TEAM 4

1. LOKE WAI MUN CHRISTINE                CBE/ Yr 3
2. KOO FENGLAN                                       BIE/ Yr 3
3. WONG KAI HUI LYDIA                          BIE/ Yr 3

Anti-personnel (AP) mines can kill or maim many enemy combatants and civilians. The global problem with AP landmines is that once they are laid in the ground, they can remain active for decades. These ‘silent killers’ were often used during wars and civil conflicts that are long over, yet are still claiming victims in over 80 countries worldwide.  They damage the tracks on armoured vehicles or the tires of wheeled vehicles and impede post-conflict reconstruction and economic development. Survivors are disabled for life and require long-term care. While placing and arming landmines is inexpensive and simple, the reverse of detecting and removing them is however, expensive, slow, and dangerous. This is especially true of irregular warfare where mines were used on an ad-hoc basis in unmarked areas. AP mines are most difficult to find, because of their small size and many are made almost entirely of non-metallic materials specifically to avoid detection. There is an estimated 100 million unexploded AP mines left over from various wars and conflicts, according to the Nairobi Summit in October 2004. 

Currently, there is available leg protection gear for deminers, but they bear major disadvantages and do not really protect one from injuries. Hence, Assoc Prof Fuss Franz Konstantin and his fellow researcher, Mr Tan Ming Adin, have come up with a pair of novel anti-landmine shoes.   The targeted consumers of these anti-landmine shoes are people involved in humanitarian demining, civilians in mine-affected areas and the military for peaceful operations. Our project aims at possible streamlining of the product design and marketing the product to these potential consumers.