Reader response Draft 2 (Edited)

In the article "Why the climate fight needs engineers", Shah (2015) suggests the need for engineering leaders with technical skills to help combat climate change in the region as cities struggles with rapid urbanisation thus becoming susceptible to climate change. Also, he agrees with Khew, Deputy President of IES, who believes the urgent demand for "sustainable engineering solutions" will help achieve an eco-friendly economy with the opportunities given to engineers to find sustainable solutions and creating a resilient infrastructure system.


I agree with the author that engineers are needed to help combat climate change. Engineers are the frontline of innovation and equipping them with much needed knowledge on sustainability and instilling leadership skills onto them to take on directives can help tackle climate change. Engineers should use their expertise to find sustainable solutions as the world looks into sustainable energy in the future. However, I feel the author can explain further in his article on how engineers can contribute their expertise socially and economically such as creating social awareness using technology and improving existing systems which can therefore be economically cost-effective.

 Firstly, Parkinson (2003) states that one area that engineers can focus on is the need for support of social change. For example, engineers can invent technologies which can bring about social awareness on climate change and twerking existing system to convey a message to the public to use eco-friendly technologies. For example, using public transport can educate the public on reducing carbon emissions on the road but public transports have to lead in terms of being eco-friendly. Engineers studied this and came up with electric-powered vehicles which does not use fossil fuels and are on the midst of introducing electric cars on the road in the future as well. 

 Secondly, the author can explain how engineers can implement cost-effective measures by twerking existing systems. In one example, Nusca (2010) mentions how engineers in the US Pacific Northwest had successfully improved efficiency of dams in warm climate through a devised management system whereby water losses in the summer are reduced by 25% and the risk of flooding is reduced as reservoirs are filled reliably. The system enables them to “determine when to empty the reservoir for flood control in the winter” and “refill them in spring for storage”. They did not had to buy expensive add-ons to their system but just by having engineers to improve on them can be cost-effective.

 In conclusion, engineers are needed to tackle climate change but I feel that their roles can be specifically explained by the author on the social and economic front. Engineers also need to take into account changing patterns in society when addressing climate change as it can turn out to be costly if not prudent in their assessment. Nonetheless, the engineering sector have contributed significantly to the economy and will certainly be needed to help create an eco-friendly economy in the future through sustainable solutions as it seeks to gain an edge against climate change.

 (495 words)

Reference
By Vaidehi Shah (8 June 2015) Eco-business, Why the climate fight needs engineers. Retrieved from http://www.eco-business.com/news/why-the-climate-fight-needs-engineers/
By Dr Stuart Parkinson (12 ^September 2003) Scientists for global responsibility, tackling climate change – the role of the engineer. Retrieved from http://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/tackling-climate-change-role-engineer
By Andrew Nusca (Jan 28, 2010) With new technique, engineers prepare Pacific Northwest dams for climate change. Retrieved from  http://www.zdnet.com/article/with-new-technique-engineers-prepare-pacific-northwest-dams-for-climate-change/

Summary Draft 2


In the article "Why the climate fight needs engineers", Shah (2015) suggests the need for engineering leaders with technical skills to help combat climate change in the region as cities struggles with rapid urbanisation thus becoming susceptible to climate change. Also, he agrees with Khew, Deputy President of IES, who believes the urgent demand for "sustainable engineering solutions" will help achieve an eco-friendly economy with the opportunities given to engineers to find sustainable solutions and creating a resilient infrastructure system.


Edited (17/10/15)

The Importance of English for Me


English has been inculcated in Singaporeans since young and play a pivotal role in our society. I started learning English since young and even though my parents aren’t English speakers, I still value the importance of English for my future especially in future job prospects. In secondary school, we learn English through composition and functional writing but for me, I found writing summaries as the most important element in appreciating the English language.

Summary writing requires one to understand the passage and condense their understanding of the passage in a short paragraph. Topics can range from stories to historical piece. Whatever the topics are, we can learn them through summarising them. In order to do so, your English needs to be good.

Considering I am pursuing an engineering major, I found English to be of great importance in defining scientific or mathematical terms for instances, mass and vectors. These are important as engineers need to know their definition. For example, mass is not weight as weight is based on gravitational pull on the object or the example of velocity where in definition is the negative or positive displacement of a moving object in comparison to speed.

English can also help me in the future when working in groups. As said before, many engineering terms are in English and when cooperating with potentially different nationalities, it is important to speak good English so that projects can be done correctly and quickly. Lastly, the last thing we want is people misinterpreting each other especially in finishing a deadline project.

(Edited on 17/09/15)