounted on the vehi-

cle platform during testing of the AGV path following system.

Department of Manufacturing Engineering Page 6 DME Newsletter 2007

Maximise your Career Prospects with IPD Expertise

Department of Manufacturing Engineering Page 7 DME Newsletter 2007

MSc — IPD Restructuring

In today’s competitive environment, if you are a manager/entrepreneur or an engineer/scientist who wishes to achieve

an increased level of success within an industry that involves the making or altering of a physical product, it has be-come essential that you acquire a broad and in-depth expertise in the various aspects of product development. Indeed,

the distinction between the roles of engineering and the use of technology on one hand and business and management on the other, are becoming less distinguishable from each other, due to the need to ensure that products are devel-

oped to simultaneously meet various demands, both from a functional as well as economic and financial perspective.

The modern approach in today’s industry is that of Integrated Product Development, or IPD, where all the aspects of product function and design, of product materials and manufacturing, of product use and environmental impact, of

product market development and costing, and of entrepreneurship and business management are linked into a single discipline that is targeted towards optimising overall performance and degree of success.

For this purpose, the Masters program in Integrated Product Development is founded on the two principle areas of Product and Process Engineering and Business and Management. This program blends together all of the major topics

of IPD, and even allows the candidate an element of specialisation or focus through a selection of elective modules.

MSc — IPD: Testimonials

The first cohort of 20 students who are following this interdisciplinary programme have just completed their second year, and are due to commence their third and final year of studies in October. Here are some repre-

sentative quotes from three of these students:

Ing. Joseph Bartolo, head of the Metrology Directorate within the Malta Standards Authority, says that “the

make up of this M.Sc in Integrated Product development provided the appropriate timing, scope and subject

mix to allow me to augment the technical tool kit and shore up management skills through effective intense training sessions delivered in a well structured manner ... The acquired technical skills help in the creation of

a new segment of Maltese experts who will be an important component in upgrading Malta’s technical innova-tion capabilities.”

Samantha Runco, Business Technology Network Manager within Malta Enterprise and formerly R&D project leader at Carlo Gavazzi Ltd., says that “the mix of engineering and financial / managerial topics exposes the

student to the different disciplines required to better understand the underlying context of the workplace,

while still remaining true to our original engineering oriented selection.”

Jason Demicoli, who heads the Reliability Laboratory at STMicroelectronics (Malta) Ltd., says that “being a

graduate in the electrical stream, at first I was a little concerned with the mechanical related content of the course but through my first year and the first semester of the second year these subjects have proved to be

both interesting and of great value both on a personal but also at a career level.”

As from October 2007, the course will present an improved structure, including a stronger focus on market aspects,

and will allow students additional opportunities in developing competencies in the use of techniques and methodologies of relevance in successful product development. More details can be found at http://www.eng.um.edu.mt/~dmeu/

msc/.

Whether you are a freshly graduated engi-

neer or scientist, or have already achieved experience in industry, or even if you are a

manager in a technical environment, or an aspiring or seasoned entrepreneur, then

this program is intended to fortify your

skills and to maximise your performance and success in the industry.

FASTAHEAD PROJECT

In Jul. ‘06, Dr Ing C. Pace participated in the Strategy and Selection workshop of the FASTAHEAD, EU-funded Asia-

Link project concerning Higher Educ. and the promotion of Advanced Design and Manufacture in Asian countries. The meeting, in which the project partners participated, was held at the Islamic University of Technology (IUT) in

Dhaka, Bangladesh. The project partners consist of universities from the U.K., France, Malta, China Bangladesh and Pakistan. The DME’s participation in this 3 year project, involves the development and delivery of a number of

specific modules to be taught at both European and Asian partner Universities at MSc level as well as supervision

of Asian split PhD programmes. In addition a meeting involving UTT, UOS and UOM was held in Malta. Further de-tails on this project is available at the following web page: http://www.eng.um.edu.mt/~dmeu/FastAhead/.