This study was conducted to evaluate the discomfort level of students from the Polytechnic Kuching Sarawak while they were sitting on chairs. Polytechnic Kuching students (n=500) completed a set of questionnaires utilizing a survey form which showed the body chart discomfort using Borg’s CR-10 Scale. The students was asked to identify body areas experiencing discomfort and to rate this discomfort using score rating groups (0 to 5) where score 0-1.99 = No discomfort (1), score2.00-3.99 =Discomfort (2) and score 4.00-5.00 = Very uncomfortable (3).The evaluation of seating discomfort levels showed acceptable levels for the students and possible outstanding problems. Students were asked to rank over an order 10 statements about comfort and choose three responses which gave the most consistent equal interval scale. The results showed that the main response of discomfort indicated the students felt cramped, stiff, numb, sore and tender muscle, unbearable pain, barely comfortable and uncomfortable. This project was identified to evaluate the comfort level for classrooms chairs of polytechnic students. Overall, there was a significant discomfort level for the students whilst sitting on chairs and a possible solution put forward is to design a new type of classroom chair made of natural fibre reinforced composite.
Cement production is a major environmental problem that causes the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This study attempts to sustainably use palm oil fuel ash (POFA) and eggshell powder (ESP) as partial replacements for Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in concrete production. POFA and ESP are two wastes that need to be managed to reduce their detrimental environmental effects. As such compressive and slump tests were conducted on POFA-ESP-OPC concrete mixtures by replacing 10% of OPC with POFA-ESP. Two mediums of curing were used: tap water and river water. It was found that the compressive strength and slump resistance of these mixtures were within the ranges typically encountered in regular concrete mixtures indicating the viability of this procedure employed for structural applications.