The whole world is coming into an agreement that the global warming is one of the most serious problems that the entire human beings are facing today. As the civilization goes on, people are getting richer and start to pay more attention on our environment.
As we all know global warming means the temperature on the earth keep rising. Its consequences are disastrous and beyond our imagination. It causes globally rise in sea level which means a lot of places we live today will be under water one day, heat waves and incredibly strong hurricanes and so on. All these disasters bring not only billions dollars economic losses, but also millions peoples’ life. For example, the heat waves in India made the temperature go to 50 degree celcius in June 2003. More than 1400 people died.
In order to save the earth and provide a good environment for our future generation, we must respond and start doing something. “We are witnessing a collision between our civilization and the earth.” It does not mean that in order to save our planet we have to give up our economy. Instead we are capable to balance these two well.
Being one of the most beautiful and cleanest countries in the world, Singapore is doing her job quite well. It is so famous today because of its wonderful environment. The government implies many practical polices to help to reduce the problem of global warming. Very importantly, the government promotes recycle and reuse. It encourages people to use lesser one time use plastic bags. The NTUC takes its initiative to cooperate as it does not provide bags freely on every Wednesday unless people pay for them. In this case customers will realize and start to bring their own bags. As lesser one-time-use products are used, lesser trees will be chopped down. People are also told to categorize their wastes. This is to make the recycle process more efficiently. Scientists express through the media to make people realize the importance of the recycle. If we just dump the waste into the ground, quite a large amount of carbon dioxide will be released into the air.
The government is also doing its job in planting more trees to improve our environment. Tourists can see those lovely trees and flowers anywhere. As the plants are protected so well, they can absorb a lot of carbon dioxide for us. Other than these, the government also spent much money in investing green renewable resources such as solar energy and methanol fuel. This would significantly decrease the amount of coal and oil we relied today.
Although our government is doing generally well, some polices are still contributing to the global warming. The government is willing to increase our population from 4 million to 6 million. As more and more people crowded here, we are putting more pressure on the food, water and energy. When more resources are consumed, at the same time we are releasing more undesirable gases into the air.
“Humanity already possesses the fundamental scientific, technical and industrial know-how to solve the carbon and climate problems…” so let us think about the drowned polar bear and start to change the way we used to live together
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Engineers and Systematic Thinking
Engineering plays one of the most significant roles in globalization and human civilization. It is not exaggerated to say that the world today cannot function at all without engineers. Quite a large number of people still think engineers are just those specialists who build big tunnels, bridges and cars. However as we moved into 21st century which is full of information and new technology, the aspects of engineers are also changing extensively.
Today systematical and critical thinking and engineers are related very closely and it is the major objective in engineering training. This skill is not possibly to be mastered within days or months, while takes years, even half of the person’s life. University is the critical period in helping engineers to develop this essential skill. From fundamental knowledge to higher levels, the engineering course helps students to walk along the right track. With the guidance of professors, teachers and helps from friends, young engineers are able to build up this skill gradually. The syllabus is reviewed every year to follow up the fast changing economy. Professional computing languages like C++ and Java are compulsory modules in engineering course today to make sure engineers are able to organize information precisely and efficiently. Students are no longer asked to solve questions blindly. Instead, young engineers are going to look at the problems in various aspects and analyze them carefully and thoroughly. They are more focused on the way of detecting and solving problems other than solutions only.
A successful engineer should not only know how to solve problems but also communicate and cooperate with others. These soft skills are very important when they work in the industry. A well rounded engineer generally can produce much better ideas and solutions than those who works alone. As a future engineer, I realize it is critical to learn to listen to others suggestions and ideas as it will allow me to come out great solutions. This is what the project work meant to be. It is about good teamwork.
However, all the above are outside factors. The deciding factor is taking action. A dream will always be dream if you don’t start doing anything, so engineers must be determined also. I believe that our good education system will make our engineers grow stronger and face all the future challenges calmly.
Today systematical and critical thinking and engineers are related very closely and it is the major objective in engineering training. This skill is not possibly to be mastered within days or months, while takes years, even half of the person’s life. University is the critical period in helping engineers to develop this essential skill. From fundamental knowledge to higher levels, the engineering course helps students to walk along the right track. With the guidance of professors, teachers and helps from friends, young engineers are able to build up this skill gradually. The syllabus is reviewed every year to follow up the fast changing economy. Professional computing languages like C++ and Java are compulsory modules in engineering course today to make sure engineers are able to organize information precisely and efficiently. Students are no longer asked to solve questions blindly. Instead, young engineers are going to look at the problems in various aspects and analyze them carefully and thoroughly. They are more focused on the way of detecting and solving problems other than solutions only.
A successful engineer should not only know how to solve problems but also communicate and cooperate with others. These soft skills are very important when they work in the industry. A well rounded engineer generally can produce much better ideas and solutions than those who works alone. As a future engineer, I realize it is critical to learn to listen to others suggestions and ideas as it will allow me to come out great solutions. This is what the project work meant to be. It is about good teamwork.
However, all the above are outside factors. The deciding factor is taking action. A dream will always be dream if you don’t start doing anything, so engineers must be determined also. I believe that our good education system will make our engineers grow stronger and face all the future challenges calmly.
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