Emily

SELF REFLECTION 

DAY 1 

(A) My key learning points from each session 

1. Importance of Water - Dirty and Clean 

Pollution is the main reason why clean water is so scarce . Water becomes contaminated through the feces and diseased animals . Through this water , bacteria such as Cholera , Typhoid fever , Dysentery and Brained diarrhea . People in contact with these waters will eventually suffer from the diseases . Each year , millions of people die. In some area , there are mass wipe outs of people as these people all feed on the single source of water , which unfortunately is polluted. Even though research in this area has been going on for a very long time , there have been lots of up and down in terms of advancements throughout the eras .

2. Revolution of Microelectronics Technology 

The semiconductor industry is one industry that is still improving . Semiconductors are very important as they are needed to make electrical components that are more effective and efficient . Technology have advanced so much that they are able to create and replace old jobs . Devices in the older days are bulkier and is not as efficient as today’s . Integrated chips are the main ‘brains’ that are driving most of the electronic devices today .  They are made out of transistors , capacitors and resistors amongst many other components . 

3. Biomedical Engineering & Technology 

Nano technology is a fairly complicated research area . It focuses on changing things from the tiniest level . Nano technology is currently used to clean water , change contact lens colour and even to create advanced mouth masks that are able to provide protection against more evolved bacteria . This new technology can also be used to create longer lasting and effective materials such as Carbon Nano-Tubes and corning glass . As for the future of nano technology , more research is being pumped for further study to improve surgery , especially to improve eye and bone diseases . 

4. IT for Animation by Prof Seah Hock Soon

There are mainly two types of animation , 2D and 3D . For 2D , every shot is hand drawn and later scanned into the computer to be animated . For 3D however , every single shot is drawn and animated using the computer . 2D is more labour intensive than 3D so it would cost more to make a 2D film . For 3D , creators would have to first built a real model of the desired character and then input it into the computer so that they would have a virtual model to work with . Using a software , they give the characters ‘avars’ or hinges in various parts of the character that allows them to make motions easily. After that , they only need to take shots of the key frames and the computer would fill in the ‘in-between’ shots for them . The highest grossing 2D film was Lion King while the world’s first 3D film was Toy Story ( released in 1995 ) . It took four years to complete the film. Before Toy Story , animated films were only partially computer generated ( for example , the ballroom background in Beauty and the Beast ) or even if they were fully computer generated , they were only short films that lasted no longer than 30 mins . So , being the first full length animated film to be created totally by computer , Toy Story was definitely a milestone for the animation industry . 

Source : http://www.pixar.com/howwedoit/index.html#


5. Disappearing glaciers , rising sea levels and why gravity is even more important than you think 

Sea level rise will not be the same everywhere . One main reason for sea level rise is global warming . As a result of climate change , thermal expansion occurs in ocean waters and subsequently the rise in sea level .

Another reason is self-attraction and loading (of glaciers) . Every object has their own gravitational field . The heavier the object is , the bigger its gravitational field . So , the ocean waters would be attracted to the glaciers . Hence , sea level of the areas around the glaciers would be relatively higher than the sea level of the areas further away . However , the tables are turned when the glaciers start melting . As the glacier begins to get smaller , its gravitational field gets weaker , causing the once attracted water to flow away . These waters , along with the additional water from the glaciers will then go towards the areas that were further away from the glaciers . This will create a steep rise in sea level . So , at the end of the day , those areas further away from the glaciers would actually be the ones experiencing the highest sea levels.   

(B) Deepest impression 

The professors left me the deepest impression during the Q&A sessions . Their answers were of detailed precision . They not only provided facts but also their own opinions as well as experiences . Even though some questions were not answered directly to the point , most of their replies had a lot of depth . Because of this , the whole SST student body  was able to learn valuable information not included in the presentation itself . 

Besides that , the presentations given by the professors were also interesting and engaging . I realised that their slides had minimum words . Rather , they made use of pictures and diagrams to illustrate their points . So , most of the content is presented by them , not through the slides . Videos chosen were also largely appropriate . Prior to the talks , I was quite worried that the content might be too tough but to my surprise , it was still very digestible . I can tell that they have made an effort to simplify their previously complex lectures so that it would be easy for us to comprehend .