Individual Project Deliverables: Third Day

What new questions do you have regarding the discipline?

After the two courses, I want to find out even more how complicated compounds are formed and which ones might be potentially useful to mankind.

How do you feel about the SST-NTU Flagship programme? Describe how the programme has affected your understanding of the dicipline on a larger scale. Share your insights for the programme in general.

After the programme, I have realised how important chemicals and solvents are body functions and other applications. I think the the programe has opened my prospective of science even further and has increased my interest in science substantially.

Individual Project Deliverables: Second Day

The Fastest Ball Challenge

In today's activity, we used various materials and objects such as a slope, track and metal ball to solve two challenges. The first challenge was to determine and record a optimal level of elevation (angle θ) for the slope that the ball was rolling off of so that the ball would take the shortest time to travel a fixed distance (tfinal - tinitial).

The second challenge was about the same, just that this time, the aim was not to find out a optimum angle, but rather to get the ball across a one metre distance in a speculated time, such as one second.

From the activity, I learned that when objects fall diagonally, they have vertical and horizontal velocity. Therefore, in order for the ball to have a good amount of speed, there has to be a compromise of downward and horizontal velocity. If the slope's angle is too steep, the ball will bounce on the track, wasting momentum and energy on the sound produced by the bounce. If the slope's angle is too gentle, the ball will have less potential energy. Therefore, our job was to find out the best angle for the job. After some trials, we decided to use the photogates instead of using the timer as our results were inconsistent. Actually, we found out the fastest speed that the ball can accelerate to, but we failed to replicate the set-up. From today's activity, I learnt that many a time, projects fail not because of the group member's ability to do work, but rather from a breakdown of teamwork. Many other groups failed due to this. The skills that I learnt today were really useful. Not only did it help me to learn more about vectors, I also realised that whenever a problem arises, we have to learn to look at it from different perspectives and angles. With that, a solution can be derived really quickly.

Extraction of Caffeine from Tea Bags

This project was held in the afternoon. After a rather filling lunch, we proceeded back to the SPMS (School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences) Chem Labs. The TAs were very helpful and without their guidance, I don't think we would ever have finished the activity. On top of what we learnt many new ways to filter mixtures, including Büchner Filtration and Rotary Evaporation, or RotoVap for short. Our professor, Dr. Alessandra Bonanni, welcomed us warmly. Before the project started, we did a risk assessment of the lab so that we knew how to keep ourselves safe while having fun. The equipment in the lab, especially the Rotary Evaporator, was one of the coolest parts of the lab. I learnt about new compounds, aqueous or organic and also, safer lab practices. I feel that these skills and knowledge can help me set a better base foundation for next year’s Chemistry classes. These skills might even save a life when someone gets attacked by acid.

Individual Project Deliverables: First Day

Pre-camp

The Fastest Ball Challenge

- What sounds interesting about this project?

The theory of vectors are quite new to me, so I find it rather interesting.

- What do you think we can learn from this project?

How vectors are used and applied in real-life applications and how different external factors affect energy conservation.

- Any immediate questions regarding the project?

How are vectors used in solving problems.

Extraction of Caffeine from Beverages

- What sounds interesting about this project?

The theory of vectors are quite new to me, so I find it rather interesting.

- What do you think we can learn from this project?

How vectors are used and applied in real-life applications and how different external factors affect energy conservation.

- Any immediate questions regarding the project?

How are vectors really applied in solving real world problems and basically more about vectors as a whole.

      - Plenary sessions

Plenary session 1: Earthquake research on the Coral Reefs of Sumatra - Prof. Kerry Sieh

The talk by the Professor really caused my to realise how much devastation Tsunamis actually cause. Tsunamis are usually caused by earthquakes. These earthquakes are caused by rebounding, tense tectonic plates pushing against each other. This causes a lot of water to be displaced and, bam, a tsunami. The professor has conducted lots of research by analysing coral and soil samples in the Sumatran areas. His team have managed to find out about tsunamis that happened thousands of year ago. With more research, tsunamis could have a chance to be predicted early and lots of lives and properties can be saved.

Plenary session 2: IT for Animation - Prof. Seah Hock Soon

The talk changed my perspective about watching cartoons and anime. I realised, after a video that Prof. Seah showed us, that even one episode of anime takes a few months to process. Also, many movie and cartoon creators use CGI, short for computer-generated imagery, for their shows as it requires less time and money. Despite this, 2D cartoons are still quite popular and are in high demand.

Plenary session 3: Innovation Breakthroughs in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology - Prof. David Butler

As nanoparticles and nanoscience have intrigued me even before the talk, I felt that with the knowledge that Prof. Butler had shared with us, it really opened my perspective about particles that were that small. No matter how small they were, they still had a big part to play in future as new innovations could be more compact than before, allowing you to maybe even keep a CPU in your pocket.