Reflection: Mervin says...

Pre-camp reflections (Mervin)

- What interests you about this project?

This project interests me as it is quite a creative project where one would need to focus and think carefully to complete the task properly. I personally like building things together and through this project I can also help to improve by learning by implementing theories to my tower.

- What do you want to learn by doing this project?

I want to learn some new building mechanics and some other useful things about building and water towers to help improve my knowledge for future use.

- What questions do you have about this project?

What is the best way to construct the tower?

- What do you personally want to have achieved by the end of this project?

I hope to achieve new knowledge on building stuffs and water towers and how they work. I also hope that I can achieve better teamwork skills working with my teammates.


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Reflections on Plenary Sessions

What are your key learning points?

For the first plenary session by Prof Kerry Sieh, I learnt about the formation of Earthquakes and their resultant effects of earthquakes which include the land being sunken and damaged when resurfaced. Tsunamis formed can be up to 25 metres high. The subduction occurring gets jammed and locked and when the pressure builds up it releases the plate and thus the shock produces an earthquake. Earthquakes can cause huge destruction and cause other’s to lose lives.

For the next plenary session by Prof Seah Hock Soon, I learnt about the creation of animations and learnt about the tedious procedures when making 2D animations which is also very expensive. ‘Sailor Moon’ is one of the longest running 2D animations about a magic girl, having about 200 episodes from its first airing. However the creation and process of making was very tedious as the drawing of the storyboard as well as the colouring was done by hand, and the script had to be constructed as well. It was a very labourious process to get the finished product. As the technology improves, the creation of 3D animations came about, giving a much clearer image. 2D animations are also known as traditional animations. ‘The Lion King’ is the most expensive traditional animation, costing USD$45 Million. In 22 November 1995, Pixar Animation Studios released the world’s first 3D animation, ‘Toy Story’. The cost of it’s making was USD$30 Million.

For the final plenary session by Prof Ma Jan, I learnt about the applications of Nano-technology. Nano-technology is useful and it can be used for many things for example killing bacteria, preventing cancerous tumours from growing and beauty purposes such as treatment for freckles. Nano-technology can also be used for treatments and work better compared to drugs. For example, if you have a headache and you visit the doctor and he gives you a panadol,  probably only 1% of it would go to your head, while the rest go around your body but Nano-technology is much more effective.

What new questions do you have about the topic?

How are earthquakes measured and defined so closely with the use of these technologies?

How well has animations advanced throughout the years?

How well has Nano-technology faired throughout the years?

Reflections on Applied Project Challenge: Your Accomplishments

• Discuss how the project has deepened your understanding and broadened your awareness of the selected discipline.
  I have learnt to be more focused and concentrating and have creativity flow in your mind and give you a much broader understanding of the project.
• What do you now understand about this discipline that you were unaware of at the beginning?
  Sometimes being more focused actually helps in the development of the project, as even the slight bit of focus can make a difference in the project outcome.
• Describe how what you have learned from doing this project can be connected to what you are learning at school.
  What I have learnt can be connected as this project also involves applied learning and hands on experiences with doing this sort of project and it would be a useful way to translate what I have learnt to the concepts being taught at school.
• Describe how you can apply what you have learned from doing this project.
  I can apply this when doing projects, especially those related to construction. The strategies and ideas would definitely help in the doing of the project.
•  At the end of the project, what new questions do you now have?
  - What is the absolute best way to build a safe and strong water tower?
  - Is there any special methods to make sure it does not collapse?
  - What special precautions must be made?
  - How would an actual water tower fair with the same design?