E-Portfolio 4

The answer to the question, “How important is it for us to know the english language?” depends on where we are from and what we are doing , etc. However, if the question was how important the English language is for an engineering student, I would say its very important.

In this highly globalized world, day by day more people have to converse in English since its the Global trading language. Even for an engineer, if we seek employment with international companies, a basic requirement is that you speak fluent English. It is not only important that we can speak the language, we also need to be able to express ourselves well on paper. That is, we should be able to write good reports as well. Even at a university level we are trained to write academic passages, this is to better help us ready for the outside world. In a competitive environment such as the job industry, a person who is poor in the English language is unlikely to get a job over a person who is better at English.

In the companies point of view, they trade internationally, and since English has become the basic platform of communication, they require their employees to speak good English as well. If proper communication is not established the company would lose its business to its competitor. Hence, the bottomline is that one should be able to communicate English if he is to secure a job without much problems. Some argue, not all jobs need English if its to be accomplished. However, a company would not want its employees to struggle to communicate with each other. If this happens, then employees would form smaller “groups” , which would not be in the best interest of the company to have internal conflicts.

We could now say that it is quite important for us to be able to communicate well in English if we were to secure employment. The university takes measures so that we all are quite proficient in English upon graduation. Hence it is important for us to have a satisfactory level for competency in the English language even in our university life.

Portfolio 4 -- The importance of English

As we know, English is the international language.We are living in the world of globalization. English language is a common language and is spoken in many countries. In this computer age, English is the only language that any one can understand. So to say, it has become as an ideal language for expressing our feelings. First, we have to learn the language and then we have to gain fluency in the language. Unless we have the fluency in English language, it would not be possible to work with the computer. If you do not know English, then you would be in need of a translator to do the job.

Language, so far as we know, is something specific to humans, that is to say it is the basic capacity that distinguishes humans from all other living beings. Language therefore remains potentially a communicative medium capable of expressing ideas and concepts as well as moods, feelings and attitudes. But why is English ? not Chinese or Spanish ? This must refer back to the history then.Therefore we are not going to discuss the history, just accept it.:)

After Mandarin, English is spoken by more people than any other language, and is the native language of more than 350 million people. More people speak English than those who speak the Arabic and French languages combined. Moreover, English is the international language of diplomacy, business, science, technology, banking, computing, medicine, aviation, engineering, tourism,etc.

While English may not have as large a quantity of speakers as Mandarin it is still more widespread and herein lays its importance. Mandarin Chinese is hardly spoken outside Chinese communities, however in many regions of the world where English is not the native language, it is still widely spoken and integrated in the curriculums of educational institutions. In many countries Malaysia, for example, where there various ethnic groups with their own unique language, English is used as a means of communications between all of them. So we see that the importance of English doesn't lie in the quantity of people that speak it but in way we use it.


Finally,  spoken English is used in the best careers, the best universities, and is increasingly being used at job interviews. So like it or not, English is a very important language to learn how to speak.

E-Portfolio post 4

Do we really need to be competent in English language? In my opinion, yes! English is the most widely spoken language in the world. It is also the language of Internet and so studying, doing research, interacting with international companies is almost impossible without at least some English. To anyone who lives in an English speaking country, it is of vital importance.

Most of us tend to ignore English as a subject which is as important as Mathematics. We need to know English to communicate effectively. Using English effectively and making a good living have much in common. The study of English encompasses much more than the mechanics of grammar, punctuation and spelling. Through preparatory and advanced English courses in school, it allows for the opportunity to sharpen critical reading and writing skills. I believe it is this that is crucial to the success of an engineering student, in both academic life and a prospective career.

While at work, having the right English communication skills will surely equip you with a liberating confidence and ability to express. It will surely be an advantage in interviews, thus giving you more opportunities to widen your career prospects. Or if you are not looking for a new job, having the confidence and ability to speak good English is one way of enhancing your potential for earning by making you stand out for career advancement or promotions. Undoubtedly, English language is the global language and having a good command of it will definitely give one’s career a clear edge.

As such, English language is always very important because it is the means of communication. Proficiency in English is a mandatory requirement for any professional working in a business environment. If you cannot use the language, it will be very difficult to communicate with the people. Therefore, it is an absolute necessity.

E-Portfolio post 3

Nuclear power accounts to a reasonable percentage of electricity generation in the world today. Even though countries are benefiting from electricity generation via nuclear reactors, no new reactors have been built in almost 30 years. During my group’s roundtable discussion, we discussed the possible initiatives of fourth generation nuclear reactors. Of the selected six concepts developed in order to meet the technology goals for new nuclear systems, we narrowed our choices down to Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) and Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) in particular. Many of the two model’s pros and cons were discussed at the discussion. I would like to share a burning issue that was discussed.

Fuel fabrication is the process when enriched uranium is converted into fuel for nuclear reactors and is the last step in the nuclear cycle before the uranium fuel is ready to be used in a reactor. The type of nuclear fuel used depends on the type of nuclear reactors. Currently, there are several different types of nuclear fuels that are in use, and several more are being developed. Although uranium dioxide is the most common fuel, there are many other fuels that seem promising. Maximizing the efficiency and safety of nuclear fuel is essential to making nuclear fuel an acceptable energy alternative in society. Furthermore, it must be taken into consideration are that new nuclear fuel development is constrained by nuclear reactor technology and whether we should use plutonium as a nuclear fuel.

In conclusion, although many people fear using nuclear fuel for power, it is actually relatively safe. It is a shame that two accidents (Chernobyl and Three Mile Island) tarnished the reputation of nuclear energy forever. In addition, reprocessing is not popular currently, but I hope to see a more widespread in the future despite the high costs of reprocessing.

E portfolio 3 - Rountable discussion

About two weeks of preparing and we were ready for the roundtable discussion. In our group there were two of us siding with the very high temperature reactor (VHTR), another two supporting the sodium cooled fast reactor (SFR) and a moderator. The roundtable discussion as basically a discussion on which Generation 4 nuclear reactor was the ideal solution for the energy crisis.

It was agreed that Nuclear energy was the cleanest way forward to solve the energy crisis. However the publics’ views that “Nuclear reactors” are not safe had to be changed, hence the Generation 4 reactors tackle safety, performance and cost to prove that it’s the best solution. For example the VHTR is far superior to the SFR in several ways. The VHTR has the best performance factor of all generation 4 reactors, having a thermal efficiency rate of higher than 50%, where other reactors are usually below 40%. The better the performance means cheaper the electricity, and therefore the VHTTR has a relatively lower operational cost, than most other reactors. But it is argues that the VHTR has too high an initial cost (R&D and Building cost), which ranges in the region of $1 Billion. However it was pointed out that several countries showed great interest in the VHTR and hence the cost can be distributed.

Another major issue was the safety, while the SFR boasts a closed fuel cycle with recycling capabilities, some say recycling brings back the plutonium and if the security is not tight then terrorist can steal it and manufacture nuclear weapons. Another safety issue is the use of sodium as the coolant, sodium is highly reactive and this could lead to other disasters if the coolant is not managed with care. The VHTR has Helium as its coolant, the inert property of this gas makes it highly safe to be used.

It was clear that the VHTR had every aspect covered well and is far more superior to the SFR. That is why several countries have shown interest in the VHTR and hopefully it would be the solution to our energy problems.

Roundtable discussion - Portfolio 3

     In the roundtable discussion that we have gone through, it gained  me to the knowledge of  how the new generation nuclear reactor iv could play an very important role for tommorow's  world, as we know nuclear reactors provide power to us. Therefore , this technology will lead us to finding new sources of power energy. the roundtable discussion for my group is rebutting againts two models of nuclear energy, which is SFR and VHTR, stands for Sodium Cooled Fast Reactor and Very High Temperature Ractor.

    The SFR uses Sodium as the coolant, from the discussion, we know that sodium is a kind of high reactivity material, because it can reacts with water, water vapor and air, which is consider unsafe, therefore the concern of safety has alerted. where the coolant of VHTR is helium, and helium is subjected to high temperature thus it is more efficient in transferring thermal energy. Another benefit by using helium is that it will not react with the VHTR materials nor become radioactive itself and does not affect the neutron economy in the reactor core. Besides heated helium can drive the turbine as well. This is one of the major reason that we believe VHTR is better than SFR.

   From another hand, we realised that since sodium is so high reactivity with other materials, therefore it has to be taken more careful during dealing with the leakage of sodium, cos' once the sodium leaks..it might be a horrible disaster. Extra cost has to be considered to resolve this issue.


  In terms of performances, VHTR produces nearly 50% more electricity engery than other conventional plants.Moreover, in VHTR system, it is dealing with a very high heat resistant,and because it uses grapthie as the moderator and graphite is inertia and it doesn't easily react with helium.
Therefore we claimed that VHTR performs a better high temp and higher energy conversion compares to other model.

 As my own personel view, since there are so many advantageous we could see by selecting VHTR than other models, why they dont jst concentrate on investigating and exploring in one model? but come out another 5 models ? pls enlighten me:)

ENGlish 4 life

English is a language with West Germanic origins. It used back in the Anglo-Saxon era and has since developed to today’s modern English. The use of English language is wide and extensive, dominating the world as the most popular international language. Indeed, English language is so significant that it plays an important role in an engineering student’s academic life and prospective career. An engineering student has to be competent in the use of English language in order to be successful.

In an engineering student’s academic life, he or she has to utilize English as a tool to understand keys concepts and ideologies. A good command of the language would ensure effective communication between people, thus allowing for better expression of thoughts. This is especially important in an engineering student prospective career. Competent use of English language in career would ensure a smoother working process with better end results.

A poor command of English language would not only subject one to ridicule, but also condemnation from others. A recent case in Singapore context would be the de-crowned former Miss Singapore, Ris Low. Her poor use of English in an interview results in the start of her downfall. For engineers, incorrect usage of the language would potentially lead to more disastrous results as their work involves people directly.

Controversial as it may seem, one could not deny that English has become an irreplaceable part of our lives. Thus as we progress, we must also continuously improve our usage of the English language.

-Weilong