Jovan Ng Reflections

Pre-Camp Reflections


What interest you about this project?

When I was a kid, I was constantly breaking little electronic toys around the house. Once, I broke open a remote-controlled car and saw the motor, circuit board and wires within the car. I wondered how it all worked to make car move. From then, I have had a fascination with electronics and how the wires, motors and circuit boards worked.

. What do you want to learn by doing this project?

I want to learn the parts of a circuit board and how each part when connected to a wire works.

. What questions do you have about this project?

Will there be a lot of complicated software programming involved? Or will it be a challenge in assembling the device itself?

. What do you personally want to achieve by the end of this project?


I wish to learn how to not only route wires on to the circuit borad, but also to learn how to programme a device to carry out its protocols.

Plenary Session Reflections

(A) My key learning points from each session…

1. Plenary session by Prof Kerry Sieh

Ans: Megathrust -> Causes big earthquakes and tsunamis. Islands can rise 2.5 metros in 30 seconds. Tsunami deposits creates layers are studied. Corals are used to measure uplift of islands after megathrust. Megathrust => Release of lock between between plates after hundreds of years. SuGAr => Sumatra GPS Array. Ancient corals and SuGAr helps forecast future megathrust. Corals that survive earthquakes become seismograph. Annual bands show sea levels decade before earthquakes.

2. IT for Animation by Prof Seah Hock Soon

Ans: Animation -> Stop Motion, 2D, 3D; Science & Technology -> Mathematics in Movies; Information Technology -> IT & Animation, Career in IT & Animation. Basics of Animation: Illusion of motion in displayed frame. 3D animations are cheaper than 2D animations. Geometric Modeling; Special Effects -> Calculus, Laws of Physics. Ambient lighting -> Uniformly lit surfaces; Diffuse lighting -> Shadows on surfaces; Specular lighting -> Reflections on surfaces. 2D -> Beautiful art form, skilled artists, labour intensive, budget pressure.

3. Innovative breakthroughs in Nano-Science and Nano-Technology by Prof Ma Jan

Ans: Nano Technology; Biology Technology; Electronic Technology; Defence Technology. Putting nano materials into jewelry causes light to bend differently which causes colour change in the jewelry. 1990 -> First manipulation of nano materials. High power needed to view nano. Nano technology closely related to biology technology. Moore's Law is accurate.

(B) New Questions…

New questions I have about the topic are:

1. Can the Megathrust be stopped?

2. -NIL-

3. Will nano technology be part of everyday life in future?

My Personal Reflection/Achievements:

1. Discuss how the project has deepened your understanding and broadened your awareness of the selected discipline.

Ans: From the project, it has made me understand that voltage and current both have a way for measuring them and that they both have a symbol to them. I have also learnt of the 'Ohm's Law' which can help us find the voltage by multiplying current to resistance.

2. Discuss what you understand now about this discipline that you were unaware of at the beginning.

Ans: I learnt that resisters such as the Force Sensor Resister and Light Dependent Resister not only act as resisters but also as a switch.

3. Describe how you can connect what you have learned from doing this project to what you are learning in school.

Ans: Although I am not currently learning about electricity in school, I am sure that when I do, I will be able to help my teacher coach my friends a little during lessons.

4. Describe how you can apply what you have learned from doing this project.

Ans: As I have learnt how to control the current flow in a circuit with resisters, I can help in future when an electric circuit does not work due to too high an electric current.

5. At the end of the project, some new questions I have included...


Ans: If the negative end of a power supply is able to have a higher voltage than the positive side, what would happen to the circuit? Could I use ordinary resisters to complete negate the current in an electric circuit? And if it possible, would these ordinary resisters become switches when removed and replaced with wires so that there will be a current and the circuit would be complete?

6. My aspirations


Ans: My aspirations to be a storyboard producer for a game producing company hasn't change, but I would be willing to work as an electrician in future should there be a need.