Science Centre / SSEF 2006 / L.I.F.E @ NTU

Science Centre

I went out with my friends to Science Centre. I reached at about 9.00 am. I went to MacDonald's and saw Kenny and Sam.

(Obviously not ready for the camera)

(Sam with his laptop)

I sat down and talked with them. Sam brought along his notebook and played some games. While Kenny and I crapped and argued about some stuff. Wee Yen was out with his girlfriend taking photos.

After a while, we got bored. So we went out and decided to play "Dumb" (where we = Kenny and me). We played half-way and quit. Why? Because it's dumb.

(Kenny and me playing Dumb)

We took another photo before going in.

(Getting ready for the photo)

(Sam, Kenny, me and Wee Yen)

We went for the Star Wars exhibition there. I am not a Star Wars fan, so I don't really find it interesting. But there was this segment called "Foley Studio". That's interesting. There, this guy taught us how sound effects (like rustling leaves and people getting beaten up) are incorporated into the movie. Quite an interesting concept.

However, as I wondered there, I saw this other event...

SSEF 2006

Wow! It sure brings back memories. I was here 2 years ago with my project on SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry). I scouted around looking for a name...

"Dr Nikolai Yakovlev"...it's him!

He was there! Not only did I find the students under him, but also the teacher himself! Wow! I took a photo with him and of his students.

(Dr Nikolai and me)

(Dr Nikolai and his three students)

The two projects were tutored under him. One from NJC (National Junior College) while the other is from HCJC (Hwa Chong Junior College). Quite interesting projects concerning SIMS.

(Team NJC)

(Team HCJC)

After chatting with the group, I went off to NTU (Nanyang Technological University) for their open house.

L.I.F.E @ NTU

"I think, therefore I am." - Rene Descartes

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is ranked among the top 50
universities in the world by The Times Higher Education Supplement
(THES) in a 2005 ranking of the world's best universities. Placed 26th
among technology universities, NTU sits within the upper echelons of
the world's best science and technology universities.

NTU's 12 schools span diverse disciplines - from engineering, sciences
and communications to humanities and social sciences as well as art,
design and media. The university has a strong engineering college
focused on innovation, a business school that is among the top five in
Asia, an internationally-acclaimed National Institute of Education, one
of the best communication and information schools in Asia, and a
biological sciences school at the forefront of Singapore's life sciences
initiative. The Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies is a world
authority on terrorism issues.

(Taken from L.I.F.E@NTU Programme Booklet)

Here are some photos I got from there.

(Research Projects Gallery)

(Engineering booths)

(GIP - Global Immersion Programme)

I was particularly interested in one of their courses - Materials Science and Engineering.

(MSE - Materials Science and Engineering)

I asked the people there what's life like as a first year undergraduate. Most of them said that it's rather relaxed. They said that life there's quite ok and it's not that difficult if you really study. After that, I went to look around the booth.

They had a cool futuristic soldier there at display. I asked about it. They said that the soldier is equipped with smart materials that converts heat generated by the body to other forms of energy. This is to prevent detection via infra-red scanners. Cool huh?

(The future soldier)

Here's a common microscope connected to a computer for data compilation. I guess if I am going to Materials, I will be seeing this quite often.

(Microscope)

After making further enquiries on some other issues like the syllabus and scholarships available, I took the shuttle bus provided back to Boon Lay.

Tags: Friends, NTU, Science Centre, Singapore, SSEF 2006