Syed Ameer Ul Hassan exclusively on iamcivilengineer.com.

Meet  “Syed Ameer Ul Hassan” @ iamcivilengineer.com.

He is a graduate Civil Engineer from University of Engineering and technology, Taxila, Pakistan currently working as Deputy District Officer (Roads) Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. He is a very rational and motivated professional. Here are few of the interesting lines he gifted us to share it with our fans of iamcivilengineer.com  

In which department you are currently employed? And what is your job designation? 
I am currently working in Communication & Works Department as Deputy District Officer (Roads) Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.

According to you which quality should be there in all civil engineers?
Civil engineers must have a strong instantaneous decision and verdict power; this will help them a lot while working in the field.

Which day can be regarded as “The most marvelous day of your life”? 
While getting my BSc. degree at Jinnah convention centre Islamabad.Pakistan

What you think regarding scope of Civil Engineering? 
Scope of civil engineering is enormously gigantic and infinite. As you know civil engineering is mother of all engineering fields, its scope is inestimable.

What do you think regarding GPA, Does it matters or not?
Well I think GPA doesn’t matter :D only luck matters :P

 What are your duty timings as a DDO (Roads)?
Duty timings are very erratic and variable. If there are enduring and ongoing projects you have to work 12 to 18 hours and if no project is there than you can relax more then you can imagine :D

 What do you think why civil engineers don't have a love story?
Well this is very interesting and exciting question,
Who say they don’t have? :P

 One negative thing you observed in civil engineering as a profession?
Well one negative thing I observed is that their personal life is affected badly and roughly due to their hectic field jobs.

 What advice would you give to a forthcoming student wanting Civil Engineer as a profession?
Well one and only advice would be to have a strong decision and assessment power and once you took a decision you should stuck with it, you should also apply latest and up-to-date knowledge to your projects because one downbeat I observed is that most of projects are being executed according to old specifications i.e of 1973!

From Editors Desk

I hope you would like this as our first entry in meetups[at]iamcivilengineer.com. This purpose of these meetups is just to motivate the students and civil engineers around the world with successful and big-guns of civil engineers throughout the world. If you think you yourself or any of your surrounding friends are among the ones we should publish then simply email us on; admin@iamcivilengineer.com or post on our page i.e. fb.com/iamcivilengineerdotcom
Don’t forget to share this story with your friends and buddies. Happy civil engineering :D

Solid waste disposal and collection system in Pakistan

Solid Waste is basically defined as a material which has no value for the people, the people themselves are responsible for this trash and is not carried through sewerage pipes and as the name suggests is in solid form. There are a number of sources from which solid waste is generated, distribution of solid waste varies from area to area, and few of them are; Domestic, Commercial, Industrial, healthcare, agricultural and mineral extraction activities and accumulates in houses and other places.

Solid Waste Management System in Pakistan

Some other keywords that are considered as similar to this include Garbage, trash and rubbish.
Now if we talk about the management of this solid waste, termed as solid waste management, we mean it as generation, separation, collection, transfer, transportation and disposal of waste in a way that takes into account public health, economics, conservation, aesthetics, and the environment, and is responsive to public demands.

Common Types of Waste mostly generated 

The most common types of solid waste are:
• Municipal solid waste
• Industrial waste
• Agricultural waste
• Hazardous waste
The solid waste composition varies from region to region and time to time. There are following different types of waste.
Biodegradable waste i.e. could be decomposed naturally such as food and kitchen waste, green waste, paper, etc.
Recyclable material i.e. could be recycled again and again; such as paper, glass, bottles, cans, metals, certain plastics ,fabrics, clothes, batteries etc.
Inert waste i.e. not liable to decompose; such as construction and demolition waste, dirt, rocks, debris, etc.
Electrical and electronic waste (WEEE); such as electrical appliances, TVs, computers, screens, etc.
Composite wastes; such as waste clothing, Tetra Packs, waste plastic, etc.

Domestic hazardous waste & toxic waste medication; such as paints, chemicals, light bulbs, fluorescent tubes, spray cans, fertilizer and pesticide containers, shoe polish, etc.

Failure of SWM in Pakistan

The consequences of failure of this solid waste management system are disastrous for the health of the community and the smooth running of life in that region. Some common problems as seen because of this failure includes, land and air pollution, blockage of drains and water pollution in natural streams.
Factors affecting solid waste management
The success or failure of this management system is dependent on many factors and many areas are there to be considered like public awareness because you can’t hold of the garbage thrown every second on the local street by the so-called educated humans, similarly due to increase of population there is an unplanned city growth that causes troubles and difficulties for the authorities to handle such a large amount of garbage. Mostly in cities and municipalities in Pakistan there are although no proper system of disposal management or even if it is there the maintenance and proper functioning are not up to the mark. The other very important factor to be considered is the rate of urbanization with the advancements and development in countries the communities are shifting from rural areas and urban areas and thus more utilization of advance products and thus more garbage is there.

Solid Waste Collection system in Pakistan and its effects

In Pakistan the absence of a proper solid waste disposal system and huge amount of uncollected wastes posses great threat to the public health as they are the source of mosquitoes and cholera which transmit malaria and cholera later on. One of a very hazardous and un-noticed drawback of the waste disposal in Pakistan is that hospital and industrial waste is treated as ordinary waste.
The condition of waste management system from the collection of waste to its proper disposal is, to put it mildly, pathetic in Pakistan. Only 50% of solid waste quantities generated are collected by government services. However, for cities to be clean, at least 70% of these quantities should be collected.

Increase in the solid waste is due to increase in urban population, industrialization, changing consumption pattern and also effluent life style. Due to these trends many cities are unable to cope with increase volume of solid waste, especially in middle and low income countries. During the late period of 1900’s annual waste production ranged from 300-800 kg per person in many developed countries to less than 200 per kg per person in less developed countries.

In Pakistan solid waste management is a significant problem being faced. Despite of the fact that there are many polices being formulated for the protection of the environment from solid waste but these policies are only implemented in cities. In rural areas of Pakistan mostly open dumping is done.

A number of municipalities have deployed sweepers for waste collection but the service is reported to be irregular and limited to prominent administrative or commercial areas. Citizens are not provided with enough rubbish bins. In fact, those bins can only be found along the main roads. Those who live further away prefer not to take the trouble: the majority of home waste ends up being thrown away on empty plots.
Solid Waste Management consists of various stages including primary collection that is done from house hold to dust bin sites manually. Secondary collection is done from dust bin sites to land fill sites mechanically and final disposal is at landfill sites.

Integrated Solid Waste management (ISWM) is a combination of those activities that best protects the community itself and environment. For ISWM a sustainable approach is required by giving the stake holders to participate in the process of ISWM and share their responsibilities.

Some of the significant features of solid waste management shows that the composition of solid waste in Pakistan that comes from different sources have a high percentage of organic waste, that can be recovered via composting and recycling. In most cities of Pakistan poor collection and transportation of municipal solid waste is reported.

The estimated quantity of solid waste generation in Pakistan ranges between 0.283 to 0.612 kg / capital / day and waste generation growth rate is 2.4 percentages per year.  Due to poor solid waste management there are large number of communicable diseases and unhygienic environment being created.

Much of the uncollected waste ultimately finds its way into empty plots, farming land, pits and ponds. It creates an ideal environment for flies and mosquitoes to dwell on and is not only harmful for the people living in that area, but also for plants and animals.
In Pakistan Solid Waste management has not been carried out in proper manner and the condition is getting worse by the time. The major problem causing factors are rate of urbanization, composition of waste, scavenger role for recyclable separation and the capacities of existing municipalities for solid waste management.
For the change of attitude and behavior of public, education and awareness is very important. For this purpose we may use different strategies, e.g., education session for common man regarding disposal of garbage. By this way we can educate the common man regarding how they can play their role in solid waste management.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The recommendations that can be considered for the improvement of the current situation regarding solid waste management in Pakistan includes, raising awareness about consequences caused by solid waste pollution, role of government sector, NGO’s, Private sector collectively for solid waste management, legislation should be done which would be effective and find ways to implement it effectively, application of 3R’s (Reduce, Recycle and Reuse) concept in solid waste management. House to house collection of solid waste should be organized. Littering of solid waste should be prohibited in cities, towns and urban areas. Proper segregation would be vital for scientific disposal of waste. Developing legal framework and national guidelines for solid waste management that includes waste management rules and basic recycling rules.

What is meshing? What is role of meshing in design of concrete structures?

Meshing is the task of partitioning a spatial domain into simple geometric elements such as triangles (in 2D) or tetrahedrons (in 3D). Meshes typically have to conform to boundaries. Furthermore, for many applications there are quality criteria that need to be met, such as ensuring that angles are not too small. Meshing is a huge industry, with dozens of companies selling meshing software, hundreds of companies using software, and a diverse set of applications, including graphics, geographic information systems, computer vision, and air flow and structural simulations.

Meshing of an element

Use of Meshing

In the past decade there have been many important theoretical advances in algorithm design for meshing related problems, but only some of these have made it into meshing software.
Lateral walls and semi-rigid diaphragms are composed of shell elements. The subdivision of these elements into smaller pieces is commonly referred to as meshing.
In Ram Frame, the size of the mesh is controlled by the “Maximum distance between nodes” parameter in Ram Frame – Criteria – General. When a lateral beam has an internal node at a column or brace end, the beam is segmented in the finite element model and the beam is represented by two beam segments. These finite element segments are denoted by the use of I’ and j’ in the results. The first segment ends are I and j’ and the second segment ends are I’ and j. Therefore, I’ and j’ are always the ends at the internal node.

Meshing types

Coarse: Faster computation; not concerned about stress concentrations, singularities, or warping. Not near changes in geometry or displacement constraints or changes in material including thickness.
Fine: Best approximation but at the cost of the computation time. Look for disproportionate stress level changes from node to node or plate to plate and large adjacent node displacement differences to determine if need to refine the mesh. Nodes should be defined at locations where changes of geometry or loading occur. Changes in geometry relate to thickness, material and/or curvature. A simple check, if you can, is to decrease the mesh size by 50%, re-run analysis, and compare the change of magnitude of stresses and strains. If there is no significant change, then ok. In most companies, all of this knowledge of mesh size will be known and might
be set a FEA control file.

In case of the slab supported on beams we know in actual conditions the beam is monolithic with the slab that means that beam acts as a T-Beam with the slab having flange the portion of the slab. But during modeling in finite element analysis the slab or area or shell element is acted separately and the beam is acted separately. To make them monolithic we do the meshing of the shell element and divide the panels in to various sub-panels or parts which would then be attached to the beam from all the separated segments.

What is finite element analysis and how many types are used in analysis and design of concrete structures

Advancements in the field of computer aided engineering during the last two decades have been quite extensive and have led to considerable benefits to many engineering industries. Similarly the advantages can also be observed in the building industry where the softwares and tools which uses finite element have allowed the introduction of innovative and efficient building products along with development of accurate design methods.

Finite Element Analysis

Definition of Finite Element Analysis

According to one definition;
Finite element method (FEM) is a technique for numerical solution of complex structural problems. In this method the structural system (consisting of all the elements which make up a structure) is modeled by a set of appropriate finite elements which are interconnected at points called nodes. Elements may have physical properties such as thickness, coefficient of thermal expansion, density, compressive strength, yield strength, young’s modulus, shear modulus and Poisson’s ratio.

Use of FEM

Traditionally, engineers have used laboratory testing to investigate the structural behavior of steel building products and systems subject to the expected wind and earthquake loads and to develop appropriate design rules. Laboratory testing was also used to develop new building products and systems. However, such reliance on time consuming and expensive laboratory testing has hindered progress in this area. The product manufacturers and designers often decided on conservative designs in order to avoid expensive and time consuming laboratory testing. However, advances in the field of computer aided engineering during the last two decades have changed this situation significantly in many engineering industries.

The finite element method (FEM) is the dominant discretization technique in structural mechanics. The basic concept in the physical interpretation of the FEM is the subdivision of the mathematical model into disjoint (non-overlapping) components of simple geometry called finite elements or elements for short. The response of each element is expressed in terms of a finite number of degrees of freedom characterized as the value of an unknown function, or functions, at a set of nodal points.

The response of the mathematical model is then considered to be approximated by that of the discrete model obtained by connecting or assembling the collection of all elements. The disconnection-assembly concept occurs naturally when examining many artificial and natural systems. For example, it is easy to visualize an engine, bridge, building, airplane, or skeleton as fabricated from simpler components. Unlike finite difference models, finite elements do not overlap in space.

A typical finite element analysis on a software system requires the following information:
1. Nodal point spatial locations (geometry)
2. Elements connecting the nodal points
3. Mass properties
4. Boundary conditions or restraints
5. Loading or forcing function details
6. Analysis options

Because FEM is a discretization method, the number of degrees of freedom of a FEM model is necessarily finite. They are collected in a column vector called u. This vector is generally called the DOF vector or state vector. The term nodal displacement vector for u is reserved to mechanical applications.
FEM Solution Process

Procedure

1. Divide structure into pieces (elements with nodes) (discretization/meshing)
2. Connect (assemble) the elements at the nodes to form an approximate system of equations for the whole structure (forming element matrices)
3. Solve the system of equations involving unknown quantities at the nodes (e.g., displacements)
4. Calculate desired quantities (e.g., strains and stresses) at selected elements

Basic Theory

The way finite element analysis obtains the temperatures, stresses, flows, or other desired unknown parameters in the finite element model are by minimizing energy functional. Energy functional consists of all the energies associated with the particular finite element model. Based on the law of conservation of energy, the finite element energy functional must equal zero. The finite element method obtains the correct solution for any finite element model by minimizing the energy functional. The minimum of the functional is found by setting the derivative of the functional with respect to the unknown grid point potential for zero. This is based on the principle of virtual work, which states that if a particle is under equilibrium, under a set of a system of forces, then for any displacement, the virtual work is zero. Each finite element will have its own unique energy functional.

Civil Engineers and DAE (Civil) jobs in Frontier Works Organization (FWO)

Frontier Works Organization (FWO) invites applications from different parts of the country from the eligible applicants. Frontier Works Organization has given responsibility for the induction of the applicants on pure merit to the National Testing Service (NTS)

1) Fresh Graduate Engineers

ii) Civil Engineer
ii) Software Engineers / Information Technology (IT)

Eligibility

Bachelors (4 Years) / Masters in relevant field from HEC recognized or foreign universities. CGPA 3.0 and above or 75 % and above. Maximum age limit 26 years on 27th April, 2014

2) Fresh Graduate Management Trainees (MT)

Human Resource Management (HRM)
Finance / Accounts
Total Quality Management (TQM)
Marketing
Supply Chain

Eligibility 

Bachelors (4 years) / Masters in relevant field from HEC recognized or foreign universities. CGPA 3.0 and above, or 75% and above. Maximum Age limit: 26 years on 27th April, 2014
Associate Engineers
Civil , Mechanical, Electrical Surveying
Three (3) years Diploma of Associate Engineering (DAE) from recognized Technical Institute / Board.
Maximum Age limit: 25 years on 27th April, 2014.

Procedure

Go to www.nts.org.pk , sign up by using the CNIC form as a username and fill the application form before 8th Aril, 2014.
Fill the deposit slip of Rs. 800 and pay it to UBL, MCB, ABL, HBL.
Send the application form along with original deposit slip to NTS Headquaters, Plot No. 96 Street No. 4 Sector H-8/1, Islamabad.
Test Date: Sunday 27th April, 2014
Last Date of Submission of Application Form: Tuesday 8th April, 2014

Civil Engineer required at NayaTel

Nayatel, a leading telecom operator of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, offering ultra-broadband internet, HD Cable TV and telephony services is now expanding its operations to Faisalabad and requires competent and dynamic professionals for the following posts:

Civil Engineer

Requirements: BE (Civil) from a reputed university having excellent academic grades with 3-4 years of related experience.

Job Description: 

Handling and executing civil works in accordance with government regulations, conducting field surveys and managing civil team independently.

Applicants must have excellent leadership, communication and interpersonal skills and should be ready to work in a purely work oriented culture. Nayatel offers excellent remuneration and allied perks.
Send your CV at
hr@nayatel.com
mentioning the name of the post in subject before
11 April, 2014