Summary exercise in point form

In the article “Boy Genius Boyan Slat’s Giant Ocean Cleanup Machine is Real,” Schiller (2017) stated that an improvised design of the trash collecting machine would help to collect plastic trash in the Pacific Ocean.

•            The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an area of the ocean where currents concentrate the plastic we throw into the ocean.

•            Boyan Slat, who first set out a vision of his Ocean Cleanup machine in a TED talk six years ago when he was just 17, announced that he’ll begin hauling trash from the Patch in 2018.

•            Slat’s design involves massive booms that collect trash using the Pacific’s own currents.

•            The booms act as an “artificial coastline” passively catching and then concentrating debris into the centre, from where it’s offloaded to a boat that sweeps by periodically.

•            He plans to suspend the booms with large anchors that float in deeper water, so the booms shift around the ocean.

•            The anchors will be suspended on lines in four segments, each 40 feet tall and 13 feet wide.

•            They have a total surface area of 328 feet square, enough to provide plenty of drag to slow down the booms as plastic trash circulates around the “gyre”–a swirling trash vortex within the Garbage Patch.

•            Using a floating system has advantages in both cost and time.

•            The Ocean Cleanup Foundation, now numbering 65 people, will begin testing a 0.6-mile prototype, before full deployment in 2018.

•            Slat expects to collect tens of thousands of tons of debris a year, and for each device to need emptying every month.

•            The long-term plan is to recycle all the plastic collected into items like car bumpers, chairs, and eyewear.

Reported Speech

Student LS shared that he drinks bubble tea on a daily basis to satisfy his cravings. However, he claimed that as soon as his parents found out this bad habit of him, they nagged him for drinking such costly beverage. In addition, he mentioned that not only does the beverage has no nutritional value, it also increases his risk of getting diabetes due to its high sugar content. 

Upon several considerations, Student LS reflected that he should kick off this habit. Since this had been something that he had never missed out on a single day, he knew he would not be able to shake it off easily. He later discovered that he has a liking for green tea. He then decided to divert his attention to it, which has minimised his cravings for bubble tea ever since.

Formal Introduction

Dear Professor Brad,

My name is Jordon Poh Jun Hui. I am currently a year one student in Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), majoring in civil engineering. I graduated from Singapore Polytechnic with a diploma in aeronautical engineering in 2016. The main reason for the change in my course of specialisation was due to my lack of passion in the aviation industry. As I have always been obsessed with tall buildings and have had the ambition to be part of its construction process, I am confident that civil engineering is right for me.

Being a fitness enthusiast, I workout up to six times a week. Apart from hitting the gym, which I do most frequently, I enjoy casual gatherings with my close friends for a game of basketball or soccer. In addition, I developed interest in tennis recently and I am determined to become professional in this sport to represent SIT for tournaments in the coming years.

One of my strengths would be being open-minded when communicating with people. I am always open to listen to the other person’s point of view. Not only does this attitude enable me to receive opinions that I might not have thought of, it also allows me to engage in a more honest and productive conversation with the person.

My weakness would be not able to speak in English fluently. Growing up from a mandarin-speaking family, I became so comfortable in speaking Mandarin that I realised that I only got to speak English within my circle of friends. The fact that most of my friends are so used to speaking Singlish only exacerbates the problem.

By the end of this module, I hope to be able to converse fluently in English and to express myself with confidence when I speak or write.

Thank you for taking your time to read. I look forward to learning a wide range of skills and abilities from your insightful lessons.

Best Regards,

Jordon Poh
CVE1281
Group 4


Commented on Javier's blog on 20/01/19
Commented on Wei Wen's blog on 20/01/19
Commented on Lu Sheng's blog on 20/01/19

Edited on 28/01/18

Welcome

Hi there! I am Jordon and follow me on my journey as I make progress in my communication and presentation skills for my effective communication module. Comments and feedbacks are greatly appreciated. :)