burning issue on "robotic surgery" by yi jing

During the roundtable discussion, there was an issue about whether robotic surgery should be carried out in Singapore. Regarding to this topic, the discussion group focused on three points which were safety, reliability and cost.
Firstly, the safety and reliability were the first doubts. As we know, during operation, there will be kinds of emergencies. The robot whether can efficiently and accurately handle these situations was questioned. In order to reduce the worry, engineers not only provided plenty of data to prove how successful the robotic surgery is in western countries; they also explain details as many as possible. For example, the robotic system will be inspected before and after every surgery; and a surgeon will stand by to control the robot using a computer, in case the system suddenly has problem, the surgeon could take over the rest of surgery. Although engineers and doctors have showed their profession as much as possible, the public still cannot completely accept this technology. In my opinion, the most difficult thing is not to improve the technology to further, but to let the public be confident in the robotic surgery.

Due to costly development, operation fee must be much higher than traditional surgery. The public whether can afford such high fee? Regarding to this, the discussion group provided solutions that government is able to support partial fee on this surgery, however, we need to ask it is feasible? If government agree to pay partial fee for the public, who need to pay those surgeries and engineers? Is government or hospital? We must understand government is not able to compensate everything for public. If hospital will pay for these salaries, that expense will be huge expensive to hospital. Then in order to balance the income and expense, the operation fee is bound to be added onto patient. Hence, the costly operation fee is realistic. Only solve this problem, the robotic surgery is able to be widely applied.

In conclusion, if Singapore decides to use robotic surgery, the first and the most important thing are to relieve fear and solve the financial problem for the public. only these two main problems are solved, there is possible to widely carry on this technology.

Buring issue on robotic surgery by M.K.Z.L

Robotic surgery is one of the most advanced technologies in medical field due to its accuracy and efficiency. In Singapore, the public is still concern about the safety and reliability of robotic surgery and whether it should be carried out in surgeries or not has not determined yet. In roundtable discussions, an issue on robotic surgery concerned with safety and reliability features, cost effects was discussed among a doctor, engineer and the public.

In the discussion, the public mentioned about how important the safety and reliability of robots. As surgeries are concerned with human lives, no mistakes or technical errors are allowed. For example, there is a technical error during a surgery, how would the operation go on? The doctor said that there will be a surgeon who will control the operation of robots and also an engineer for technical support. Moreover, there will also be traditional operation equipment for back up if any accident happens. So, robotic surgery will be an operation with fully safety features.

Then, the public came up with an issue regarding to the cost of operation. This kind of surgery is only afforded by well-developed countries and as for third world countries; cost factor is really a big barrier to public. Even in Singapore, a developed country, low income families and senior citizens will be worried about the cost of surgery if they need to go for it unless there is a subsidized by the government. The public will still prefer the traditional method of operation as it is cheaper and more reliable compared to that of robotic surgery.

Regarding to two cases above, in my opinion, I think that the idea of having a well-trained surgeon who will control the performance of surgery in the operation theatre is good. However, the fact that the engineer must also be present there is not very convenient as the hospital not only has to invest on those robots but also on engineers .Moreover, improvements on the features of safety so that it will become more reliable to public. Concerned with cost factor, it is worth to pay for it if this kind of surgery is really efficient and benefits to the patients. Subsidized plans and loan plans should also be introduced to those who are not affordable to go for this surgery.

There are a number of successful stories on robotic surgeries in western countries. This surgery is in fact a great improvement in medical field as it can blood loss, provide more accuracy and save time. Further research and modification on the current robotic surgery system should give a solution to the public concern on safety features. With improvements on the system, robotic surgery has a bright way ahead.

(M.K.Z.L)

Burning issue on "Robotic Surgery" (By M.Y.)

Robotic surgery has caused a lot of discussions in terms of safety and reliability of the system. Whether should it be carry out in Singapore has also become an issue to be discussed. During the round table discussion, the role of the public was worried about their own safety. The public feels unsafe by having robots to operate on them, having a computer to determine their life and death. The doctor rebuttal by saying that there will be a surgeon available in the operation theatre to control the robot using a computer. This will ensure that the robots will not do the operation on their own but with the help of the surgeon. Traditional tools will also be there as backup in case of robots not in the right condition, the surgeon will take over the job by themselves.

I personally feel that the use of robots is a good invention for operations. According to what we have mentioned in the discussion, robotic surgery has many successful cases overseas. Given the accurate precision, lesser blood loss and shorter hospital stays, the use of medical robots can indeed be of great help to humans. The reason why public will feel uncomfortable is because that they are unfamiliar with this new system. They will need time to adapt to new things, especially this concerns their safety. The surgeons will be well-trained before they can operate the robots. This will ensure their professionalism on this system.

The next burning issue discussed is regarding the cost of the operation and the affordability of third world countries. Firstly, the public feels that not many people will likely be able to afford the surgery as each surgery is very expensive compared to the traditional ones. This concern is relevant as we also feel that low income families and senior citizens might not be able to afford the surgery. The above issue was solved by suggesting that the government will likely be subsidizing the low income families and senior citizens.

To conclude, robotic surgery stills remain as fear to the public. If singapore really wants to have robotic surgery, more research have to be done to convince the public on the safety of the use robots so as to gain the public's confidence to rely on the robots for operations.

Burning issue on "Psychology in engineering design" by Alwin

No one had ever thought of having psychology integrated within engineering design from decades ago. However, due to competitive markets among the companies and high demands from consumers, engineers have to design a product as user friendly as possible for the consumers and outbid their opponent companies. In order to reduce unnecessary factors that may harm both the engineers and consumers, psychology is hereby applied to aid. This is one of the roundtable discussions for this semester for EG1471.

During the discussion, there are some objections from the students for implementing psychology into engineering design process. Factor such as psychologists do not oppose the knowledge of what an engineer has which may lead to several arguments or delay of releasing a product.

However, in my opinions, there are several advantages for having psychologists. Psychologists are able to assist the company to find the most suitable applicants for the respective positions. As such, the engineers are able to achieve better performance base on their capabilities on the project. In addition, psychologist’s analysis, such as marketing survey with prototype, is able to assist the engineers to improve the safety of the products and reduce the problems found between the human and machine.

To conclude, in every successful industry, psychology plays an important role, which helps to enhance one company’s reputation by providing good products.

Review "Engineering: Worldwide ebb" by yi jing

It shows that humans consume resources equivalent to more than half production achieved by all the plants and other primary products on earth. Melanie Moses thought that humanity’s greatest challenge is how to reduce the demand for energy in increasingly complex, networked and energy-dependent societies. The article mentioned that it is crucial to need to detailed understanding structure of networks we have created, how networks change as they grow, and how networks constrain individual behavior.

Firstly, a question of size is introduced. Based on the Metabolic Theory of Ecology (MTE) which offers a way to understand the dynamics of flow through networks, a group of biologist and physicists experiment and compare between elephant and mouse. They figured out that the larger the animal, the longer its cardiovascular system takes to deliver resources to its cells, as a result that elephant grows systematically more slowly than a mouse, with a slower heart rate, a lower reproductive rate and a longer lifespan. Likewise, the rate at which a system processes energy drives much of its broad-scale behavior, whether that system is an organism, society or technology.

Secondly, a common trend mentions that decline in fertility rates that occurs with economic development. As societies consume more energy, people become wealthier but they also have fewer children. In addition, the proportion of energy available for reproduction declines. The same as the infrastructure grows, we get more out of it, but we must invest proportionally more into it.

The last, crucial messages are issued that human societies are complex systems that persist by consuming energy, but energy consumption cannot be lessened simply by reducing individual demand; and centralized networks, in which resources flow from a central place out to scattered destinations, deliver energy less efficiently when they transport goods over longer distances. These issues point out the importance of the efficiency drive. It mentions that it is better to increase in size more efficiently than purely centralized ones.

The Writing Process

Writing a good piece of essay is not easy. It involves a number of preparation steps. The very first step is brainstorming before getting down to detailed planning. Many possible solutions to the problem that the essay question poses have to be thought out carefully. In this way, a clearer overview of the topic can be obtained before the best possible way to tackle the problem should be decided. If the scope of the essay is too broad, it should be narrowed down to give a more concise argument in the essay. The scope chosen should be defined clearly in the beginning parts of the essay.
After brainstorming the essay, the arguments to be presented have to be outlined so that the final essay will be more organised. This planning process is called drafting. It can be done by sketching out each paragraph of the essay by noting the topic sentence of each paragraph and some concrete examples to back up. In this step, references to various available sources have to be made. These relevant references have to be recorded. Some long and unnecessary references will have to be paraphrased. Paraphrasing means rewriting the statements using different words in a simpler form that makes the original meaning clearer.
After getting the content of the essay, the actual writing can begin. If more ideas come up along the way, the draft should be looked at again to decide where to fit the new arguments in. During writing the essay, in-text citations should be mentioned too whenever the argument is someone else’s idea or work. There are many different style of referencing. More popular ones nowadays are either MLA or APA style. After completing the essay, the grammatical error should be checked. If necessary, the essay can be proofread by a tutor or a friend. The overall coherence of the essay is crucial too. Edit the essay after receiving comments and feedbacks from readers.
In my opinion, a good piece of essay is the fruit of good planning and research. If thorough research and drafting is done, a good essay will be certain.

M.K.Z.L

Commentary on Engineering: Worldwide ebb, by Melanie Moses (Commented by M.Y.)

Humans are consuming more and more resources in the world. According to the article (Mosses, 2009), humans consume resources more than half the production achieved by all the plants and other primary producers on Earth. In order to reduce the demand of energy in increasing complex, energy-dependent societies, it is crucial to understand the structure of the networks, how networks change as they grow and how networks constrain individual behaviour.


This essay is divided into three sub sections. The first is a question of size. This section involves The Metabolic Theory of Ecology (MTE), offers understanding the dynamics of flow through networks. According to research, biologists found that the life history of an animal is determined by the geometric and dynamic properties of the cardiovascular network that controls its metabolism. This means that the larger the animal, the longer the cardiovascular syatem takes to deliver the resources to the cells. This is shown through an example with an elephant that grows systematically more slowly than a mouse, having a slower heart rate, a lower productive rate and a longer lifespan. From here, we can see that the rate at which the system processes energy drives much of its broad-scale behaviour, whether that the system ia an organism, society or technology.


The next section is on common trend. This is the decline of fertility rate that occurs with economic development. In this essay, the writer mention that as societies consume more energy, people become wealthier but they also have fewer children. However, the MTE states that the decline in fertility rate with increased energy consumption is identical to the decline in fertility rate with increased metabolism in others mammals. This means that people still consumed as much energy even though the fertility rate is decreasing. This is further illustrated in mammals. In mammals, the proportion of energy available for reproduction declines as animals get bigger. In the near future, there might be no more energy left for the next generation. It is therefore important to invest proportionally so that there will be enough in the next generation.


The final section is efficiently drive. In this section, the writer is trying to say that energy consumption cannot be lessened by reducing individual demand. Any one person's consumption is affected by structures at higher levels. The writer explains that energy is used to fertilize, harvest and transport food. This means that more energy is used for other purposes than we obtain from eating it. Therefore, better network designs are important to ensure that transportation networks, technologies and economics of the future ives far better returns. Some solutions are mentioned in this article such as traffic and oil consumption can be reduced as cities expand, as long as multiple recreational and commercial centres are places near residential areas.


In order to plan for the future, we need to understand how social and infrastructure networks constrain individual behaviour, and structure cities and societies in ways that increase innovation inducing interactions but reducing transport and travel distances. In this way, chances of increasing population without decimating resourses available to future generations.



Retrieved from: Moses, M. (2009, February 5). Engineering: Worldwide ebb. Nature, 457, 660-661. doi:10.1038/457660a

News Feature on Opinion Leaders and Mavens in the Diffusion of Electric Cars By Alwin

During the early ninety’s, General Motors had created a prototype battery powered automobile in respond to California and Arizona state governments’ mandate. The governments required all automobile companies to have a minimum of ten percent of the total sales to be non-polluting cars. By doing so, the governments hope to decrease the smog levels in the major cities such as Los Angeles and Phoenix.

GM spent $2 billion on Research and Development and market for this new innovative technology. However, the sleek, lightweight, silent and yet powerful automobile, known as IMPACT, came with a poor battery life, which was limited to a range of 100 miles. The vehicle took approximately three to four hours for a full charged via a 220-volt electrical outlet.
GM marketing executives, with the aided by expert diffusion scholars, came out a marketing campaign to both cities when 150 prototype IMPACT were produced. With an overwhelming responds, only several hundreds of respondents, who were selected through questionnaire, to have a 30 minutes test-drive of the IMPACT.

GM marketing experts called these respondents mavens, who posses a high level of interest and expertise over specific products. Each maven was allowed to spend 30 minutes to ask questions with a GM automobile engineer after their test drives. After debriefed by the GM market researchers, the mavens are given an eight by ten inch color photograph and fifty two by three inch photograph of the IMPACT. The purpose was to promote IMPACT by using the word of mouth diffusion technique. The plan was a successful one.

However, due to the poor name of the automobile, the marketing experts changed the name to EV-1. Although EV-1 was quiet restricted due to the limitation of the mileage, many mavens are still keen to purchase this non-polluting, low cost of electricity automobile. But the interest of the consumers faded quickly over electric powered vehicles when other automobile companies beginning to market “hybrid” gas and electric powered vehicles.

After paying a huge lost, General Motors learned their lessons and put into another innovation works, an on-board global positioning system.

Retrieved from Rogers, E.M. (2003). Opinion Leaders and Mavens in the Diffusion of Electric Cars. In diffusion of innovations (pp. 87-89). New York: Free Press

Cretivity and Innovation by M.K.Z.L

The world is changing continuously in every hour, minute and second because of technologies. Technologies in various fields are making people's life easier and smoother. Twentieth century people cannot imagine how the life was before having electricity, transportation vehicles and good communication system. Actually engineers are the ones who create such technologies. To create new technology or product, idea which is comprised of creativity and innovation is the main concern.

Human is always demanding. As nothing is perfect in this world, people want to make this place a better place to live on. This desire drives them create innovative products that others never imagine before and amazing things happen. For example, Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright dreamt of flying over the Pacific Ocean. Their dream finally came true because of their strong desire. In their time, people might laugh if they are talking about flying or travelling by air way.. They might have a lot of failures, struggles and problems along their way of making the dreams happen. However, they proved that dreams could become reality. So demanding and dreaming play important roles in engineering.

What makes a good invention? Products can be said good inventions as long as people are willing to use it. To become more special than other products in market, the engineer or inventor needs creativity, being “street smart” and knowing what products and systems are currently available on the market. On the contrary, system integration may be considered a better idea rather than inventing a completely new product sometimes.

To conclude, let our mind be constantly irritated and dream freely. Since nothing is impossible, we do not accept the things easily and makes impossible things become possible with our new innovative ideas.

(M.K.Z.L)

commentrary on creativity and innovation By Y.J

After reading the article "'Whole-brained' education crucial for creativity", I strongly agree with Damini Kumar, National University of Ireland and Ambassador of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. Hers concept which is that breaking down barriers between arts and sciences is essential should be encouraged and made more widespread.

In my view, everyone needs to be creative whatever profession they are in, including engineering. Engineers are problem solvers, so are designers and people in various other artistic fields. In all those disciplines problem-solving needs to be creative. After that, the innovation is possible to make the life more wonderful.
Currently, great that someone is addressing the problem of the compartmentalisation between the arts and sciences. Children in schools should feel free to indulge in both the arts and the sciences. Perhaps a more integrative approach should be taken, with science being taught using a hands-on approach and children allowed to experiment even at primary school level. Children are actually the most creative people and they become less so if those skills are not taught. More whole-brained education would foster creativity right through to university level. It is possible that at the younger aged, the creativities without considering any technical thinking might be as initial ideas. After reaching the university level, the initial ideas could be achieved using the technical knowledge. In addition, the ideas could be improved more valuable and artistic. This is innovation, of course basing on the technical knowledge.

Great scientists are usually very artistic too. Just look at Einstein. He was also a very accomplished violinist.

News feature on a selected topic or issue (By M.Y.Ang)

Summary on an article titled "The Birth of the Laptop Computer at Toshiba", by E.M.Rogers

In the early years, all personal computers were desktops. Then, in 1986, Toshiba, a Japanese electronics company manufactured the first laptop computer. This innovation indeed received a great response from consumers. Main reason for the first laptop to be invented is due to the limited desk space in offices for desktops. Furthermore, Japanese professionals are compelled to take their work home, but only few have a personal computer at home.

Tetsuya Mizoguchi, a brilliant engineer from Japan, persisted on this laptop project innovation. Due to his persistence, he was highly admired by his subordinates. Therefore, in 1983, Mizoguchi visited the United States with an R&D team from Toshiba and envisioned a portable personal computer. Despite his perseverance and hardwork, the company still denies his request for the development funds and refuses to assign him experienced engineers in a R&D team.

Not discouraged, he decided to continue with his project innovation on his own. He went "underground" with Toshiba's Ome company. He diverted funds and shifted engineers to design the laptop and finally, a prototype is out. Even though it was not a smooth process, he did not give up. His hardwork paid off when he met the senior vice president of Toshiba Europe. He was keen with the product and helped him with his first sales of ten thousand laptops in fourteen months. Production of laptops slowly increased with the vice president's help and Mizoguchi was soon promoted to the Toshiba board of directors in 1996. Therefore, this remarkable success made Mizoguchi a company hero.


Reference: Rogers,E.M.(2003). The birth of the laptop computer at Toshiba. New York:Free Press.

Review on article “Opinion Leaders and Mavens in the Diffusion of Electric Cars”- By Win17

After reading the article “Opinion Leaders and Mavens in the Diffusion of Electric Cars” by E.M Rogers, I have notice how serious is our environment is going to face in the near future. The author mentioned in the article that both California and Arizona state governments have show concerns regarding about the vehicles and the pollution produce by the vehicles. In respond to this issue, General Motors is one of the automobile manufactures that come out with a prototype electric vehicle. I am amazed by the evolution of the vehicles over the past few decades. I recall from the lecture talk conducted by Assistant Professor Benjamin K. Sovacool who is discussing about the evolution of vehicles.

In his discussion, AP. Benjamin mentioned how are the technical factors and economic affect the vehicles at different times. He also mentions that electric vehicles are more popular than the gasoline powered vehicle in the past due to some advantages such as cleaner to operate, quieter and safer. But there are some factors such as batteries issues, availability of charging stations and terrain affect the likes from the consumers. Eventually, electric vehicles are replaced by gasoline-powered vehicle because gas has become cheaper than electricity and the economics factors and demands from consumers affect the end results.

But in recent years, pollution and the depletion of gasoline affects humanities and economics badly. In order to tackle with these challenges, engineers from major automobile manufacturers have been focusing on how to improve and implement technologies into the electric vehicles. However, due to the social technical factors such as technical aspects relating to cost and batteries and economics factors to advertising, insurance and monopolies, these are the reasons why automobiles manufactures choose not to have a full adopt of electric vehicles.

To sum up, different types of vehicles are created to meet the demands from the consumers at different stages. The process of vehicles evolution and technologies bring convenient to humanities for many decades but there are several factors to work on. The article also did mentions that there are overwhelming responses from consumers who wish to try on the electric vehicle when General Motors opens for members of the public to test-drive. Therefore, in the near future, we will be able to see more electric vehicles in the market.

Source:

Rogers, E.M. (2003). Opinion leaders and mavens in the diffusion of electric cars. In Diffusion of

innovations (pp.87-89). New York: Free Press.

1st Post

Bonjour~! My 1st post for EG1471