Critical Reflection

Module learning

When I learnt I had to take this module, I thought to myself that this module would be, for a lack of better words, a waste of my time. The reason I had this mindset was that I had thought engineers need not have to express themselves to other people. This mindset most definitely changed after the first class with Professor Blackstone, where I have learnt first-hand that this module would be actually beneficial to me. From in-class activities to the assignments given, I feel that my use of English has greatly improved. From not even knowing what APA referencing meant at the start to properly use it to cite my sources during my summary writing. All the skills I have learnt in this module would greatly help me with future projects and even when I am in the workforce. This module also helped with improving my presentation skills, in the previous semester when I had to give a presentation, I was speaking too quickly and thus my audience did not understand me. With the methods that were taught to me, I learnt to manage my pace and believed that I was able to present myself in front of the class at my best. The time I spent on this module and the experience I have received will carry me into the future confidently. As such, I believe I have accomplished the goals that I had set for myself, refining my use of English and to give a proper presentation in front of people. 

Project learning 

For our research project, our main struggle was to find sources that helped support our research topic. This was because our project was quite specific and we had to filter out the sources that were not related to our topic. We either had to make do with what sources we found or to keep on finding. Luckily, we were taught to use other ways of searching for articles other than Google, like OneSearch and GoogleScholar. Thus we managed to gather our sources together and put up a decent project plan in the end. Receiving peer feedback was a new experience for me as I had only been receiving feedback from my teachers until now. Seeing the comments my peers have for me really made me understand how I am seen in their eyes. It lets me reflect on myself differently and learn from my peers.

Annotated Summary

Susan M. (2018) Why Clean Laundry is Important for Elderly Adults. Staff Relief Health Care Services. Retrieved from http://www.staffrelief.ca/elderly-care-vaughan-clean-laundry-important-elderly-adults/

This article focuses on the importance of clean laundry for the elderly and how home care providers can help solve this issue. Unwashed laundry can leave people feeling strained both physically and mentally. As these fabrics get dirtier with more use, bacteria and other harmful substances may settle on these fabrics and if left unwashed, the bacteria could bring around sickness and diseases. Thus, when not washed regularly, this can negatively affect elderly health badly. When the elderly wear clothes that are unclean and give off a bad odor, they may emotionally feel negative and shut themselves off from the world, increasing their loneliness. Having tidy clothes to wear will make the elderly feel positively better. The article states that having a home care provider will be able to complete all the chores that the elderly are unable to do for themselves. These specialists will be able to periodically wash the laundry in place of the elderly and even set up a timetable for when to wash the laundry. The article highlights that having a home care provider will be able to assure the elderly to be in good shape without having to strain themselves.

This article also provides a useful platform for our research project on the improvement of laundry baskets to do laundry. While the article leans towards hiring a home care provider to complete the chores for the elderly, some of the elderly may not be able to afford to hire a home care provider and end up having to do their laundry by themselves. This is where our product would come in handy to help the elderly with the laundry. This article provided us with useful information about the situations concerning the elderly, which is a relevant aspect of our research project.

Technical Report Draft 1

Background:

Laundry baskets are a common household item used daily by people around the world. Doing laundry is a daily chore and almost everyone has done it at least once in their lives.

Ng and Fadhilah (2018) stated that the number of elderly living alone in Singapore aged 65 and above is about “47,000” in 2016 and the numbers are estimated to increase to “83,000” by 2030. A group of users who may develop lower back problems due to the current designs of the laundry baskets is the elderly. In the case of the United States of America, about 80 percent of adults will encounter lower back strain in their lives and one of the risk factors is advancing age (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 2019). To avoid lower back strain, a proper technique of lifting must be followed. According to Goins (2010), the proper technique for lifting heavy loads is for the users to bend their knees while keeping a straight back, lift the load by engaging their core instead of their lower back. However, most elderly have weak joints and do not have enough core strength to do a proper lift, leading to a much higher risk of lower back strain.

With the increasing number of elderly living alone, they struggle to do basic tasks at home such as laundry. Lifting and carrying loads of laundry is a daunting task for the elderly as they are prone to injuries such as lower back strain. Rabideau (2019) discusses the seven best laundry baskets that are currently in the market. The most common and popular baskets are made out of plastic due to it being “durable, lightweight and often cheaper than woven alternatives”. The typical laundry basket designs are very similar, being handheld and having a height of around 35 cm. This requires the user to bend down to pick up clothes inside the basket. Moving the laundry basket can also prove to be a challenge as a laundry basket filled with dry clothes can weigh up to 8kg, and wet clothes may weigh up to twice as much (RepairAid, 2017). 

The current laundry basket designs are not optimal for the elderly and must be changed to reduce the risk of lower back strain. In light of this situation, an ideal home laundry basket will have a lifting mechanism for adjustment of height and also wheels for maneuverability.

Problem Statement:

The current problem for a typical laundry basket is its height and lack of maneuverability. When doing laundry, users will have to bend down to pick up clothes and lift the full weight of the basket if they want to move it to a higher position. The new laundry basket design includes a pneumatic lifting system that allows users to adjust its height and a base plate with 5 wheels attached at the bottom for easy maneuverability.

Purpose statement:

This report proposes that IKEA incorporates our improved laundry basket design that has a pneumatic lifting system and roller wheels attached at the base which allows adjustment of height and ease of movement into their current catalogue.

Proposed design:

The typical laundry basket designs have a height of around 35 cm and lack wheels. 

Implementing a pneumatic lifting mechanism on a base plate and attaching wheels at the bottom of the plate will produce an ideal basket for the elderly with its two new features of adjustable height and easy maneuverability.

Base Plate and Legs:

The basket will be fixed onto the top of the base plate and a gas cylinder will be attached to the middle of the bottom of the base plate.

The bottom of the gas cylinder will be inserted into the hole in the middle of the legs and the wheels will be attached on each end of the legs. The shape of the legs is for the balance of the whole basket as the 5 legs equally take up the load of the laundry. 

Pneumatic Lifting Mechanism:

The first proposed improvement to the basket is a pneumatic lifting mechanism, which allows the height to be adjustable. With the pneumatic lifting mechanism installed, the elderly will only need to tap a lever to increase the height of the basket which allows them to comfortably remove clothes. 

The pneumatic lifting mechanism consists of a base for the basket to be placed upon and a gas cylinder that is able to extend or retract due to pneumatic principles and also a lever that controls the locking of the piston. The main components that contribute to the function of a gas cylinder are the piston, cylinder and gas seals. 

Pneumatic cylinders or sometimes referred to as a gas spring is a cylinder filled with air and enclosed with a piston within. A lever will then control the locking of the piston. When the lever is activated, pushing the piston will cause the air to be compressed, raising the internal pressure within the enclosed cylinder. When the lever is activated again and there is no force acting on the piston, the internal pressure within the cylinder will push the piston outwards of the cylinder. This movement of the piston allows the basket to adjust its height according to the user's actions.

Wheels:  

The second proposed improvement to the laundry basket is to install 5 wheels that would be screwed into the legs via screws. The wheel is attached to a swivel caster which ensures rotation of 360 degrees while under load. Each wheel has an allowable load of 40kg and combined they have a total allowable load of 200kgf. A braking mechanism can also be found on the wheel which restricts all movement and stops the product from moving freely. This will keep the load evenly distributed between the wheels preventing the load from tipping over. With the wheels mounted, the elderly would be able to move the laundry basket from point to point with ease. 

Wheel Diameter: 40mm

Mass: 60g

Type: Screw-in type

Wheel width: 41.5mm

Allowable load: 40kgf       

Benefits:

The additional features added onto the laundry basket will greatly decrease the risk of elderly injuring themselves when doing laundry. The pneumatic lifting mechanism allows the user to adjust the basket's height and roller wheels will provide ease of movement when doing laundry.

Evaluation:

The features in the new laundry basket design have many benefits due to its adjustable height and easy maneuverability. However, there are two limitations due to the design.

The first limitation is the cost, the components of the new laundry basket design greatly increase the price of the basket. The new laundry basket will require a basket, base plate, pneumatic cylinder, legs, and wheels. Most of these components can actually be obtained from computer chairs. The price of a typical computer chair is around $34 (Lazada, 2020). Estimating the components from the chair needed, the price of the required components will be around three-quarters of the full computer chair price which is $25.50. Adding on a good quality basket from IKEA which is around $10 (Ikea, 2020), the total estimated price of the new laundry basket will be $35.50. A typical laundry basket from Ikea is around $10 to $30 and comparing this price to the new laundry basket, the difference is $5.50 to $25.50. 

The second limitation is that most elderly in Singapore have a stubborn mindset when it comes to their belongings. Usually, they will not be willing to try newly designed products and also will not throw away their old products easily. Convincing the elderly to purchase the new laundry basket will be challenging as they have a usable one at home. The elderly that are living alone will not have anyone to discuss whether the new laundry basket will be useful and worth buying.

With the increasing rate of elderly living alone in Singapore, it is very important to ensure that they do not injure themselves while doing simple tasks at home as there is no one there to aid them.

Methodology:

Both Primary and Secondary research sources were used to reference information related to our report for its completion. 

Primary Research

The team measured the weight of the typical laundry basket at maximum capacity. Primary research was done on the price of the laundry basket, and the price of the computer chair which gave us an estimate of how much the new laundry basket design will cost.  

Secondary Research

To come out with possible modifications to improve the existing product, the team did research on the targeted audience, weaknesses of the product. Secondary resources were used to provide evidence for our statements, such as information regarding existing laundry baskets, problems with the existing designs and features in other products that can help solve these issues. References to these sites also provided us with ideas to add to the design proposal.

Concluding Statement:

In conclusion, the new laundry basket will reduce the risk of lower back strain of the elderly by incorporating a pneumatic lifting mechanism and wheels. The pneumatic lifting mechanism will consist of a gas cylinder which allows the height of the laundry basket to be adjusted freely by the user. The wheels attached to the leg of the laundry baskets will allow the users to push the basket with little effort, bringing about easy and free maneuverability. These two features will ensure that the elderly using the basket does not have to bend down to pick up clothes or lift the laundry basket to move it, thereby reducing the likelihood of lower back strain. This new laundry basket design will ensure that the elderly are able to do laundry at home safely and without much effort. 

References:

Chang, L. (2010). How to Wreck Your Back. Retrieved and adapted from

https://www.webmd.com/back-pain/features/how-to-wreck-your-back#2

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (2014) - Lower Back Pain Fact Sheet. Retrieved and adapted from https://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/patient-caregiver-education/fact-sheets/low-back-pain-fact-sheet

Ng, D. (2018). The loneliness of old age - and an experiment to see if Instagram can be a cure. Retrieved and adapted from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/cnainsider/the-loneliness-of-old-age-and-an-experiment-to-see-if-instagram-10675658

Repair Ad (2017). Washing Machine Capacity Explained. Retrieved and adapted from

https://www.repairaid.co.uk/help/washing-machines/washing-machine-capacity-explained/

Rabideau, C. (2019). The 7 Best Laundry Baskets of 2020. Retrieved and adapted from

https://www.thespruce.com/best-laundry-baskets-4154604

Gas cylinder Concept

https://www.explainthatstuff.com/gassprings.html

Wheel specifications

https://www.monotaro.sg/p/49024071?gclid=Cj0KCQiAwP3yBRCkARIsAABGiPqrFRbYGnHcc4bALeiKQYKHXQmZHMsmrH_qu3EqGKBJTs8HYQkdgQsaAp7pEALw_wcB&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googleps&ef_id=Cj0KCQiAwP3yBRCkARIsAABGiPqrFRbYGnHcc4bALeiKQYKHXQmZHMsmrH_qu3EqGKBJTs8HYQkdgQsaAp7pEALw_wcB:G:s#

Concept of caster wheels

https://www.douglasequipment.com/casters-1/difference-casters-wheels/

Pneumatic cylinder price

https://www.chairpartsonline.com/gas-lift-cylinders/

Lazada computer chair

https://www.lazada.sg/products/office-chair-i350708811-s814280034.html?spm=a2o42.searchlist.list.113.782c7e7fs1pQYW&search=1

Ikea quality laundry basket

https://www.ikea.com/sg/en/p/torkis-flexi-laundry-basket-in-outdoor-blue-30339226/

Design Summary and Analysis Final Draft - Seabin using plastic to fight plastics

The article "Seabin using plastic to fight plastics" (2019) describes the dangers of micro fibers and micro plastics in water bodies and introduces the Seabin technology as a possible method to tackle this problem by elaborating on its functions and discussing future improvements. 

Micro plastics and micro fibers are a big issue for aquatic life as well as for humanity itself. These "organic pollutants", which measure up to 5mm in diameter, are digested by aquatic life, which in turn gets eaten by us humans. The Seabin technology functions by trapping water and filtering out the trash. The article states that with the addition of sensors implanted onto the Seabin, observations can be made on the amount of micro plastics and micro fibers lying in open waters. With further improvements made to the Seabin technology, the Seabin project aims to remove smaller particles than what they can currently do now. The Seabin technology is more popular than other methods of collecting garbage in our waters because the functions of the Seabin allows it to work at a higher efficiency at collecting garbage compared to other methods.

The Seabin operates efficiently by having the ability to collect micro plastics. The Seabin is able to remove micro plastics from the water thanks to its catch bag being able to collect trash larger than 2mm in size. The Interceptor made by Boyan Slat is a similar product made to collect trash in rivers. It works by moving “the debris onto a conveyor belt, which continuously extracts the debris from the water” (The Ocean Clean Up, 2020). While this method allows trash to be collected at a quicker rate compared to the Seabin, micro plastics are free to seep through the gap in the conveyor belt. Thus while the Interceptor is able to collect more trash, it is unable to collect micro plastics, making the Seabin a better choice since it can do so.

While not technically a feature of the Seabin, the price of the Seabin allows it to be cost-effective. When comparing the prices of the two methods, the Interceptor goes for 777,000 USD (Marchese, 2019), while the Seabin goes for 4000 USD (Hicks, 2018). The huge difference in price would probably make most customers pick the Seabin instead as it is more affordable. The Seabin is also open for purchase to anyone while the Interceptor can only be bought by a few companies. Overall looking at the two different methods, the Seabin would be a better choice due to its feature which allows micro plastics to be collected while the Interceptor does not have as it focuses more on collecting general waste in large amounts instead. Thus, while the rivers would look cleaner thanks to the Interceptor, the micro plastics would remain uncollected and eventually make its way to the ocean where marine life may digest these micro plastics, mistaking it as their food. This would end up affecting us humans as we digest these marine lives.

However, the Seabin is not efficient in some ways due to a few design flaws. One of the most noticeable flaws it has would be the amount of trash the Seabin is able to collect. According to the website “Seabin Project” (2020), the Seabin roughly captures around 3612kg each day. Comparing this to the information on the website “The Ocean Cleanup” regarding the Interceptor, it is able to extract 50000kg each day. This is a huge difference when comparing the two methods. As the Seabin focuses on collecting micro plastics, it has to be very precise in its collection and thus loses out on gathering speed, reducing the amount of trash it is able to collect. Even so, the Seabin in my regard does not lose out in terms of efficiency to the Interceptor as micro plastics are a danger to our oceans as we can hardly see these micro plastics with our naked eyes.

In conclusion, this particular feature that the Seabin has allows it to efficiently clean out our rivers as it can catch smaller sized debris that other methods do not, reducing the amount of micro plastic pollution we have.

Reference

Hicks R. (2018, Apr 11). The Seabin won’t swallow Asia’s plastic pollution problem-but it’s a start. Retrieved and adapted from

https://www.eco-business.com/news/the-seabin-wont-swallow-asias-plastic-pollution-problembut-its-a-start/

Marchese K. (2019, Oct 30). The Ocean cleanup unveils floating garbage truck that catches plastic in rivers. Retrieved and adapted from

https://www.designboom.com/technology/the-ocean-cleanup-interceptor-river-plastic-pollution-10-30-2019/

Seabin Project. (2019.) Seabin using plastic to fight plastics. Retrieved and adapted from
https://seabinproject.com/seabin-using-plastic-to-fight-plastics/

The Ocean Clean Up. (2019) River. Retrieved and adapted from

https://theoceancleanup.com/

Design Summary and Analysis Draft 2 - Seabin using plastic to fight plastics

The article "Seabin using plastic to fight plastics" (2019) describes the dangers of micro fibers and micro plastic in water bodies and introduces the Seabin technology as a possible method to tackle this problem by elaborating on its functions and discussing future improvements.
Micro plastics and micro fibers are a big issue concerning aquatic life as well as humanity itself. These "organic pollutants", which measure up to 5mm in diameter, are digested by aquatic life, which in turn gets digested by humanity. The Seabin technology functions by trapping water and filtering out the trash. The article states that with the addition of sensors implanted onto the Seabin, observations can be made on the amount of micro plastics and micro fibers lying in open waters. With further improvements done to the Seabin technology, the Seabin aims to remove smaller particles than what they can currently do now.

One of the many reasons why the Seabin technology is more popular than other methods of collecting garbage in our waters is that the functions of the Seabin allow it to work at a higher efficiency at collecting garbage compared to other methods.

One way that the Seabin operates efficiently is the ability to collect micro plastics. The Seabin is able to remove micro plastics from the water thanks to its catch bag being able to collect trash larger than 2mm in size. When compared to another method of collecting trash, the Interceptor made by Boyan Slat, which collects the trash in rivers. The Interceptor works by moving “the debris onto a conveyor belt, which continuously extracts the debris from the water” (The Ocean Clean Up, 2020). While this method allows trash to be collected at a quicker rate compared to the Seabin, micro plastics are free to seep through the conveyor belt, Overall looking at the two methods, the Seabin would be a better choice due to its feature which allows micro plastics to be collected while the Interceptor does not have as it focuses more on collecting general waste in large amounts instead. Thus, while the rivers would look cleaner thanks to the Interceptor, the micro plastics would remain uncollected and eventually make its way to the ocean where marine life may digest these micro plastics, mistaking it as their food. This would end up affecting us humans as we digest these marine lives.

However, the Seabin is not all and mighty, it does come with a few design flaws. One of the most noticeable flaws it has would be the amount of trash the Seabin is able to collect. According to the website “Seabin Project” (2020), the Seabin roughly captures around 3612kg each day. Comparing this to the information on the website “The Ocean Cleanup” regarding the Interceptor, it is able to extract 50000kg each day. This is a huge difference when comparing the two methods. As the Seabin focuses on collecting micro plastics, it has to be very precise in its collection and thus loses out on gathering speed, reducing the amount of trash it is able to collect. Even so, the Seabin in my regard does not lose out in terms of efficiency to the Interceptor as micro plastics are a danger to our oceans as we can hardly see these micro plastics with our naked eyes.

In conclusion, this particular feature that the Seabin has allows it to efficiently clean out our rivers as it can catch smaller sized debris that other methods do not, reducing the amount of marine pollution we have.

Reference

Seabin Project. (2019.) Seabin using plastic to fight plastics. Retrieved and adapted from
https://seabinproject.com/seabin-using-plastic-to-fight-plastics/

The Ocean Clean Up. (2019) River. Retrieved and adapted from

https://theoceancleanup.com/

Design Summary and Analysis Draft 1 - Seabin using plastic to fight plastics

The article "Seabin using plastic to fight plastics" (2019) describes the dangers of micro fibers and micro plastic in water bodies and introduces the Seabin technology as a possible method to tackle this problem by elaborating on its functions and discussing future improvements.

Micro plastics and micro fibers are a big issue concerning aquatic life as well as humanity itself. These "organic pollutants", which measure up to 5mm in diameter, are digested by aquatic life, which in turn gets digested by humanity. The Seabin technology functions by trapping water and filtering out the trash. The article states that with the addition of sensors implanted onto the Seabin, observations can be made on the amount of mirco plastics and micro fibers lying in open waters. With further improvements done to the Seabin Project, such trash in our open waters will be reduced drastically.

One of the many reasons why the Seabin technology is more popular than other methods of collecting garbage in the seas is that the functions of the Seabin allow it to work at a higher efficiency than other methods of cleaning our waters.

One such function of the Seabin is the feature for collecting micro plastics. The Seabin is able to remove micro plastics from water sources thanks to its catch bag being able to collect trash larger than 2mm in size. When compared to another method of collecting trash, the Interceptor made by Boyan Slat, which collects the trash in rivers, the Seabin is would be a better choice due to this feature which the Interceptor does not have as it focuses more on collecting general waste in large amounts instead. Thus, while the rivers would look cleaner thanks to the Interceptor, micro plastics would still be able to make its way to the ocean where marine life may digest these micro plastics, mistaking it as their food. This would end up affecting us humans as we digest these marine lives.

Another feature that the Seabin has compared to others is the sensors attached to its body. With these sensors installed, the Seabin can act as a “scientific monitoring tool” that gathers information on the amount of micro plastic in our waters. With this technology, the Seabin is able to keep track of this information while at the same time collecting trash from our waters. One other method that does much information collection is the manta trawl method. The manta trawl is a net system used to take in information regarding the ocean skin. The information taken in is the number of plastic pieces in the ocean along with the plankton species. However, all the manta trawl does is gather information and not the trash itself. This is where the Seabin would excel in since it is able to do both the collection of information and trash.

However, the Seabin is not all and mighty, it does come with a few design flaws. One of the most noticeable flaws it has would be the amount of trash the Seabin is able to collect. According to their homepage, the Seabin roughly captures around 3612.8kg each day. Comparing this to the Interceptor made by Boyan Slat, it is able to extract 50000kg each day. This is a huge difference when comparing the two methods. As the Seabin focuses on collecting micro plastics, it has to be very precise in its collection and thus loses out on gathering speed, reducing the amount of trash it is able to collect. Even so, the Seabin in my regard does not lose out to the Interceptor as micro plastics are a danger to our oceans as we can hardly see these with our naked eyes. One day when the Interceptor finally cleans up the ocean, what about the micro plastics it was unable to collect and everyone thinks the ocean is clean as the micro plastics cannot be seen? This is why even though the Seabin has its flaws, it is still a much needed method of clearing out the trash in our waters.

In conclusion, the Seabin is not the all mighty solution to cleaning up our waters but it will surely and eventually do so with more improvements to be made on the project.

Reference
Seabin Project. (2019.) Seabin using plastic to fight plastics. Retrieved and adapted fromhttps://seabinproject.com/seabin-using-plastic-to-fight-plastics/

The Ocean Clean Up. (2019) River. Retrieved and adapted from

https://theoceancleanup.com/
Manta Trawl (2019)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manta_trawl

Design Summary Draft 2 - Seabin using plastic to fight plastics

The article "Seabin using plastic to fight plastics" (2019) describes the dangers of micro fibers and micro plastic in water bodies and introduces the Seabin technology as a possible method to tackle this problem by elaborating on its functions and discussing future improvements.

Micro plastics and micro fibers are a big issue concerning aquatic life as well as humanity itself. These "organic pollutants", which measure up to 5mm in diameter, are digested by aquatic life, which in turn gets digested by humanity. The Seabin technology functions by trapping water and filtering out the trash. The article states that with the addition of sensors implanted onto the Seabin, observations can be made on the amount of mirco plastics and micro fibers lying in open waters. With further improvements done to the Seabin Project, such trash in our open waters will be reduced drastically.

Reference
Seabin Project. (2019.) Seabin using plastic to fight plastics. Retrieved and adapted from
https://seabinproject.com/seabin-using-plastic-to-fight-plastics/

Design Summary Draft 1 - Seabin using plastic to fight plastics

The article "Seabin using plastic to fight plastics" (2019) describes the dangers of micro fibers and micro plastic in water bodies and introduces the Seabin technology as a possible method to tackle this problem by elaborating on its functionalities and discussing future improvements.

Micro plastics and micro fibers are a big issue concerning aquatic life as well as humanity itself. These "organic pollutants", which measures up to 5mm in diameter are eaten by aquatic life which in turn gets eaten by humanity. The Seabin technology works by trapping all trash flowing through it by the filtration method. With the addition of sensors placed onto the Seabin, observations can be made on the amount of mirco plastics and micro fibers in open waters. With further improvements done to the Seabin Project, such trash in our open waters will be reduced drastically.

Reference
Seabin Project. Seabin using plastic to fight plastics. Retrieved and adapted from
https://seabinproject.com/seabin-using-plastic-to-fight-plastics/

Letter of Introduction

Subject: Self-Introduction

Dear Prof Blackstone,

I am writing this email to introduce myself as a student attending your effective communication module. My name is Chuah Sande. I am currently a year 1 student studying mechanical engineering at the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). I graduated with a diploma in mechatronics and robotics in Singapore Polytechnic.

From young, seeing giant robots on television move about had always caught my eye, and thanks to this, I am a collector of many plastic models, namely the Gundam series. Being able to assemble these robots was a childhood dream of mine, but now, that dream has evolved to the one to one scale. Thus, my dream is to build a giant robot that can move with controls. This is the reason why I choose to dive into the world of engineering.

My area of weakness in communication is that I am not an outgoing person in terms of speaking. I do not make the first move when meeting other people for the first time. It will be either the person comes to me or we do not converse at all. This is, of course, a wasted opportunity to gain more connections and is something I wish to fix deeply.

As my communication strength, I believe that once I have started to converse with another person, I would be less stiff as time goes on. I would be able to converse more actively and positively with the person.

The goal I am aiming for in this module is to be able to take the first step in speaking to another person for the first time and be able to present myself with confidence in both a casual and professional environment.

I look forward to learning more from you this semester.

Best regards,

Chuah Sande

Edited on 30/01/2020