Portfolio 5

I am an advanced researcher on time machine and now I am reaching the edge of applying my research results to some practical devices that can travel in time. Although this technology is not mature enough, we can see that it will be possible for people to travel back and forth in time in the near future. Despite the promising research results, I have concerns about the unethical abuse of the technology. As described in many science fictions, time travelling is always related to ethical issues. The most famous one is the grandfather theory. This theory assumes that person travels back to a time point when his grandfather had not met his grandmother and killed his grandfather. In that situation what will happen? Does the man exist or not? If he exists, then he does not have a grandfather, which in turn means that he should not exist. If he does not exist, then he does not kill his grandfather, which in turn means that he should exist. There should be ways to minimize the unethical abuses of this technology. First the regulation and laws are necessary to bar people from abusing this technology. We should develop a sophisticated system to monitor the use and prevent possible abuse. Also what punishment will be imposed upon abusers should also be stated clear to warn people. Second I think this technology should be mostly used for scientific purposes. And its use should be limited if it will be put into market place. No actions that will change the past should be allowed and the only use of the technology is to observe. Third make sure that the technology is not controlled by certain people but a group of them who will ensure that no abuse of the technology occurs. In this way the technology will be used safely and will not cause any serious problems. Travelling in time is very fantastic. When I finally realize this technology, hope no ethical abuse will occur.

Portfolio 4

I have encountered some barrier in my engineering study since I began studying in NUS. Because I come from China, English is my second language and I am not very good at using it, especially writing in my engineering classes. Let me choose MLE 1101 as an example to tell you what problems I have faced. One problem is vocabulary. When writing in engineering classes, I need to use appropriate academic English words to describe certain meaning. However, due to my poor vocabulary, I can only use easy word to make a sentence, which leads to my work not as professional as those written by native English-speakers. I may use burning to describe the chemical process, while others use combustion, which is more professional. One possible solution is to read more and memorize more. I need to enlarge my vocabulary and most importantly, to be able to use more appropriate words. Another problem is how to organise a sentence in a professional way. When I read academic work, I often notice that the author are able to use a very long sentence in a coherent way in its meaning. I always wish I could oneday become that professional in my engineering writing. In order to do that I need to practise more. The more practice the more professional I will be.Not only MLE 1101, other modules may face the same problems. I need to do more and make efforts to become better.

Summary of Reverse-engineering the Brain

According to the National Academy of Engineering, reverse-engineering the brain does not only help develop the artificial intelligence, but also offer rewards beyond neurological research. By reverse-engineering the brain researchers can increase the computing capacity of the computer. In this way more effective simulation rooted in the power of computer will become reality and may be used in many other areas. There are already some applications using AI that benefit from simulation based on reverse-engineering the brain. The use of AI insights for repairing the brain will have more potential impact on human health and well-being. Computer chips can be used to reconnect the disrupted nerve communication. There are also progresses in repairing hearing loss, restoring vision and regaining speech. Research has also been done to control artificial limbs which receiving signals from the nerve cells. However, in order to make more progress further advances are needed in technology to understand the brain. The code of the neurotransmitters and the trace of the signal path are the obstacles in front of the engineers in reverse-engineering the brain. The understanding of the brain will open a door for engineers to make grander accomplishments for enhancing people’s life.

Word forms

There are TEN (10) errors in the following text involving verbs, verb forms, sentence structure, relative clauses, articles, conjunctions and prepositions. Circle/ Highlight the errors and write the correction in the box provided below the paragragh.

Photography and climbing have been hobbies of mine for twenty years. I always believed that I was going to be geologist so I went to
university in England and got a degree in geology. A further 4 years of studying gained me a Doctorate (PhD) in geology in the University of Leeds.
The error is:

Sadly, jobs in England for geologists were difficult to find so I decided to accept a challenging job developing gas sensors for using in environmental monitoring that would, in turn, help industries reduce their pollution.
the error is:

I enjoyed this work for 4 years, soon realize that my gas sensors could help geologists to predict volcanic eruptions. The research promised to be exciting (sometimes dangerous!) and new, but I had to find some money. With the collaborating of colleagues at university, my idea won funding for 1 year only.
the error is:

Alhough good results, the backing of experts, and lots of hard work climbing volcanoes, I couldn’t persuade British industry to give me money to finish what I felt was important work. I know I was really disappointed at the time, but I soon snapped out of feeling that way! I started to think of doing something more positive than feel sorry for myself.
the error is:

It was during that time that I decided to become a professional photography. However, I needed money to pay for lessons to help me develop my photography skills. So I started to work part-time as a Youth Hostel warden and window cleaning to earn enough to help me pay my bills. It was tough because I had to work long hours and was sometimes so exhausted that I fell asleep during eating my dinner!
the error is:

I concentrated on nature photography because I have always loved animals and travelling to different countries, especially Africa and South East Asia. In 1997, my efforts pay off and I won the award of “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” competition, and last year I won another major prize for my nature photography. Maybe, one day, someone will pay me to photograph volcanoes?
the error is:

key:
from

use

realizing

collaboration

Despite/ In spite of

feeling

photographer

cleaner

while

paid off

parallelism

1 Improve the texts below by correcting all the non-parallel elements in the following paragraphs.

Intermediate

She was a successful businesswoman, a member of a rock band (1)and women’s soccer is also her passion. Who is this superstar? It’s none other than Barbie doll. A little hard to believe, but the Barbie doll started out as a human being! She was Barbara Handler, the daughter of Ruth and Elliot Handler.

In the early 1950s, Handler saw that her young daughter, Barbara, and her girlfriends (2)are enjoying playing with adult female dolls as much or more than with baby dolls. Handler felt that it was just as important for girls to imagine what they themselves might grow up to become, (3)and also for them to focus on what caring for children might be like.

Handler observed that all the adult dolls available were either made of paper (4)and cardboard so she decided to create a three-dimensional adult female doll (5)that was both lifelike and serves as an inspiration for her daughter’s dreams of her future. Handler took her idea to the ad executives at Mattel Corp., the company that she and her husband, Eliot, had founded in their garage some years before. The all-male committee rejected the idea as too expensive and (6)it was said that there was little potential for wide market appeal.

Sometime later, Handler returned from Europe with a “Lilli” doll, modelled after a character in a German comic strip. Handler was so inspired by this doll that she not only spent hours creating a doll similar to Lilli, (7)and also she hired a designer to make realistic doll clothes. The result was the Barbie doll (named after the Handlers’ daughter) a pint-sized model of the “girl-next-door”.

Mattel finally agreed to back Handler’s efforts; and the Barbie doll debuted at the American Toy Fair in New York City in 1959. Girls clamoured for the doll and a new sales record (8)was set for Mattel in its first year on the market (351,000 dolls, at $3 each). Today the Barbie product line is the most successful in the history of the toy industry.

The first Barbie doll sported a ponytail hairstyle, black and white zebra-striped bathing suit, open-toed shoes, (9)and she also wore sunglasses and earrings. Buyers at the industry’s annual Toy Fair in New York were not impressed by the Barbie doll, but (10)she certainly impressed little girls. In fact, the Barbie doll took retailers by storm. Mattel was so swamped with orders that it took several years for supply to catch up with demand.

Key:

She was a successful businesswoman, a member of a rock band (1) and a women’s soccer enthusiast. Who is this superstar? It’s none other than Barbie doll. A little hard to believe, but the Barbie doll started out as a human being! She was Barbara Handler, the daughter of Ruth and Elliot Handler.

In the early 1950s, Handler saw that her young daughter, Barbara, and her girlfriends (2) were enjoying playing with adult female dolls as much or more than with baby dolls. Handler felt that it was just as important for girls to imagine what they themselves might grow up to become, (3) as it was for them to focus on what caring for children might be like.

Handler observed that all the adult dolls available were either made of paper (4) or cardboard so she decided to create a three-dimensional adult female doll (5) that was both lifelike and served as an inspiration for her daughter’s dreams of her future. Handler took her idea to the ad executives at Mattel Corp., the company that she and her husband, Eliot, had founded in their garage some years before. The all-male committee rejected the idea as too expensive and (6) said that there was little potential for wide market appeal.

WritingTask 1

Nowadays, as technology develops, more and more needs and desires of people have been fulfilled. Meanwhile, the needs and goals of the society have also expanded. Therefore, it is important that the inventions and development of technology should meet the needs and goals of the society.

Engineers need money and facilities to put their thoughts into reality. If the ideas do not meet what the society want, engineers will hardly get any money and place to do the invention. In another case, even though the experiment process is finished, the invention is seldom used by the major group. Then the money and time spend are wasted. The money could have been used for other more promising projects. Thus, what the society need determines where engineers go.

We can also see it in another way. As we all know, the climate change, energy crisis, global warming and the problems caused by world population growth are drawing more and more attention from the whole world. Then there is a global trend that engineers strive for the solutions of the problems. And these areas are almost the hottest in engineering or going to flourish where attract more and more engineers to set foot in. the invest are also enlarging, no matter from the government or private institute. This is a counter proof to show that it is important to meet what the majority’s need.

No matter how we look at it, the idea that the goals and needs of the society are the major determination of what engineers are working on should be known to all of them.

Writing assignment 1
Question 1
There are three reasons why people resist new technology. The first one is that new technology may not be affordable for ordinary people. The price of the applications using such new technology is usually high, so people will think twice before buying it. If the technology is an upgrade, people have to buy new applications in order to use the new technology, which will cost much money. Thus, in most cases people will just use the current one. There is another tendency that people will wait for the price to go down. The second reason is habit. If one is accustomed to the current technology, he will probably not apply the new tech, especially when the current tech is enough for his usage. People are used to the current technology, so they tend not to change their habit even if the new technology seems to be nice. The third reason is that people are afraid that the new technology may not be as perfect as the old one. People usually think that whatever new has to be tested. Only after a certain time or using by other people will most people accept it and try it themselves. These are the three reasons why people tend to resist new technology.