Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Cheah Chee Ban
School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Email: cheahcheeban@usm.my
Phone No:
(+6)04-653 2827 | (+6)016-484 6502
Research Interests
Construction Materials and Technology.
My Research: Contribution & Expertise
To overcome the severe environmental degradation associated with natural resources mining for concrete production, Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Cheah Chee Ban an strived to create novel reduced carbon footprint cement, alternative sand and stone for the construction industry. These alternative materials are produced from industrial by-products, solving the solid waste disposal problems through recycling them into functional construction material. As a result, he invented three national and one international patent granted and four national patents filed on green concrete, which received several national and international invention awards. Furthermore, by integrating the inventions with the industrialized building system(IBS), he designed and built the first full-scale green concrete detached house in Malaysia for technology demonstration, research, development and education.
Currently, he leads the national research supported by the Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation (MOSTI) to develop new processes and innovative material designs for large volume reuse of coal combustion by-products to manufacture concrete. Moreover, he initiated a collaboration with one of the country's top five concrete producers to create tangible value for businesses and the society based on his inventions. Through the industry linkage, Dr. Cheah has led the technology transfer to produce sustainable concrete used nationwide in structure and infrastructure construction to reduce the material and environmental costs of the construction industry.
My View: Qualities of a Good Researcher
I believe an excellent research scientist has a specific area of research focus and specialisation. With that, the researcher can exert a consistent effort to develop new knowledge in the research focus area. Such effort contributes to developing the body of knowledge in the field. In essence, a good researcher focuses on three key results: to create new knowledge, share new knowledge locally and globally, and translate the scientific knowledge developed to the community, businesses and industry. The translation of knowledge is an important process to create a tangible impact of the research output to benefit the society and businesses towards developing the country into a high-tech nation. Besides high- quality research, an academic researcher's role is also oriented towards developing new talent for nation-building. In the context of the university, the talents are research students such as masters and PhD students who undertake their apprenticeship to learn crucial research skills that will benefit them in their long-term career and professional development. Therefore, the role of an academic researcher is, in essence, "Transforming Higher Education for a Sustainable Tomorrow".