Day 1 Reflections
Plenary Session 1 - Importance of Water - Dirty & Clean
I learnt that we should not take water for granted, as there are countries outside of Singapore where they do not have clean water to drink, and the dirty water can lead to many problems. Such problems are health risk and Environmental Degradation. This also has a Social and Economic impact as Clean water will have to be used for factories for manufacturing of some products, while a social impact is that People would not like to live in an area where there is dirty water about due to it not being drinkable and there might a foul odor. Clean water is achieved now as we how many ways to treat dirty water. We have designed membrane technology to help filter out the water and also proper sewage disposal so the Clean and Dirty water do not mix and get contaminated.
Plenary Session 2 - Revolution of Microelectronics Technology
I learnt that Asia is becoming a focal point for electronic companies, hence they are slowly moving towards the region. The Demand for electronics will always be higher and higher as people will always come up with smarter products to help in everyday use, and as technology advances these products may also get smaller and smaller. Electronics enable many things in our daily life, such as Medical Help, Entertaining and Media. The electronic revolution is here, and there is an area of science called BioNanoElectronics, where it is used to use Electronics that are very small scaled to help our bodies in certain ways, such as electronic lenses to help the blind see again. Singapore is also Investing 16.1 billion dollars for the next 5 years to help in research of it. We should think of career options in electronics as graduates demand the highest pay, has the most rounded training and has a broad coverage of things.
Plenary Session 3 - Innovative breakthroughs in Nano-Science and Nano-Technology
I learnt that Nano Technology has many uses such as the kill bacteria in our bodies and can also be used to improve our looks, It can also be used to improve current products in the market to make them easier to use or better, and example would be to coat materials densely with nano-particles to increase their resistance to force. Nano particles are found in many things in life, such as fine sugar to help it melt faster. Nano materials are also found in nature, being Sharks teeth as they are covered layer by layer of nano particles to increase strength. Nano materials can also be used to help in sciences such as Biomedical science and Forensic science.
Plenary Session 4 - IT for animation
I Learnt that an animation is created by consecutive display of 2 or more different static images. Examples of animation would be stop-motion. I also learnt the process of 2d Animations, from script all the way to the final print. Animation also include mathematics as mathematics sums are needed in order to create special effects in animation. I also learnt the difference in 2D and 3D animations, with 2D animations being more labour intensive and costly.
Plenary Session 5 - Disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels, and why gravity is even more important that you think.
I learnt one of the theories of the sea level rising, which would have to be the melting of glaciers due to global warming. I learnt that the law of gravity does affect the sea level and glaciers it glacier actually push the earth downwards due to its weight and it can attract the sea too. I also learnt of the ways that Geodesist measure the melting of the glacier, which is by satellite images.
The planetary session that would leave the biggest impression on me is the last one, as it really concerns us in a huge way. If the glaciers continue to melt, the sea level when then have a big change in height. The higher levels of sea water is able to submerge countries and cities that are located close to sea-level. I liked it as it showed me how gravity is able to play a part in rising sea levels, something that I had never known and that it greatly affects sea levels of many places in the world.
