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

Posting3: Roundtable Discussion

The round table discussion touched on different concepts of nuclear IV reactors. For our group, we discussed the viability of two of the more popular concepts, the Very High Temperature (VHTR) and the Sodium cooled fast reactor (SFR). At the end of our discussion, the VHTR concept seems to be the best concept to implement to meet our future energy needs.

We have discussed the criteria to decide which of the two the better nuclear IV reactor concept is. The main priorities to decide are safety issues, costs factors and performance level of the nuclear reactors.

In terms of safety issues, the SFR boasts a passive cooling system which would be more superior if not for the lack of critical intervention control. In comparison, the VHTR concept of human control would allow for a faster response time in emergency situations.

The start up costs of the VHTR concept would be higher due to the scale of the nuclear plants. To maintain stable operations, the reactor core has to be made up of numerous graphite reflectors to withstand operating temperature of more than 1000 degree Celsius. Furthermore, these reflectors have to be replaced every four years, adding on to maintenance costs.

However, the performance output of the VHTR concept is far greater than the SFR. In addition to electricity, VHTR would also produce hydrogen fuel. Moreover`, the estimated net plant thermal efficiency of 50% is higher than that of SFR.

In conclusion, VHTR would be a more viable concept. The higher costs would be relieved by funding from major countries, and thus would not be much of an issue.

-weilong

Portfolio entry 4

There are more than 1.8 billion people in the world speaking the English language, of which almost 400 million are using it as their first language. English is also the official language in 53 countries and has become the lingua franca in many parts of the world. Based on these statistics and information, it would be safe to say that English is most widely spoken language among the people on Earth.

English is important not only because it is widely used, but also because it helps to connect people who speak different first languages and use English as their lingua franca. In an engineering student’s academic life, it is inevitable that we encounter large scale projects requiring the expertise of students from other engineering fields. For example, a bio-mechanical project, knowledge from the fields of bio-engineering and mechanical engineering would be required. For students among different fields to communicate well, a common language is required. More often than not, this language is the English language. Engineering students need to be proficient in the English language in order to effectively share their knowledge as well as comprehend concepts from the other engineering fields.

This is even more important when engineering students graduate and become engineers. Projects will be on an even larger scale and engineers would need to be able to connect verbally as well as literally with various departments and organizations. Speaking and writing good English would not only improve understanding, but also speed up processes and increase the overall efficiency.

The English language allows engineers to communicate effectively with one another and is an important tool for communication. It will definitely play an important role for people who work in engineering sectors.

Portfolio entry 3

The roundtable discussion brought to my attention the depleting supplies of the world’s fuel as well as the capabilities of the various Generation IV nuclear reactors. Each nuclear reactor has its own advantages and disadvantages, but they are generally much better and more efficient than the Generation III reactors. However, I am unsure about the safety factors of the Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) because of the coolant that it employs. The SFR uses Sodium, a very reactive alkali metal, as its coolant.

The main concern about using Sodium is its high reactivity. Elemental Sodium does not exist naturally on Earth because it is so reactive it always reacts and forms different compounds. The danger of its high reactivity can be seen from the fact that it combusts in air and even explodes when in contact with water. Surely, such a reactive coolant can only pose further danger to the nuclear core and yet, the SFR is designed to use Sodium as its coolant.

To prevent any coolant related accidents, the SFR must be designed such that the system transporting and holding the Sodium coolant is very stable and strong to prevent any leakage of the coolant. Any small exposure of the Sodium coolant would most probably cause a fire or worse, an explosion. Of course, there is no need to explain the severity of an explosion within the nuclear reactor.

When an explosion within a nuclear plant is so dreadful, I am surprised that the SFR is designed to be cooled with a highly reactive metal. Are there no other safer alternatives to replace Sodium as a coolant in the SFR?