References:
National Acedemy of Engineering. (n.d.). Develop carbon sequestration methods. Retrived November 3, 2008, from http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9077.aspx.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Portfolio 6
The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmostphere has greatly increased over time. Evidence shows that CO2, which is capable of trapping heat, has caused the global temperature to rise. If this situation continues, several disaster could happen. However, it's not easy to cut down the amount of CO2 entering the atmosphere. Burning fossil fuels releases huge amount of CO2, but they cannot be easily substituted. As the greatest fossil fuel supply, coal emits the greatest amount of CO2 per unit energy produced. A chemical system to capture CO2 has been used at some industries. This approach can be adapted for coal-based power plants, where smokestacks is replaced with absorption towers, one of which to isolate and absorp CO2 from the other gases, and another to seperate the CO2 from the first tower, so as the chemical can then be reused. Another variation of this approach is to alter the combustion process by burning coal in oxygen. This makes seperating the CO2 from the exhaust easier. However, another problem, which is the need for oxygen, emerges. If this process can be made economical, the cost of CO2 capture can be reduced. Advanced method to generate power from coal also provides a way to capture CO2. In coal-gastification units, burning of coal produces a synthetic gas, which can be converted to other useful gas. Several underground places investigated, such as old gas and oil fields. However, these fields do not have the capacity to store the great amount of CO2. Thus, sedimentary rocks formation might be another prossible way to store CO2. However, although redimentary rocks are highly available, it's unsure whether they can be used safely, as several problems might caused CO2 leakage. Some experts suggests injecting the CO2 into sediments beneath the ocean floor. Although this approach might be a little bit costly, but it's safer. Althought several concern exists, but it's highly possible that these technology will succeed.
Portfolio 5
As technology evolves, human beings are closer to knowing how our brains thinks and process various information. Such technology, also known as bain mapping, can cause great impact to the society. At the positive side, this technology can be used to identify thoughts and study mental disorder (National Science Foundation [NSF], 2008). However, we should not neglect the negative effects this technology could have on society.
As we can imagine, if this technology is made available to the public, it will be exploited by many parties in different ways. As pointed out by Lou (2003), this technology might be used by companies to examine the thoughts of their employees. If a particular employee is found to be likely to develop a negative habit, he/she might be fired without actual prove. Such situation is undesirable because the right of the employees are not protected.
Besides, a person's privacy might be abused using this technology. As mentioned by Lou (2003), if we are able to build pictures of the brain, then other people can get to know what we are thinking. If this happens, all our thoughts will be revealed to third parties, with or without our knowledge. This situation is highly unfavourable.
To minimize the unethical abuses, a few steps are to be taken. Firstly, the government and the scientists should come to consensus of how this technology can be used. Points such as who will be tested, how the results will be used, and under what circumstances will they be tested must be considered. These points must be considered based on the privacy and the right of a person. Also, the government should take initiative to make laws regarding this matter and make sure the laws are enforced. Whoever break the laws should be fined accordingly with no mercy.
As a researcher, I am very happy that the technology allows us to understand our brain, which is considered as one of the most complex thing in the world. However, the society, especially the government and the scientests should try to minimize potential unethical abuses of this technology as discussed. If used in the wrong ways, this technology can bring big disasters to human being.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Portfolio 4
In my engineering classes, I often encounter with several difficulties when writing my answers. The very first problem is nothing other than writing good sentence structures. Good sentence structures are very important to express my idea. Without good sentence structures, it's hard for the examiners to understand my points, because of the ambiguity of the sentences. For example, in MLE 1101 module, we often need to compare difference materials and their properties. In doing so, we usually end up with long sentences of poor sentence structures.
To solve this problem, I'll try to keep my sentences short, instead of connecting a few phrases using commas. In this way, I can control the way my points are organized. However, this is not a bullet-proof method. It's not always possible to change a long sentences to short ones.
Thus, I need to improve my writing skills, especially sentence structures. I need to practice more. EG 1471 is a very useful module to help me improve my writing skills. I get to learn grammar and write essays in EG 1471. The more I learn and practice, the more my writing skills improve. Also, reading is another way to improve my writing skills. I've made it a point to read at least an article from the Internet everyday. When reading the articles, I also note down how the author play with language.
Another problem I'm facing in writing is to make my point clear. In engineering, making my points clear is very important so that the readers do not need to hunt around to get the real meaning of my points. Sometimes, even sentences with very good sentence structures cannot fully express the points. This problem can be caused by redundant sentences and also incorrect use of word.
I think the best way to solve this problem is, again, to read. By reading other people's article, I can learn how they bring out their points. Reading helps to improve my vocabulary also.
In short, the way towards excellence is to learn and practice. I believe, with enough reading and practice, I can eventually solve the difficulties I'm facing.
To solve this problem, I'll try to keep my sentences short, instead of connecting a few phrases using commas. In this way, I can control the way my points are organized. However, this is not a bullet-proof method. It's not always possible to change a long sentences to short ones.
Thus, I need to improve my writing skills, especially sentence structures. I need to practice more. EG 1471 is a very useful module to help me improve my writing skills. I get to learn grammar and write essays in EG 1471. The more I learn and practice, the more my writing skills improve. Also, reading is another way to improve my writing skills. I've made it a point to read at least an article from the Internet everyday. When reading the articles, I also note down how the author play with language.
Another problem I'm facing in writing is to make my point clear. In engineering, making my points clear is very important so that the readers do not need to hunt around to get the real meaning of my points. Sometimes, even sentences with very good sentence structures cannot fully express the points. This problem can be caused by redundant sentences and also incorrect use of word.
I think the best way to solve this problem is, again, to read. By reading other people's article, I can learn how they bring out their points. Reading helps to improve my vocabulary also.
In short, the way towards excellence is to learn and practice. I believe, with enough reading and practice, I can eventually solve the difficulties I'm facing.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Portfolio 3
Electronic computing and communication create complex challenges to engineering. Nowadays, most of the aspects of modern life rely on electronic information. Any attack to these information will greatly affect individual and society. Actually, breaches of cybersecurity in financial and military computer system have already occurred. However, research and development has not found a better way to tap into the problem. The usual way to protect computers is called “perimeter defense”, where routers and firewalls are placed at the entry point of a sub-network to block outside access. Experts know clearly that these defenses do not work, as they can be bypassed. And even without breaches of such kind, systems can be disrupted by “denial of service”. Undeniably, engineering needs to solve these cybersecurity problems. One of them is to authenticate hardware, software and data in computer systems and to verify user identities in a better way. Creating more secure software is a critical challenge. This can be done by using better programming languages that have security protection. Also, technology that detects vulnerabilities before software is installed is needed. Another concern is to secure the data transferred over the Internet so that it cannot be manipulated. Methods to monitor and detect security compromises are needed. Once problems are detected, countermeasures must be taken too. Forensics to find cyberterrorism should be part of the process as well. Engineers should see cybersecurity as a whole and should fight cyberterrorism on the personal, social, political and electronics fronts. The psychology of computer users should also be considered, where more research is needed on how people interact with their computers. The reason to what leads to computer crime have to be found. Furthermore, laws and regulations concerning cybersecurity need to be evaluated and political forces should also be part of the mission to protecting cyberspace from attack.
Reference:
National Acedemy of Engineering of the National Academies. (2008). Grand Challenges for Engineering. Retrieved 6 October, 2008, from http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/Object.File/Master/11/574/Grand%20Challenges%20final%20book.pdf.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Portfolio 2
One of the grammer mistakes I commit commonly is Articles. To know how to avoid making this mistake, let's first identify what is articles. An article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. The three main articles in the English language are the, an and a. An article is sometimes called a noun marker, although this is generally considered to be an archaic term.
Articles can be divided into 2 categories, namely Definite Article and Indefinite Articles. Definite Article (the) is used when you know that the listener knows or can work out what particular person/thing you are talking about. Indefinite Articles (an, a) refer to something not specifically known to the person you are communicating with.
A and an are used before nouns that introduce something or someone you have not mentioned before. For example:-
- A revamped version of the Apple's iPod will be launched next quarter.
- Everybody is given an oppurtunity to try out the new product.
The is used when the listeners know what you are referring to. For instances:-
- Windows Vista, the latest product from Microsoft has gained many good reviews.
- The internet has changed how people communicate.
Practice
Personal information management has come a long way since the Filofax became the ‘in’ thing for executives in late the 1980’s.
Ever since Palm- the mother of modern-day PDAs- launched the Palm Pilot in 1996, much has changed. Colour screens and vast leaps in memory capacity have changed the humble handheld gadget from a mere digital Filofax to a pocket multimedia hub.
However, once you decide to buy handheld products, it doesn’t stop there. More than 145,000 developers for the Palm operating system (OS) alone are busy producing software and hardware accessories. This means that users can attach anything to their PDAs, from digital cameras to devices that massage their backs. Your palmtop can also be a television remote control unit, game theatre, database, book reader, humble pocket calculator and even a phone.
Some traditional phone manufacturers like Motorola (Accompli A388, available next month) and Nokia (Communicator 9210, available now for $1288) satisfy convergence -gadget fans by putting useful diary functions into their handsets. But the Palm OS and the Pocket PC products are still the superior PDAs. The choice between the two, however, is personal.
Reference:
1. Learn English. (1999). Articles. Retrieved September 7, 2008, from http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/articlestext.htm.
2. Centre for English Language Communication. (2002). Articles Excercises. Retrieved Septermber 7, 2008, from http://courses.nus.edu.sg/courseware/ITSELF/.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Portfolio 1
Before I begin, I should thank all those people, especially engineers, who have made it possible for me to write this article using my laptop while I'm waiting for my next tutorial class. This shows how technology evolves, where I no need to write article by hand. Instead, I can turn on my laptop and connect to the internet using wireless connection, wherever I am, and start writing my article so that I can post it online.
Yes, engineers have made my life (or everybody's life) easier. As civilization grows, people are expecting to spend better lives. We call this expectation "the joy of living".
In the past, people walked. Then, they used animal as their transportation. Nowadays, the transportation system has advanced to a level where no human is required to drive the transports, a.k.a Unmanned Vehicle. This shows that human being always wanted to do things in an easier way.
As an engineering student, I strongly believe that an engineer's most important job is to create a better world or to create the joy of living. Other people might argue that sustainability, health and vulnerability should be the top concerns of engineers. But if we think deeper, the actual idea of these concerns (sustainability, health, vulnerability) is to create a better life for human being. We want to live in a sustainable world because we want to enjoy our life more. We pursue a healthy life because health is the key to all joy. We want to stay invulnerable because we don't want other people to mess up our normal life.
From these point of views, it can be concluded that engineers have very important role in bringing joy to the people. In this context, engineers don't create joy through entertainment like what celebrities do. Instead, engineers create machines, buildings, technologies that can make the world a better place to live in.
As a whole, I believe that creating joy of living to the people is the most important job of an engineer.
Yes, engineers have made my life (or everybody's life) easier. As civilization grows, people are expecting to spend better lives. We call this expectation "the joy of living".
In the past, people walked. Then, they used animal as their transportation. Nowadays, the transportation system has advanced to a level where no human is required to drive the transports, a.k.a Unmanned Vehicle. This shows that human being always wanted to do things in an easier way.
As an engineering student, I strongly believe that an engineer's most important job is to create a better world or to create the joy of living. Other people might argue that sustainability, health and vulnerability should be the top concerns of engineers. But if we think deeper, the actual idea of these concerns (sustainability, health, vulnerability) is to create a better life for human being. We want to live in a sustainable world because we want to enjoy our life more. We pursue a healthy life because health is the key to all joy. We want to stay invulnerable because we don't want other people to mess up our normal life.
From these point of views, it can be concluded that engineers have very important role in bringing joy to the people. In this context, engineers don't create joy through entertainment like what celebrities do. Instead, engineers create machines, buildings, technologies that can make the world a better place to live in.
As a whole, I believe that creating joy of living to the people is the most important job of an engineer.
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