Portfolio 4 - Difficulties writing in engineering classes

In Engineering classes, there are a lot of jargons, technical terms to explain in assignments. For example, in MLE 1101 module, we often need to compare the difference in certain materials and explain their usage. In doing so, I usually end up with long sentences of poor sentence structures. I feel that even though I am an engineering student, my work is judged by engineers and people who are in this field, the importance of plain English must be instilled. I hope my writing can be understand by people who are not from the engineering background. Another difficulty is how to answer the question directly and not writing so many sentences to explain a simple phrase. I hope to be able to construct my sentences properly. There should be an introduction, followed by a body text and a conclusion. I resolve the above difficulties by seeking help from my lecturer if I have any doubts with the technical terms. I also form a study group with some of my friends in MLE1101. I think there is a slight improvement because I used to take a very long time to draft my tutorial assignment, but now the situation is better. I will continue to improve by making sure I listen to the lectures and complete my tutorials on time.

Portfolio 3 - Reverse engineer the brain

Understanding how the human brain works will give engineers a better understanding to simulate its activities. Such stimulations will offer a more accurate method for testing potential biotechnology solutions to brain disorders such as neutral implants or drugs. Neurological disorders can one day be rectified by technology innovations that will allow inserting of new materials into human bodies to do the jobs of damaged or lost nerve cells.

There are already cases of applications using artificial intelligence have benefited from simulations based on brain reverse engineering. Some applications are AI algorithms used in machine vision systems in automated factories or in speech recognition. As the technology incresaes, future AI software should be able to guide devices that can enter the human body to perform medical diagnoses and treatments. Parkinson's disease is also using the technology of "neutral prostheses' in the form of cochlear implants to treat hearing loss and stimulating electrodes to treat it.

Although there are already ways to interact with the human brain and simulating it to perform tasks, there is still a long way to go to fully understand and know how to use the brain. Detailed information of the brain's secret communication code still remain to be deciphered. Moreover, it will be difficult to realise out and analyze all the complexities of the nerve cells such as signals, pathways, dynamics and feedback loops. Hence, the successful understanding of the brain activities will provide engineers a full idea on how to create more outstanding accomplishments.

Reference

http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9109.aspx retrieved 5th October 2008