In this final blog entry for EG1471, I have chosen the topic on the difficulties I have faced while writing for my modules since entering NUS.
In writing reports for my labs and projects, the difficulties that I have faced so far is the organization of the information collected and the confusion between which types of information should be regarded with more importance than the other. There are also times when I do not know what is required specifically, cases in which I would write everything that I have collected including wrong readings. While writing for my English classes this semester so far, I have a tendency to keep changing ideas and my stand for the two essays while writing.
To resolve the issues in my lab reports, I would write it according to how the procedures and measurements reading were taken, ending with the conclusion that states any difficulties and improvements I think the experiment could improve upon. However in project reports, there aren’t any guidelines or manual I could follow as projects are more open ended which meant for us to indicate every important detail that might be deemed important to the project. The method I used to write my report for my projects was to include pictures detailing my schematics and the reasons for the design, the way the schematic works, if there was any better way of designing it and reasons why I did not choose the alternatives.
For my English essays, eventually I would decide upon the stand that I have the most ideas on. However this is a bad way of writing essays as it takes a longer time and time is limited during exams. I suppose the best solution to resolve this issue of mine would be to decide upon a stand as soon as possible before writing out the text. While for my report writing, I feel it can be improved further with better organization in the arrangement of the importance of the measurements and issues brought upon.
With this, I conclude with this blog entry the best of luck to all fellow peers in the coming exams! =)
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
E-Portfolio 6: Grammar Mistakes
The entry for the week is to identify common grammatical mistakes that I commit in my essays and comprehensions. Reviewing upon draft 2 of writing assignment 2 and past exercises, I have identified grammatical mistakes that I tend to commit occasionally. Such mistakes include wrong verb tenses, misuse of articles and the semicolon.
Common verb tenses mistakes that I commit are with has, had and have. For example, “… the Singapore government had set aside incentives for industries…” is wrong, and should be corrected to “… the Singapore government have set aside incentives for industries…” since the event happened and is still ongoing, present perfect tense ‘have’ should be used.
In my writing assignment 2, I frequently make article mistakes such as, “… not only for ourselves but also to gain the support of the Asian countries as well.” Should be corrected to, “… not only for ourselves but also to gain the support of Asian countries as well.” since ‘Asian’ is a proper noun and does not require ‘the’. Another article mistake is, “…industries in Singapore would be open to any future expansion plans into the market as …” should be corrected to “…industries in Singapore would be open to any future expansion plans into the global market as …” with the use of ‘global’.
Finally, I have made several mistakes before with the use of the semi colon. The semi colon ‘;’ can be used at the end of a sentence if the following sentence have a similar meaning to it. A simple example such as “He did not go out today; it was raining since morning.” shows how a semi colon can be used for similar sentences. A mistake I made in the sentence, “…the Singapore government have set aside incentives for industries willing to convert to energy efficient equipment; up to 50% capital expenditures.” Should be changed to, “…set aside incentives for industries; up to 50% capital expenditures.”
This are the few mistakes that I tend to make, but I believe I may have made others as well. However, it may take several practices more before I can improve upon all the mistakes I have made since improving on one’s language is not about memorizing formulas but of frequent practice and usage.
Common verb tenses mistakes that I commit are with has, had and have. For example, “… the Singapore government had set aside incentives for industries…” is wrong, and should be corrected to “… the Singapore government have set aside incentives for industries…” since the event happened and is still ongoing, present perfect tense ‘have’ should be used.
In my writing assignment 2, I frequently make article mistakes such as, “… not only for ourselves but also to gain the support of the Asian countries as well.” Should be corrected to, “… not only for ourselves but also to gain the support of Asian countries as well.” since ‘Asian’ is a proper noun and does not require ‘the’. Another article mistake is, “…industries in Singapore would be open to any future expansion plans into the market as …” should be corrected to “…industries in Singapore would be open to any future expansion plans into the global market as …” with the use of ‘global’.
Finally, I have made several mistakes before with the use of the semi colon. The semi colon ‘;’ can be used at the end of a sentence if the following sentence have a similar meaning to it. A simple example such as “He did not go out today; it was raining since morning.” shows how a semi colon can be used for similar sentences. A mistake I made in the sentence, “…the Singapore government have set aside incentives for industries willing to convert to energy efficient equipment; up to 50% capital expenditures.” Should be changed to, “…set aside incentives for industries; up to 50% capital expenditures.”
This are the few mistakes that I tend to make, but I believe I may have made others as well. However, it may take several practices more before I can improve upon all the mistakes I have made since improving on one’s language is not about memorizing formulas but of frequent practice and usage.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Week 8 : Round Table Discussion
Group 1: Biodiesel: Potential and usage in transportation
Biodiesel is made from crops such as soya beans and as of late, it has become an important source of energy in renewable energy sources. With a mixture of 20% biodiesel to normal gasoline or diesel fuel, it provides an equivalent energy power source for vehicles of various engine types and at an even cheaper price!
The main point of using biodiesel is that it produces lesser carbon dioxide output than normal gasoline, which helps to reduce green house gases. Besides this, it is a form of renewable energy source in which, unlike fossil fuels, can be created in a matter of days.
However, concerns such as biodiesel being unable to perform well in cold countries as it would clog the vehicle system due to its higher freezing point than normal gasoline, are one of the concerns that biodiesel may not be an appropriate replacement for gasoline.
Besides this, if biodiesel becomes an immediate replacement for gasoline, there would be concerns that food crops might be affected. Farms and plantations might change to growing soya beans for example. Instead of food crops due to the money factor. This might bring about a major change in the food economy and the oil industry.
Prices for food crops that were abandoned because of the better prospect in growing soya beans would increase exponentially due to the decreased output but stagnant number of demand. A solution that the supporting group suggested was to regulate the land usage by the farmers; by controlling what type of food was to be grown.
It is noteworthy to know that biodiesel may become a replacement for fossil fuels in the future. With continued research and development to improvise the chemical components in biodiesel, some day 100% biodiesel may be on par with gasoline or diesel fuels.
Group 3: Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering presently has its limits, with oppositions from ethnical to activists and even religious groups. It has offered a major breakthrough to altering who we really are. In this discussion, the group talks about the question on whether genetic engineering should be allowed.
Altering a baby’s gender before his/her birth, a situation that people in the past wished they could have made, a choice that parents can make , a future the baby could not decide. The issues regarding this topic are controversial as there does not seem to be a right or wrong answer to it. Issue of sex imbalance around the world such as preference of having more male babies than females is one of such problems that might exists.
On a lighter note, genetic engineering could be restricted to help in minimizing child defects instead of gender changing, a benefit that would be more welcomed then the latter. Creating a stronger baby who could be athletically better when he/she grows up or more disease resilient child. Such are ‘improvements’ that could be implemented into the babies of tomorrow.
However, there will be the debates on whether such babies would be allowed to participate in sporting events where ‘normal’ people compete with each another. This was a not a choice the child had made before he was born, but a burden he/she have to carry for their remaining life.
Genetic engineering is a statement of what we are really capable of. Playing with nature’s rule, we have outdone what other species could never do. Genetic engineering can make us perfect, but what does being perfect really means to us, being beautiful, stronger or smarter? In the end it all comes down to who we really are to the people around us.
Group 4: Implementing carbon capture storage
Carbon capture storage method to reduce the carbon dioxide output from industries is an expensive but effective method to reduce carbon dioxide output into the environment. In the discussion by Group 4, they pointed out their views on whether citizen groups should support, promote or oppose such technology.
Carbon capture storage is a promising technology, but it is costly and not every country could afford to divert their funds on such a big project. However, it is interesting to know that the major carbon dioxide producers are from developed and rich countries.
Undeveloped countries or usually the poorer countries, does not have the financial capabilities to construct carbon capture storage methods. The group members stated out that the UN should provide financial support to them since global warming is a global problem for everyone. Yet again, we should understand that undeveloped countries would not be producing as much carbon dioxide as they should, but more of an average or safe amount thus a contradicting statement when the major carbon dioxide producers should be the ones who need to reduce their carbon dioxide output.
A last but important point mentioned is that carbon capture storage is not suitable for us now but perhaps in the near future. Countries have to consider the available resources they have and the priorities of other important that they have in their hands besides global warming. Problems such as the economic recession, war and poverty are just a handful of problems that we people around the world are facing now.
I agree to a certain extend that carbon capture storage should be withheld for the time being. It is an option we should not ignore and we should try to accept it as the only solution that would really make an impact on the fight against global warming.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Week 7: Green Chemistry in Singapore
The question of whether Singapore should support Kirchoff’s claim is not accurate as Singapore is already doing its part in supporting the green revolution. What we should be looking into is whether the collaboration so far has brought fruit to us yet. The two articles I have found shows some truth to the question brought up so far.
Take for example the site from http://app.mewr.gov.sg/web/Contents/ContentsSSS.aspx?ContId=1208 . It lists out the stand that Singapore has taken in building energy efficient buildings. With the ‘Green Mark scheme’, introduced in January 2005, it has since set the standard for buildings in Singapore by shaping a sustainable built environment here. Furthermore, a Research and Development hub, that would be fully sustainable by itself labeled a ‘zero energy building’, would be launched this year with its sole purpose for improving the ‘green technology’ here in Singapore.
Next in line, the ‘Energy Smart Building Label Scheme’ was introduced to promote efficient energy usage, with the NEA and Energy Sustainability Unit (NUS) taking charge of evaluating the building in question and promoting good practices in energy performance within the the building sector.
Besides this, incentives have also been given out to companies to engage energy appraisals to improve the energy efficiency of their companies, with up to 50% of the cost to engage such services. Allowances of up to 50% have also been provided to help startup companies purchasing energy efficient equipment.
In the second article, the article reports of the welcoming gesture the government has of allowing ‘green’ vehicles to be used on the local roads; LTA’s approval of a new electrical scooter to be brought in and marketed by a local company. The vehicle can be charged from any electrical outlet and is said to give savings of up to $1300 per annum. However, this consideration was made by the company with the reason being Singapore’s ‘self-contained’ state and the little urban sprawl here. With future plans to provide solar power to account for the ‘increase’ usage of electricity, it is encouraging to know that even a small company would have such big plans for implementing green technology into a small country like Singapore.
In my point of view, these two articles provide a very good outlook of the prospects of ‘green chemistry’ involvement in Singapore. The government’s role in making it a point to make new buildings energy efficient and the involvement of small companies to bring in green technology is an indication of the influence the government has generated to its country. However, although Singapore has the economic resources, manpower, knowledge and technology to improve upon this current trend, according to article two, the author states that the problem today is to overcome Singaporeans’ slowness to embrace green technology.
Sustainable - to keep up or keep going, as an action or process: to sustain a conversation.
Energy Appraisal – Evaluating the energy efficiency
Self Contained – An enclosed area
Urban Sprawl – A spread out urban area
Fairly small niche market – A narrowly targeted market
“Sustainable Singapore: A Lively and Liveable City”
“Energy Efficient Buildings” 25 Aug 2008
http://app.mewr.gov.sg/web/Contents/ContentsSSS.aspx?ContId=1208
“Going green with electric scooters”
The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.
“Coming: Electric scooter” 14 January 2009
http://www.home-in-singapore.sg/sgp/cms.www/content.aspx?sid=780
Take for example the site from http://app.mewr.gov.sg/web/Contents/ContentsSSS.aspx?ContId=1208 . It lists out the stand that Singapore has taken in building energy efficient buildings. With the ‘Green Mark scheme’, introduced in January 2005, it has since set the standard for buildings in Singapore by shaping a sustainable built environment here. Furthermore, a Research and Development hub, that would be fully sustainable by itself labeled a ‘zero energy building’, would be launched this year with its sole purpose for improving the ‘green technology’ here in Singapore.
Next in line, the ‘Energy Smart Building Label Scheme’ was introduced to promote efficient energy usage, with the NEA and Energy Sustainability Unit (NUS) taking charge of evaluating the building in question and promoting good practices in energy performance within the the building sector.
Besides this, incentives have also been given out to companies to engage energy appraisals to improve the energy efficiency of their companies, with up to 50% of the cost to engage such services. Allowances of up to 50% have also been provided to help startup companies purchasing energy efficient equipment.
In the second article, the article reports of the welcoming gesture the government has of allowing ‘green’ vehicles to be used on the local roads; LTA’s approval of a new electrical scooter to be brought in and marketed by a local company. The vehicle can be charged from any electrical outlet and is said to give savings of up to $1300 per annum. However, this consideration was made by the company with the reason being Singapore’s ‘self-contained’ state and the little urban sprawl here. With future plans to provide solar power to account for the ‘increase’ usage of electricity, it is encouraging to know that even a small company would have such big plans for implementing green technology into a small country like Singapore.
In my point of view, these two articles provide a very good outlook of the prospects of ‘green chemistry’ involvement in Singapore. The government’s role in making it a point to make new buildings energy efficient and the involvement of small companies to bring in green technology is an indication of the influence the government has generated to its country. However, although Singapore has the economic resources, manpower, knowledge and technology to improve upon this current trend, according to article two, the author states that the problem today is to overcome Singaporeans’ slowness to embrace green technology.
Sustainable - to keep up or keep going, as an action or process: to sustain a conversation.
Energy Appraisal – Evaluating the energy efficiency
Self Contained – An enclosed area
Urban Sprawl – A spread out urban area
Fairly small niche market – A narrowly targeted market
“Sustainable Singapore: A Lively and Liveable City”
“Energy Efficient Buildings” 25 Aug 2008
http://app.mewr.gov.sg/web/Contents/ContentsSSS.aspx?ContId=1208
“Going green with electric scooters”
The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.
“Coming: Electric scooter” 14 January 2009
http://www.home-in-singapore.sg/sgp/cms.www/content.aspx?sid=780
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Week 4 Tutorial 3: Lecture on Global Warming
The subject of the day was global warming and we had three guests whom gave us an insightful look of the present situation and direction that we are heading in saving our Earth.
The first speaker, Professor Adam Palmer, mentioned that the scale required to change the mindset of the people is too large a number to make a significant difference in reducing carbon dioxide output. In which he introduced a new concept, relatively new to me, of reducing the carbon dioxide output into the atmosphere. The method of capturing carbon dioxide and storing it deep under the sea packaged in a membrane bag or what he called ‘sausage of the sea’ was quite fascinating and new to what I have heard and learnt so far. However he too mentioned that the realization of this project would be far from reaching a checkpoint when there are more other important concerns besides saving the Earth.
Our second speaker touched on the topic of technology and why it wasn’t well received by everyone. Renewable power and electric vehicles were the two important points he emphasized on; the reasons he gave on why both technologies were not accepted was due to economical challenge with cheaper alternatives, political challenges faced in which there were flawed expectations that did not satisfy the people and cultural challenges of people being resistant to new technologies and the changes they have to make.
The last speaker, Dr. Rajasekhar Bala, covered on the assessment and mitigation of the changing climate; Details on how temperature were taken from ice cores to obtain temperatures from millions of years ago, comparing the values with present temperatures and reminding us of what the consequences of global warming would bring to us. Floods, melting of ice and rising sea levels are what we commonly hear when global warming is involved and the solutions in prevention of global warming by improving energy efficiency and cleaning up the world to help save the Earth.
The world has been providing and sustaining us for centuries; it is time that we do our part to give back what we have taken from it.
The first speaker, Professor Adam Palmer, mentioned that the scale required to change the mindset of the people is too large a number to make a significant difference in reducing carbon dioxide output. In which he introduced a new concept, relatively new to me, of reducing the carbon dioxide output into the atmosphere. The method of capturing carbon dioxide and storing it deep under the sea packaged in a membrane bag or what he called ‘sausage of the sea’ was quite fascinating and new to what I have heard and learnt so far. However he too mentioned that the realization of this project would be far from reaching a checkpoint when there are more other important concerns besides saving the Earth.
Our second speaker touched on the topic of technology and why it wasn’t well received by everyone. Renewable power and electric vehicles were the two important points he emphasized on; the reasons he gave on why both technologies were not accepted was due to economical challenge with cheaper alternatives, political challenges faced in which there were flawed expectations that did not satisfy the people and cultural challenges of people being resistant to new technologies and the changes they have to make.
The last speaker, Dr. Rajasekhar Bala, covered on the assessment and mitigation of the changing climate; Details on how temperature were taken from ice cores to obtain temperatures from millions of years ago, comparing the values with present temperatures and reminding us of what the consequences of global warming would bring to us. Floods, melting of ice and rising sea levels are what we commonly hear when global warming is involved and the solutions in prevention of global warming by improving energy efficiency and cleaning up the world to help save the Earth.
The world has been providing and sustaining us for centuries; it is time that we do our part to give back what we have taken from it.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Week 3 Tutorial 2: Global Warming
How can policies of your government either contribute or help to reduce the problem of global warming?
Global warming is defined as the increase of the average temperature on Earth. As the Earth gets hotter, disasters like hurricanes, droughts and floods becomes more frequent. In the Singapore context, we have yet to face any natural disaster as stated, reason being the geographical location that Singapore is located in. This is not an excuse for Singapore to neglect the consequences that is happening around the world as global warming will definitely affect all of us; economically and emotionally. However, there may come a day when Singapore would be flooded too if everyone refuses to play their part to help save Gaia.
Before we delve deeper into the policies that Singapore had made for global warming, we should take note that we only complied to the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty intended to bring countries together to reduce global warming, only in April 2006.
Based on the National Environmental Agency of Singapore, with credits to its website, it has made 2 polices relevant to global warming; energy conservation and pollution control.
Energy conservation is one approach to reduce energy consumption. Less energy usage means less dependence on the fossil fuels that create greenhouse gases which contributes to global warming. This policy has made its way into schools and home; thru mass advertisement, road shows and pamphlets to educate people on how to conserve energy within their own homes. More efficient and less wastage of energy usage are ways to conserve energy; buying environmentally friendly appliances that are energy-efficient are the tools required to cut back on energy usage.
Under energy conservation, we should take note on the efforts that Singapore had initiated in the early 1990’s with regards to “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” that is still being practiced by everyone. By following the 3 R’s, we can help to reduce the carbon dioxide emission, a greenhouse gas.
With pollution control, comes a need to reduce the air pollution emitted from vehicles and industrial areas in Singapore. Enforcing a limit on how much greenhouse gases that vehicles and industry can emit is an action required to make people comply with the need to help reduce global warming. Mainly with vehicles, Singapore being a small country has to limit its on-road vehicles, to keep the roads jam-free and indirectly reducing the gas emissions from vehicles. Singapore has a complex and efficient transportation system; bus services and mass rapid transit transportation, are fast and ‘clean’ ways to travel in Singapore.
Everyone have to play a part in saving our planet Earth, though it may not concern us today, future generations of people would be affected by what we have done and we cannot be so selfish as to let them suffer for our mistakes.
With references from:
http://environment.about.com/
Singapore Environment Polices
http://www.gov.sg/pol_env.htm
Singapore National Energy Policy Report
http://www.scribd.com/doc/11329434/Singapores-National-Energy-Policy-Report-2008
Monday, January 19, 2009
Week 2 Tutorial 1: Engineers Today
How does an engineer’s training help them to systematically analyze complex information and apply a holistic approach in designing solutions?
Engineers today are not only highly sought after by manufacturing but even service sectors. A significant index showing that today’s engineers being cultivated is of a higher caliber than to those in the other fields of concentration.
Other than textbook based learning, institutes today makes it a must for engineering students to be involved in project and design based modules. Even junior colleges are moving in this direction with project work being implemented as a major requirement for their graduation. What makes engineers so appreciated in the workforce is due to this type of learning and thought processing that they are taught and put through within these modules. Even textbook based modules now have mini projects that are graded towards their final marks thus showing the increasing approval of problem solving based learning.
What makes such learning different is the process that the students have to approach in acquiring the answer. There would never be a single solution to the problem which makes it a worthwhile experience to students solving it. Garnering their knowledge to brainstorm ideas in the initial phase, problem solving and debugging of errors faced while implementing their ideas and all the way to the final fine-tuning of their device/program is what the module is trying to accomplish. Not only does the student gain a sense of accomplishment but passively, he would be preparing himself for what he will be doing frequently in the future when he joins the workforce.
The knowledge and experience the engineer gains during his/her education plays only a small part of what he/her might face in the future. The exposure while working is where they will meet with real life problems that occasionally lead to a dead end and is where an engineer’s real training starts.
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