Final Reflection on Learning

After an arduous 13 weeks, we’ve finally come to the end of the module. Though the journey has been tough and demanding with all the class works and assignments etc, I could safely say it has taught me many things; things not only pertaining to effective communication but also life skills like dealing with stress and managing expectations, both of mine and of others.

One of the more memorable event during the course of this module is in working on the research proposal, from the proposal brief, survey all the way to the oral presentation. Forming the ideas and content for the proposal was easy, however the challenge comes in trying to narrow down the scope and making the idea concrete and precise which took a lot of effort in thinking and discussing amongst my group. Luckily, we had other groups to evaluate and comment on our proposal which provided the means and ideas to refine our proposal and also to make it clearer and more concise when we finally handed it in. This taught me the importance of listening to opinions and feedbacks outside your working sphere as most of the time as a group we are too deep inside our ideas that so much so we are unable to see the loopholes that other people outside will see. To those of the other groups reading this, thanks for your invaluable feedbacks =).

Another lesson I learn during the course of this project is in knowing my own group members, knowing their strengths and their weaknesses and in turn giving them tasks that they are more suited to do. For Xin Ying, even though she is chinese educated and her command of the english language is not that strong, she is very meticulous in her work and being a biology student she has handled countless biodata and statistics before. Therefore, assigning her the role of compiling survey and interview results (and making sense of them) and basically almost all the administration of the team would utilize her gift to the full. Li Xian, like xinying, also had difficulties in the english language, but being an engineer she possess very good analytical and critical thinking skills, thus assigning her to do the benefits section of our proposal would be a wise choice. As for zhao chen, being a budding businessman, and possessing analytical skills, we assigned him to do the cost analysis for the team as he is suited to do the cost and risk assessment.

 

Reflection on Oral Presentation

Being naturally introverted, public speaking is not something which comes to me easily. Hence, the oral presentation component for this ES2007S module was a big challenge for me personally.

One step that was helpful in helping me prepare for the oral presentation was to write down the relevant and concise points I wanted to present and share with my audience in the short 5mins (10 mins for me actually since I handled 2 parts, namely the introduction and the closing) before creating the relevant slides and visuals. This helps in the organization of thoughts. To aid in my preparation for the presentation, I watched youtube videos of Steve Job’s keynote presentations to learn and pick up a few pointers from the master. One important video is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-ntLGOyHw4 on which I form the basis of my presentation. I prepared my presentation in such a way that there is only one main idea/theme for each part that I presented. The introduction focus is on the current entertainment climate in NUS whilst the closing focuses on convincing the audience that the ideas my team presented will work.

In my powerpoint slides, I strive to use as little words as possible so that it will be visually appealing (not cluttered) but still able to make an impact, e.g. “Awesome stress reliever!!”. I use pictures to complement words so that the audience will be able to grasp what I’m trying to explain to them (tv, music, sports) and also some of the pictures for humor purposes (the dog with the incredulous expression, guy with folded arms etc). I also use numbers and data to persuade my audience to be agreeable to my idea (the population in NUS = potential revenue example).

In terms of delivery, besides the usual nonverbal communication like straight posture, hand gestures etc, I strive to engage my audience by having them participate in a poll, and to ask them questions to bring forth my point. One mistake I found I made was that I should have emphasize and clarify the point I was making after asking Jun Wen does being in CCA make him stress, instead of jumping on to the next segment of the presentation. Other delivery skills I tried was to use words that would show enthusiasm so that I could get my audience excited about what I was about to share, words like “exciting!” “awesome!” “innovative!” for example.

The “Oh and one more thing….” when I closed was directly inspired by Steve Job’s presentation to help in building an exciting atmosphere so as to leave my audience with a memorable impression of the presentation. Though my main regret is that I got totally anxious when playing the saxophone and hence did not go as smooth as I intended it to be, but I am satisfied as it did accomplish it’s purpose in leaving a lasting and memorable experience in my audience during the presentation.

 

Evaluating Intercultural Behavior

This is my personal experience of intercultural communication and behavior during my trip to a province in western China.

Me and a friend were on a summer trip to China one holiday and was visiting a local university as part of our summer program. It was lunch time and the canteen there did not accept cash as they utilize a special card system which is only available to the local students. We met a local student who was willing to share his card with us and even offered to help us order lunch seeing that we had difficulty reading the menu (no it’s not that our chinese were bad, just that the dishes had rather fancy names). We had a meal together with our local friend and we exchanged pleasantries and introduced ourselves. It was rare to have Singaporeans in that part of China and he offered to show us around the city.

When we were done eating, the usual practice in Singapore is to go dutch and split the cost of the meal among ourselves. However, our local friend offered to pay for the meal, saying that we are his guests. Thinking that this was just out of pure courtesy, we kindly declined and said we should pay since we had only just met and were just acquaintances. Understanding that we are foreigners, our local friend explained to us that in his culture it is considered rude to reject such offers and that, being his guests, it is proper for us to accept his gestures of hospitality. The hospitality of our local friend did not just stop at paying for the meals, he paid for our transportation as we toured around the city and even bought some local snacks to bring back to our hotel.

I guess people in that culture are generally more open and generous in their givings and it is in a way how they show friendship to each other.

 

Application Letter

46 Jalan Kembangan
Singapore 419115
Tel: (65) 9105 8973
Email: julian_tay@hotmail.com

9 September 2011

Tel: (65) 6660 7213
Email: career.kinetics@stengg.com
Lim Jit Chek
Vice President, Human Resource
Singapore Technologies Kinetics Ltd (ST Kinetics)
249 Jalan Boon Lay,
Singapore 619523

Subject: Job application for Assistant Principal Research Engineer
(ref: CORP/CTO/JC2)

Dear Mr Lim,

Re: Application for position of Assistant Principal Research Engineer

I learned of the position of Assistant Principal Research Engineer at Singapore Technologies Kinetics Ltd in your advertisement on the online job advertising website www.jobscentral.com.sg, 2 September 2011, and am very interested to apply for this position. My resume is attached for your review.

I graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) with a Bachelor of Engineering in Engineering Science. Being in the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology specialization of the Engineering Science Program (ESP) has exposed me to various lab equipments and tools pertinent to this field. During the course of study I was skilled in the operations of imagining and diagnostic equipments like the FE-SEM and EDX. Furthermore, my Final Year Project was on investigating nano-fibres and I am knowledgeable with processes like electro-spinning and have even fabricated a few samples myself back in the Institute of Material Research and Engineering (IMRE) where I conducted my experiments. My work in IMRE had also opened new avenues of research into not only the tensile strength of the fabric materials but also in its flexibility and possibly electrical properties. Even though my research topic did not touch aramid, polymer and silk material in depth, I believe I would be able to pick them up quite easily as I reckon I am a fast learner.

The ESP is a rigorous 4 years program designed to educate engineers for careers at the cutting edge of research and professional work in multidisciplinary areas. As such, design projects were a major part of the curriculum. During these projects, each student is place in a team and their objective as a team is to conduct the necessary researches on a particular engineering task and to come up with designs to implement. One particular design project worth mentioning is the designing of a microfluidic mixer chip. The project involves a collaboration between students of two different specializations, each having a different role in the research project; one team was in charge of theory and design of microfluidic channels, the other in the fabrication of these microchips. These design projects have not only provided the experiences of working and researching as a team but have also helped hone and improve my interpersonal skills as I interact with my peers. Therefore, I am capable of not only working with a team of research engineers but also able to coordinate with principal investigators and researchers of research institutions that your organization engages.

Even though I may only be a fresh graduate from NUS with a Bachelor of Engineering, the experiences and rigors of the Engineering Science Program have helped groom me to be ready to engage any multidisciplinary researches in fields of both science and technology. Thus, I believe I am capable of undertaking the applied position as competent as individuals with the relevant work experience.

I humbly trust that my experiences in research projects, both working in a team setting and also in a collaboration with other researchers of different specializations, coupled with my experiences in working with nanomaterials, would prove to be an invaluable asset to your organization. I would greatly welcome the opportunity to discuss this position with you in person and would be please to make arrangements for an interview at your convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Tay Junlong Julian

Enclosed: Resume

 

JOB AD:

Singapore Technologies Kinetics Ltd

Singapore Technologies Kinetics (ST Kinetics) is the land systems arm of ST Engineering. It provides integrated systems, specialty vehicles and their related services for defence, government and commercial applications. This includes design and development, systems integration, production, operations & support and life cycle management.

Assistant Principal Research Engineer (ref: CORP/CTO/JC2)

 

Responsibilities:

• Lead, manage and research on nano-fibre development for composite applications
• Supervise research projects relating with fibre, fabrics and composites with research institutions
• Propose new research projects relating to fibre, fabrics and composites

Requirements:

• Master/ Degree in Material Science/ Chemical or Composite Engineering with at least 1 year of experience in electro-spinning, weaving, wet-laying or polymer hot-press industries
• Experience in diagnostic equipments such as FE-SEM, EDX, XRD and FTIR
• Experience in researching on aramid, polymer and silk material
• Able to initiate and propose new research projects
• Able to lead and work with a team of research engineers
• Able to coordinate with principal investigators and researchers of research institutions
• Only Singaporeans need apply

 

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

Interpersonal conflict, as the name suggests, are conflicts among individuals; and the lack of proper or effective communication may be the most common cause of these conflicts. These conflicts ranges from squabbles between couples on where to go for dinner to a misunderstanding between diplomats on foreign policies.

This example is based hypothetically using real personalities I encountered during my Army days. (when I was serving my national service, no prize for guessing which character I was):

Jude has always been a person who strives to do what is right, sometimes even pushing himself beyond his limits, earning him the nickname “garang soldier” (which means “fierce soldier” in malay) among his peers in the army. He is also responsible. However, he does takes offence in people who do not put in effort and wonders why some others do not share his same drive for excellence.

Tee Jay, on the other hand, thinks that serving national service is a downright waste of time. He would rather do just the amount that is required of him and focus his energy on other things like reading or exercising.

Commander E is just a total jerk who likes to bootlick his superiors, either to gain favors or to save his own skin. He employs double standards in that the standard of proficiency he expects of his men (the people he is in charge of), he did not apply to himself. Both Jude and Tee Jay do not like him at all.

One day Commander E asks of a favor from Jude, seeing that he is the most reliable man among most of his peers. The task was rather important to him and would place him in a good light with his superiors if done well, but earlier on, before the task was given to him, he had already taken the day off to spend time with his girlfriend who would be going overseas to study. Jude accepted to undertake the task, not because he really willingly wanted to help Commander E but because he was a little afraid of him and was also the kind of person who respected authority.

The task could not be done alone and Jude needed Tee Jay’s help for it. Tee Jay however, after learning what happened, found it really ridiculous that they are helping Commander E gain credits with his superiors while he is away enjoying himself with his girlfriend. Tee Jay initially wanted to do nothing at all, even considered sabotaging the project as a means of “getting back” at Commander E for the injustice they tolerated. However, on the account of Jude, who has been a good friend, he agreed to help out a little.

It was getting late and Tee Jay’s “little” was not good enough for Jude (or “well” enough for the superiors). Jude asked Tee Jay to “buck” up, albeit with a little anxiousness in his tone (there as a time limit to the task), more so that they could accomplish the task well. Tee Jay, on the other hand, took the signal wrongly, thinking that Jude was ungrateful and snapped back at Jude, questioning why he accepted the task at the first place and calling him “garang soldier” in a rather derogatory way. Jude never liked the nickname “garang soldier” and would never admit that he accept the task out of fear and scolded Tee Jay for always being so sloppy in his work. Tee Jay, however, rebutted and reminded him who they are doing this for and why they are doing the task for this person. This caused an awkward silence between the two friend because both of them dislike Commander E.

If you were a fellow platoon mate with Jude and Tee Jay, how would you reconcile both of them?

 

Effective communication skills…why is it so important?

Human beings are social creatures, with communication between individuals an essential way to not only convey ideas and information but more importantly, to build relationships. I was told that even in the workplace in order to be competent, 50% of the effort goes to building relationships – with superiors, co-workers, clients etc. whereas the remaining 50% is the actual skills and knowledge that you have. However, with the rise of technology and improvement of communicating devices (phones, smses and internet messenger), we, ironically, do not get that much practice communicating with one another on an interpersonal level. Information flow now is much faster then before but less effective because communication involves not only words but also body language, reading emotions and active listening, all of which are much harder over the phones or emails. Even worse, sometimes miscommunication happens when intended meaning is read wrongly and that would cause unnecessary troubles.

I had my fair share of miscommunications which led to plenty of awkward moments and soured relationships. Thus, I find rather important to have effective communication skills for one to deliver ideas across to a target audience accurately as we know, in this day and age where the pace of life moves so fast, one wrong or unintended idea could cause a loss of a potential client or an error in an agreement.

As someone who may be working in the technological field, I find topics offered in ES2007S like “Proposal writings” and “Building Interpersonal Communication Skills” to be particularly useful. Proposals are important in the technological field to clinch grants needed to fund projects, furthermore, interpersonal communication skills will prove valuable as people in this field usually don’t work alone, making communication of ideas of utmost importance.

 

 

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