Driving UTM’s Research Mission Through eJournal Management and Academic Commitments

Management Meeting of UTM eJournal No. 1/2025

This afternoon, I attended the UTM eJournal Management Meeting No. 1/2025, held at the Meeting Room of the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic & International), Sultan Ibrahim Chancellery Building (BCSI), UTM Johor Bahru. The meeting began at 2.30 p.m. and was chaired by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Rahmah Bt. Awang, Director of UTM Press.

As the Chief Editor for the ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education (AJEE), which is published under Penerbit UTM, I joined fellow editors and committee members to discuss matters related to the strategic direction, quality assurance, and operational management of UTM eJournals. The meeting also revisited the minutes from the 2024 session and deliberated on action items to strengthen UTM’s academic publishing ecosystem.

The importance of this meeting cannot be overstated. As a research university, UTM places strong emphasis on knowledge dissemination and impact through scholarly publications. The UTM eJournals serve not only as platforms for academic exchange but also as benchmarks for quality, visibility, and global engagement. Effective management ensures that these journals uphold international publishing standards, attract high-quality manuscripts, and contribute significantly to UTM’s reputation and standing in the global academic community.

A Side Note on Today’s Tasks

Besides the meeting, today was also filled with several key responsibilities related to teaching, research management, and academic service:

  • ✅ I made substantial progress in preparing the final exam paper and answers for Occupational Safety in Energy System (METE1153). The paper is about 90% complete, with the exam scheduled for next week.

  • ✅ I invigilated an online test for a student who missed the METE1153 test conducted two weeks ago, ensuring fairness and academic integrity.

  • ✅ I responded to the Laporan Perkara Berbangkit (LPB) for the upcoming Management Committee on Research Grants (JKPD) meeting, scheduled for Monday.

  • ✅ At 11.30 a.m., I joined a Pra-JKPD meeting with the Director and Registrar of RMC to finalize preparations ahead of the main session.

  • ✅ I requested the preparation of the project monitoring report to be tabled at both the JKP and JKPD meetings.

  • ✅ I also took some time to watch the Vice-Chancellor’s speech, Amanat NC 2025, streamed live via Facebook, which provided valuable insights into UTM’s direction and strategic priorities for the year.

Reflection

It was a productive day that balanced editorial responsibilities, academic commitments, and research management duties. Being part of the UTM eJournal Management Meeting as Chief Editor of AJEE further reinforced my appreciation of how crucial collaborative effort is in sustaining UTM’s publishing excellence. At the same time, attending to exam preparation, student assessment, and research governance matters, while keeping abreast with the Vice-Chancellor’s vision for UTM, reminded me of the multifaceted nature of academic life, where teaching, research, service, and leadership converge.

Reviewing Papers for REES 2025 – A Meaningful Afternoon Task

After lunch today, I had the opportunity to join the REES 2025 paper decision workshop — a critical and exciting session as part of the preparation for the upcoming Research in Engineering Education Symposium (REES 2025). For those unfamiliar, REES 2025 is a major international symposium that brings together researchers, educators, and practitioners focused on advancing engineering education. You can find more information about it on the official REES 2025 site.

The main purpose of today’s session was to review and decide on paper submissions. With over 200 papers submitted, the task was not only demanding but also required careful and objective evaluation to ensure that only papers aligning with the scope and quality standards of REES were accepted. As reviewers, we were guided to consider whether the papers fell within the symposium’s central themes and whether they contributed meaningfully to the field of engineering education research.

Despite the workload, it was a genuinely interesting and enriching experience. The diversity of topics submitted — from curriculum innovation to identity development in engineering — highlighted how vibrant and globally relevant engineering education research has become. It also gave us a deeper appreciation for the behind-the-scenes effort that goes into maintaining the academic integrity of international conferences like REES.

I’m grateful to be part of this process and excited to see how REES 2025 unfolds. Looking forward to meeting fellow educators and researchers when the symposium takes place at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia next year!

Other tasks performed today include the preparation of slide from my program at Subway University this coming Thursday, as well as updating a little bit information in my CV.

#20242025 Day 035

#Monday

Attended Bengkel MyCite 2025 at USIM

Date: 16th July 2025
Venue: Seminar Room, Level 4, Library, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM)
Participants: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zaki Yamani Zakaria, Dr. Nurzal Effiyana, and Wan Akmal Izzati (AJEE Journal Manager)
Driver: Mr. Hussin (UTM Driver)

We began our journey as early as 5:30 a.m., heading to USIM to participate in the MyCite Workshop 2025. Our main objective was to gain insights and guidance on the requirements and evaluation process for journal acceptance into MyCite, with the ultimate goal of paving the way for ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education (AJEE)’s future inclusion in Scopus.

The session, although slightly altered from its original plan, proved highly valuable. The workshop was initially scheduled to be conducted by Prof. Dato’ Roslan Abd Shukor, Chairman of the MyCite Technical Evaluation Committee. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, he was replaced at the last minute by Prof. Dr. Abrizah Abdullah from Universiti Malaya, who is also a member of the MyCite Technical Committee. Her sharing was informative and clarifying, especially for me, as this was my first time attending a MyCite-related workshop.

Prof. Dr. Abrizah Abdullah explaining the MyCite evaluation process
It’s funny that I forgot to snap a photo of any USIM signage, but I managed to snap this photo at level 3 of the USIM library, which is quite a unique setup.

I must acknowledge the excellent groundwork done by our journal manager, Izzati, who has diligently ensured that the AJEE aligns with most of the critical indexing criteria. This puts us in a stronger position as we prepare for MyCite’s 2025 evaluation cycle.

Overall, the trip was productive and meaningful. We return with renewed clarity and motivation to fulfill the remaining requirements for AJEE’s inclusion into MyCite, an essential step toward our broader ambition of gaining recognition under Scopus.

Other Tasks Completed Today:

  1. Finalized and submitted a full paper to ReCASE 2025, targeted for publication in the Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis (BCREC).
  2. Managed miscellaneous RMC-related tasks remotely, including emails and follow-ups.

#20242025 Day 016

#Wednesday

Managing ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education (AJEE) Journal Vol. 9, Issue 2

Alhamdulillah, six days ago, AJEE Journal, Vol. 9, Issue 1, was released. There are 9 scholarly papers in that issue, and as the Chief Editor for AJEE, I’m very glad for the release of that issue.

Today, I have just checked and accepted another manuscript, after critical comments and corrections have been made by the author. This paper is quite interesting as it narrates about a technical bootcamp being held in nature in Indonesia. I’m truly excited about the paper as it provides insightful input concerning several educational theories and models.

#20242025 Day 005

2022 Day 64 Task – MCED FGD Meeting & Malaysia Zeolite Association Meeting

Yes, another working weekend. It has appeared to be a default setting for me. Today was really tricky. At the beginning of the day, 2 of my daughters felt sick. One tested positive another have to wait for Covid test kit as we ran out of stock in the morning. Imagine, there are so many test kids already in used in the house because there are many people in the house who have been checking their status on a daily basis (or sometimes twice a day).

I have a scheduled Focus Group Discussion (FGD) for Engineering Deans in Malaysia under Malaysia Council of Engineering Deans (MCED) research program that takes place from 9am to 1pm. My role was as a note taker in the second group. Well, I have to take note as accurate as possible although we also have the session zoom recorded, but having it written will be easier to refer after that.

At the same time, at 9am, I have to attend the first Malaysia Zeolite Association (MyZA) Annual Grand Meeting. It’s so tricky to be in 2 virtual meetings, but luckily MyZA meeting ended slightly after 10am. Alhamdulillah, So then after that I can focus on the MCED FGD meeting.

Other tasks of the day:

  • Blog update
  • EREKA jurying in progress
  • Global Engineering Capability Review (GECR) 2019 – (RAE) – Read the documents for the meeting this coming 7th March.
  • AJEE Editorial Role
  • SWOT CEE planning

2021 Day 204 Task – AJEE and Review Manuscript Tasks

Today, Saturday, I managed AJEE manuscript that has been submitted. I hope in the near future we can come out with the new edition. In Syaa Allah.

Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery under Springer Publisher is one new journal that I have not reviewed any manuscript from it before.

Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery presents articles and information on research, development and applications in thermo-chemical conversion; physico-chemical conversion and bio-chemical conversion, including all necessary steps for the provision and preparation of the biomass as well as all possible downstream processing steps for the environmentally sound and economically viable provision of energy and chemical products.

  • Focuses on the technical, chemical, and system aspects of the processes of biomass conversion and biorefinery.
  • Operates in the topical areas of Bioengineering, Renewable Energy, and Environmental Protection.
  • According to a 2019 survey, 97% of previous authors would be very likely to submit a manuscript to this journal again.

2021 Day 186 Task – Checked Potential ECE Paper Publication

I have listed quite a bunch tasks to be completed today. Once of it includes the checking of Nazrul’s paper that is about Engineering Education Scholarly Experiential sharing. The paper was intended for other journal but after listening to Nazrul’s intention and also going through swiftly the paper content, I suggested the paper to be enhanced and submitted to Education for Chemical Engineer (ECE) journal.

ECE is definitely an amazing platform for sharing Engineering Education Scholarly practice sharing and also Engineering Education Research (EER). The recent update last 2 weeks had happily declared that this journal has an impact factor of 2.333. Before this there’s no impact factor recorded and a sudden jump from nothing to 2.333 is such an spectacular success for this highly reputable journal.

2021 Day 85 Tasks – SEEM Website Matter

Today is a wonderful off-day Saturday, which I spent few hours in the morning to deal and settle some of the long pending tasks. One of it that I would like to highlight here is the Society for Engineering Educators Malaysia (SEEM) Website, which I was just elected as one of the committee few months ago and I am in charged of the website. Luckily we have a freelance who can help me sort out the website, but there are still some technical issues that need to be dealt with. Hopefully it will be cleared soon.

Other highlighted tasks:

  • AJEE Management
  • Hi Consortium keyword stuffs
  • Submitted my review for IJET Special issue.
  • Discussed and commented on my EER PhD Student progress.
  • Checked ReCASE2021 manuscripts that my student prepared.
  • Filled up and submitted Wesam’s VIVA form.

2021 Day 76 Tasks – Exploring New AJEE OJS System

This is the new AJEE system under OJS platform set up for AJEE CEE UTM by Penerbit UTM. Now we have a proper and professional journal management system. Alhamdulillah.

2021 Day 75 Tasks – Refinery and Petrochemical Technology First Class This Semester

It’s the first week of the new semester and I held my first Refinery and Petrochemical Technology today starting from today for every Wednesday. The class was great and I was glad to have great internet line. There were all together 32 students in my class.

Other Highlighted Tasks:

  • AJEE system successfully set up under Penerbit UTM. Alhamdulillah. Need to explore the system tomorrow.
  • Check Raihan’s final draft
  • Class preparation.
  • Learned how to use Break up room in Webex and also also made Personal Student form using Google Doc