Day 1 reflections (plenary talks)
Importance of Water - Dirty and Clean by Prof Ng Wun Jern
The Singapore river clean up around 30 years ago has greatly cleared germs and bacteria that are harmful to us such as Cholera and Typhoid fever. These are caused by microbes; there are good and bad ones. Here are some statistics on how bad this issue is: 1.1 billion people have no access to drinking water, 2.4 billion people lack proper sanitation, 3.4 million people die each year from waterborne diseases with 2 billion people at risk of it. Pollution is also another cause of foul smell, infectious diseases, chronic health risks and environmental degradation. However, I would like to further understand more on the differences between water pollution and other pollutions, and the effects of it. This talk has taught me to initiate research from interest in the future to contribute back to the society and be proud of my innovation while having fun at the same time.
Revolution of Microelectronics Technology by Prof Yeo Kiat Seng
The transformation of living has surfaced higher value added products and focuses on Research and Development (R&D). Singapore is a well positioned in the heart of Asia and it’s electronics are pervasive. The sub-categories are transport, medicine, entertainment etc. Its ‘integrated programme’ consist of BRAINWAVE, an abbreviation of Bio, Radio, Audio, Info, Nano, Water (H2O), Audio, Video and Energy (E=mc*two).
Interactive breakthroughs in Nano-Science and Technology by Prof Ma Jan.
This technology consist of 3 sections: Nano, Bio and defence. An example of nano-technology is contact lenses. The main concept of this talk is to understand that smaller is better, in a way how a smaller size for a fixed volume gives us a larger surface area. Examples would be melting an ice cube or dissolving sugar cubes. Another area which nano-technology is steering to is medication.
IT for Animation by Prof Seah hock Soon
Animation is split into 3 categories: Stop motion, 2D animation and 3D animation. We learnt that stop motion is the most basic type of animation as multiple softwares have been created to assist in making it. We also learnt that 2D animation cost much more than 3D animation, although both budget’s are still relatively huge. This is due to the labour intensity to create 2D animation.
Disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels, and why gravity is even more important than you think by Asst Prof Emma Hill
Sea-level will not be the same everywhere. This is due to the difference in distance between the sea bed (solid surface) and the sea surface. The closer an object is to a mass, the stronger it is attracted to it. Thus, when glaciers melt, the sea-level where the water is first deposited may seem to fall. However, other parts of the world’s sea-level is rising.
The talk that left the deepest impression on me is the talk on water conservation. It helped me open my eyes to see how bad the situation is and yet we are still constantly wasting precious, clean water. Also, his way of presentation is one of the best I've seen in my life. Even though this topic may be common, he injected interest into everyone.
Day 2 reflections
I chose this project because the sub-topics in science that I'm interested in is Chemistry and Physics. Another aspect of this choice is the challenge we have to tackle by experimenting. My role in the group is to release the ball bearing and ensure the angle is fixed at the position we want. Also, I was the photographer and representative for this project. Challenges we encounter when working on this project the last 2 days was the lack of preparation in terms of general knowledge on gravity. We overcame these challenges by experimenting countless number of times to get the optimum 'L' and 'ยบ' for our structure. Through this project, I discover that different people have their own strengths and weaknesses. With teamwork, we can overcome each of our weaknesses and work on our strengths to help out one another when meeting obstacles. As an individual, I have benefited from this programme in terms of knowledge and character-based skills such as communication and a lot of new information have been introduced to my brain. Although I have other aspirations, it would be splendid if I could be an engineer in the field of cars as I am quite interested on how a car actually works and plan to create one without any steering wheel or gearbox; everything is controlled just like playing a video game.
