Johanan Teo

Part A:

1.) Importance of Water - Dirty & Clean. By Prof.Ng Wun Jern

We learn that bad water may contain certain harmful microbes that would spread water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever and diarrhea and thus, it is important to unsure that the water we drink is clean and not polluted. We learn that polluted water would smell and is able to spread infections diseases, posing heath risks and causing environment degradation. The speaker also showed some figures of people without access to drinking water, lacking sanitation areas etc.
Also, he mentioned the key factors of economic development which were water and energy. Emphasizing the need to protect our drinking water, he mentioned some of the new technologies such as membranes for reclamation and desalination of water and breach barriers.

2.) Revolution of Microelectronics Technology By Prof. Yeo Kiat Seng

Singapore is progressing in to a country focusing on research & development. Higher valued products such as microelectronics are focusing on R&D. The speaker pointed out that electronics are pervasive and electronics enables.
Simply put it, microelectronics is the scaling down of electronics and the scaling up of biology. When they meet, it combines to form a technology called Bionano-electronics

3.) Innovative breakthroughs in Nano-Science and Nano Technology By Prof. Ma Jan

Breaking nano science into three smaller sub groups such as nano technology, bio technology and design technology. Nano technology is breaking down a large volumed object into smaller volumes and thus resulting in greater surface area. This results in energy spread on a larger area. For example, fine salt dissolving faster than bigger salt particles.
Nano technology is also present in nature, an example is the shark tooth having many nano sized thorns on its tooth. It is also useful in new products such as coloring of contact lenses, nano membrane for purifying water, carbon tubes and also determining the colour of diamonds.

4.) IT for Animation By Prof. Seah Hock Soon

The speaker talks about different types of animation from 2D to 3D. Examples of 2D animation is japanese anime and some films from the past like the lion king which was nominated for the first and best animation film. Examples of 3D animation is toy story which requires geometric modeling using man-made technology.

5.) Disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels and why gravity is more important than you think By Prof. Emma Hill

Sea level rises varies all around planet. The changes in sea level is due to the difference in ground levels mainly, changed by earthquakes. Also, the melting of glaciers and the mass of glaciers would affect the sea level. The higher the ground level results in a higher sea level. As the glaciers melt, the sea level increases. As the mass of glaciers decrease as they melt, decreasing water level near the glaciers as the gravitational energy is decreased.

Part B:

The plenary session that leaves the deepest impression on me is the 5th talk. (Disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels and why gravity is more important than you think).
I feel that I have gained the most and learnt a lot from this particular talk.The information covered are new to me. For example, I did not know the the mass of the glaciers would have gravitational pull to the water in the seas. It was the talk that I felt most useful and interesting. I’m also keen to know more on this topic.