Lim Zhi Qi:
1st session:
Water quality is compromised due to the pollution of the water bodies which causes water-borne bodies such as cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery. The root source of water pollution is due to poor sanitation where people do not dispose their wastes properly or factories releasing harmful chemicals into the water bodies. There is also cross-contamination from animals, including humans.
Although many microbes found in the water cause diseases, there are some good microbes which are used to treat water. However, we want to avoid making new bacteria by manipulating genetic code. Some might argue that it is easily feasible but we want to avoid contact with other thing or a leak causing the bacteria to multiply rapidly and possible destroying the other environment.
Water with energy gives us ability to do things but economic development can compromise water resources as more and more factories might want to save more money on the disposing of the wastes and hence just release it into the sea. Thus, there is a increasing need to protect water resources as economics develop. We need to have appropriate management of wastewater and wastes.
2nd session
This is a talk about the building of circuits and about microchip. The history of the microchip is: vacuum tubes, semiconductor(silicon), integrated circuits, microchip. The integrated circuits has high frequency, high speed and wireless. From this talk, I learnt about the fact that the supply has gradually made Asia the focal point of the market of electronics. Hence, the supply chain is also moving to the region and Singapore is well positioned in the heart of Asia, giving us a huge advantage in this field. I also learnt that the electronics is not only about electricity and circuits, but also in BioNano electronics such as Brain Implant and Electronics contact lens for the blind.
3rd session
This talk is about Nano-technology. The first use of Nano-technology is in 1963 when the metal nano-particles was made by the gas evaporation method. The theory of Nanotechnology is using the same fixed volume, but making it smaller hence having a larger exposed surface area. This can be seen in real life that the shark teeth is so strong because of the fact that the shark teeth has many layers and different textures that makes it so strong.
4th session
This talk is about animation and the use of IT in it. There are 3 types—Stop motion, 2D & 3D. Many will think that 3D is expensive but surprisingly, 2D is much expensive! This is because in 2D, artists will have to be employed to draw out the characters. In 3D, they can use hard, plastic figurines to animate. To do an animation film, you not just need artistic talent. You will also need mathematical calculation to do the movement, the physics required. Hence, an animation film actually needs people from different fields of expertise.
5th session
This talk is about how important gravity is and how fast is the effect of global warming. Geodeisest measure the shape and size of Earth, its gravity field with the recent “nature disasters”. The key takeaway is actually sea-level rise will not be the same everywhere. The self-attraction and loading from melting will have sea-level fingerprints. To calculate the relative sea level is taking the sea surface minusing off the solid surface.
The plenary session that leaves the deepest impression on me is the talk about the water.
What I like about it is that what we always think that water pollution is just simply water pollution and people just use Nano-technology to solve it and we have nothing more to worry. However, through this talk, I realised that the more important part is how we manage the wastewater and the waste like how “prevention is better than cure”.
Khit Sue Lun:
Khit Sue Lun:
Session 1
I learnt about the imminent water crisis and what Singapore and we can do to prevent this. I also found out how serious diseases such as cholera can be spread by water and how new inventions such as NEWater can help to combat it. 2 million people are of risk of being affected by polluted waters, stressing the severity of this problem.
Session 2
Integrated circuits is the new market of tomorrow, which allows us to build smaller devices to target specific needs, such as electronic eye contacts which will help the blind to see. New industries will also rise with such new innovations and currently, 16.1 billion is given to this industry every five years for advancements in nanotechnology.
Session 3
The smaller an object is, the more surface area is has and the more energy is released. By using this, we can harbour much more energy with the same resources and invent more items that will be much more of use to mankind, in terms of defence and many other areas.
Session 4
The problem with 2D animations are the cost and the lengthy amount of time needed to produce it as the artist will have to draw frame by frame, taking months or even years to complete a show. However, more softwares are being developed to counter this and allow the artist to draw lesser frames. 3D animation, in contrast, takes up much lesser time.
Session 5
Sea level rise will not be the same everywhere as gravity is time variating. Places nearer to melting glaciers will experience lesser sea level rise compared to those far away. Hence, Singapore, being far away from glaciers, will feel the impact much more and we will have to practice precautionary measures to combat this danger.
The plenary session that leaves me with the greatest impression is “Importance of Water- Dirty and Clean”. What I like about it is it gives many real life statistics that we can feel for, with the information backed up for the rising crisis of polluted waters. Besides that, I already expected to have preferred this session compared to the others as I know clearly how big a problem dirty water is after many news reports, online researches and humanities lessons covering this major epidemic. In our geography lessons, we studied about earthquakes, and learnt that it can lead to the deaths of many, due to polluted waters and poor sanitation. Diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever can raise like wildfire due to the polluted waters we consume. In our history lessons, we also learnt that the Indus people had already started to have complex drainage systems and toilet systems since the ancient civilisations stage. This again strengthens the imminent need for clean waters which play a huge role in our lives- for consumption and for daily chores such as bathing. With such knowledge, I know that clean water has a huge part to do in our lives, especially for Singaporeans, with scarce water resources. The professor who addressed this issue was also enthusiastic and tried all means to engage the crowd. As a conclusion, the talk gave me a refreshing view towards the polluted water crisis in the 21st century- with rising industries, and gained me much more knowledge.
Loh Cheng Ngee:
The plenary session that leaves me with the deepest impression is the first session on the importance of water. It brought me to the realisation that water can be easily contaminated, and even though we enjoy the luxury of clean water in our homes everyday, it can as easily be reversed. Also, the professor made the talk interesting with his dry humour, and brought the atmosphere of the auditorium up. He also showed us different perspectives of the problem and gave us real life statistics to back up information. The severity of the problem is really real, and the many inconveniences and problems it would cause if water continues to be compromised would be devasting. His talk has motivated me to do my part to prevent it from happening.
Plenary Session 1
During the course of this plenary session, I learned about the importance of water, and its quality. The overall idea I felt Professor Ng was emphasising was that microbes in the water would cause a spread of diseases when compromised. Through the statistics, I learned the view points of people from different perspectives and thus understood the severity of the problem.
Plenary Session 2
I learned that microelectronics was the basis for all our technology being put to use today, and that the technology for microchips and integrated circuits acts as a “brain” for many gadgets today. I also learned that microelectronics encompasses the 9 “O”s.
Plenary Session 3
I learned that nanoscience encompasses nano-technology, bio-technology and defence technology. The main concept for nanoscience is to expand and further improve the efficiency of current technology. It is basically “smaller size for a fixed volume = larger surface area”.
Plenary Session 4
I learned that animation comes in 2 different forms, in 2D and 3D. Creating animation films in 2D is more expensive than 3D, as it is more labour-intensive than the latter. There is also the problem with the budget and time constraints, which is currently being resolved as softwares are being developed.
Plenary Session 5
I learnt a new occupation, the geodesist, and the 2 main concepts about melting glaciers is that: “Sea-level rise is not spatially uniform everywhere on the surface of the Earth” and “Sea-level rise would be the highest farthest from the glaciers”. The self-attraction and loading from glacier melting would cause these 2 phenomenas.
Day 3
Loh Cheng Ngee:
I chose this project because I have an interest in the medical field with regards to the human body. This project focuses on cells, which are the basic unit of life, and thus it may provide me with some insight with regards to my future career. My role in the group is the timekeeper, where during the duration of the experiments I had to watch the time as the specimens dried or incubated. Challenges that we have faced was the usage of the fluorescenct microscopes as we did not know how they were supposed to function. We also enoucntered problems working around the small workspace in the lab as one person may be left out during the practical at any given time. We tried our best to engage all 3 members of the team, and made sure everyone understood each step of the experiment. We discovered about the various methods for staining to look at the organelles and to diagnose cancer. Throughout this project, the professor explained clearly the reason for the cancerous appearance of the cell, and the various signs and deformations of the cells to properly diagnose it. I have benefited much, as I have gained a lot of new information and sets of skills regarding to laboratory work, and have become more famaliar with the microscope. With regards to new information, I have learned about the various microscopes and stains used in this cellular staining process and the 3 methods. I aspire to be a forensic pathologist(the ones that dissect dead bodies to figure out the cause of death), and to continue to have these kind of opportunities to learn more about this field of work, and maybe have a chance to do simple dissection in the future.
Khit Sue Lun
I chose this project because I have interest in the medical field as I aspire to be a pathologist when I grow up. I would like to gain more knowledge on living things, what we can do to help them and how technology can help us to achieve that. All of these, I feel, will have to start with studying the basic units of life- cells. Hence, when I saw that there was an opportunity for me to study such cells under microscopes and learn more about stains for examination of the cells, I automatically gained interest and wanted to sign up for it. My role in the group is to help out with the lab work, come up with conclusions from the results and to take down notes. As I had to take down notes about what I saw or what the student helpers said, I focused more in the lab sessions and gained much more knowledge about this field of work. After undergoing the sessions and knowing what is to be expected in this field of work, I am more determined and sure that I would want to be a pathologist in the future. With a strengthened belief in that, I will be more motivated to work towards my goal and plan well for the future so as to achieve my dream. The challenges we met were due to the lack of internet access in the rooms, which hinders us in writing the reports as we would not be able to source for information to clarify some of our doubts when preparing the report and the presentation slides. However, we overcame this by taking adequate notes during the lab sessions and clarified our doubts with the professor, student helpers or our teachers before being dismissed. We also made use of the internet connection in the hall when we really had use the internet to make sure that our presentation provides true facts. Through this project, I realised how patient you will have to be in such a job as we would have to wait for periods of time before seeing results. The student helpers also shared with us the lengthy amounts of time some of their research took. As an individual, I benefited as I have gained in knowledge in the medical field and the basics of histochemistry, bringing me a step closer to my dream. I have also learnt more about working in a group with my friends and how we could leverage on each’s strengths to make our project a better success. I have also picked up many skills such as an increased level of patience and much more. As a conclusion, this project has helped me to understand much more about medical science, university life and research work, which I am very grateful for.
Lim Zhi Qi:
Lim Zhi Qi:
I choose this project because I am particularly interested in the medical field and I was totally happy about to learn how cell staining can be applied in cell diagnosis. My role in the group was to help out in looking out the time and trying to observe the cells. The challenges that we had was to be careful of the time taken for the incubation and the staining and also the use of the microscopes. We were a little bored while waiting for the incubation but we learnt a lot about it. We also learnt how to use the fluorescence microscope which was a brand new thing. The staining was a little tedious but fun as the most recent staining that we did in SST is the staining of the xylem. We overcame this problems with the help of the student helper who was a great help. She helped with the microscope and made sure we know what the steps are. I discovered that I actually liked being in the lab and in the future, I want to be a cardio surgeon but now it seems that I also like being in the research field. So, well, I will have to work hard to get into the medical field first.
