MSE Work Shadowing Day 1 !

06:47 |

Day 1

Sanraj's and Xuan Wei's experience (Week 1 batteries):

On our first day, Xuan Wei and I(Sanraj) got off on the wrong bus stop inside NTU...great. Then we had a 500 metre hike up a hill to the MSE faculty (sigh). Well, we needed it as we were not exercising a lot. Anyways, once we reached, we were greeted by many unfamiliar faces from different JCs such as JJC and NYJC which caused me to shiver a bit as I was pretty shy. Luckily, I was glad to see my fellow pioneers Rong Jieh, Jun Yang and Ying Li which brought me to a more relaxed state. Then our supervisors (who were very nice), started the briefing on what we were going to do on that day and the purpose of this work attachment. However, I still did not entirely know what was Material and School of Engineering about. Luckily, Professor Loo (also very nice) came in a explained to us what MSE was all about. It sounded really invigorating and exciting. I could not wait to get started.

Next, I met my mentor, a PhD in electrical physics, Dr Aravindan. He then showed Xuan Wei and I around the NTU campus which was immensely huge. I wonder how many times people got lost :\ ?

He then taught us more about Lithium Ion Batteries and its applications. He then asked us to prepare questions for him so that we were more prepared for day 2 which is when we get to work with the batteries itself (yay).

Jun Yang's and Ying Li's experience (Week 1 drug coating):

When we first arrived we were greeted with friendliness which made us all feel welcomed. We were first given a presentation on what material science and engineering was about, and the various benefits it brings to people today. I’ve learnt new things such as the broad scope that material science and engineering had, including things such as defense and for medical uses. Next was a safety briefing that taught us about the various hazards and risks involved when in laboratories and research facilities. It showed us that safety would always be the number one priority in the laboratory.

Our mentor showed us around the place and introduced us to the various machinery and equipment available to the researchers. We got to put on lab coats as we were shown around the place. We even tried first hand in transferring solutions using a micropipette and despite some fumbles we still made it through. Our mentor then showed us the HPLC that he was using, and explained the functions of each component of the machine.

We got to be exposed to the life of a researcher and how the job is like in reality compared to what we see in movies. The experiments may seem repetitive and time consuming but even so, it is both meaningful and interesting, as the researchers themselves get to know

more about what they are studying and how they can use their knowledge to

innovate things to aid our world.

A picture speaks a thousand words (Day 1)