missing out a half-time post this year means that i have a lot of stuff to write about, so lets get into the deep end of it.

in chronological fashion too, to the best of my ability.

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started off the year with an internship at a semiconductor plant.

pretty large organization, ~2000 individuals in singapore alone, with multiple plants in china, taiwan, us and so on.

by and far, i have to admit that it was actually quite enjoyable for that 5-6 months.

did a gamut of stuff, from investigating root cause of failure in chips from the production line, to identifying unknown compounds/substances (also, the banal aspect of writing closure reports) and those meetings with different departments too. while i got to admit that i felt like a deer caught in the headlights, nevertheless it was an experience to be had.

oh and did i mention that the amount of acid that i've handled during this six month is infinitely greater than the total amount that i've handled in campus labs? safety is job number #2315348 when i'm dealing with HF, H2SO4, aqua regia, aqua coria with just latex gloves and my ESD suit. suits me pretty well; i enjoy messing around with them.

accidentally splashed a drop of aqua regia on my wrist several weeks into the internship, man did it left a small red mark for several weeks before recovering. that said, my bad for not fully covering my hands (and also because the ESD suit was a bit too small for me but oh well).

ah and also, handling of a wide range of equipments; EDX, SEM, ion milling, laser microscopes, x-ray machines (without a dosimeter too, no less - yep in the industry, safety is a buzzword until an accident happens ha), sputter coating, sawing, etc etc. man, touching and using $0.5m++ equipments daily is so gratifying for some unknown reason.

going to the production line is like being warped to another dimension; you only hear the humming of the machines (hundreds of them in a room), and the occasional footsteps.

office politics was present, but fortunately i manage to skirt and dance my way around it neutrally. goes to show that it pays to be diplomatic; i got to admit, food diplomacy works very well when you're attempting to navigate and integrate into the department.

boss was pretty chill and down to earth, so were the associate engineers too. picked up tons of tricks and tricks from them.

and the amount of good food near the plant is impressive (that said tampines is pretty much at the bottom of the barrel largely because i'm bored of most food here, so i guess i've low expectations).

only real downer is having to wake up at 5 in the morning on a daily basis and reaching home at 7+ (essentially leave home before daybreak and reach home when its all dark), and sometimes having to stay beyond office hours to mop up any remaining reports or case requests, but i didn't felt that time was draggy for the most part; on the contrary i personally lament on how times passes so quickly when you've stuff to clear or learn.

had a job offer from them several months later in september, but i think i'll hold out for now; would like to see other industries relevant to chem eng before committing especially since the semiconductor industry in singapore is unfortunately a sunset industry.

in any case, thanks for having me; it was an honour working, and learning in there.

i enjoyed it.

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concurrently with the internship, an evening friday date (read: module) in NUS on project engineering.

(i suspect if i write the module code, it's going to get hits from random people googling to see how the module is like, but here you go - CN5191).

done by a visting professor from a well-established engineering design firm, in conjunction with one prof in the dept.

i liked the module; content is realistic (i.e. practical, applicable to irl contexts). however, it is taxing in part due to the sheer amount of pre-requisite knowledge required; here's a non-exhaustive list - PFD, PNID, HAZID, HAZOP, SLD, plot plan, pre-commissioning phase/cold commissioning, hot commissioning, roles and duties/obligations of project managers, safety, project engineers, mech engine, civil engine, X engine(where X denotes engineering spec), ITB, technical reviews, bidding phases (who does what, what happens at each part, criteria for winning bids etc, grading (the civil engine type, not your academic one) CPM, PERT chart, lead/lag/float ... and this list goes on and on, and i'm spouting acronyms like nobody's business. if CN3135 was practical (which it was to me), this ratchets it up to 11.

i had to read up on textbooks on plant commissioning and other year 4 modules to make more sense of it. the visiting prof humor is a tad dry but i couldn't really care much on a friday night (the thought that people are partying when i'm listening to a lecture is a tad mortifying, but still no fucks given).

in terms of the work done, the two quizzes were cutthroat (as per the norm in a class of ~80-100), with a nice little twist - negative marking; you get penalized for half the total marks of the question answered wrongly. in cases like this, the winning move is not to move at all; don't guess when in doubt.

oh and did i mention that the answer scheme is nothing short of diabolical too? for one of the questions it was a true(A)/false(B) type of answer, the next question, it is also true/false, but in the form of false(A)/true(B). i can only wonder if the prof is trying to pull a fast one; he certainly gave a smile when i asked him that.

and the other component being the project, was also pretty insane in part due to insane (i.e. dedicated group members + leader) people who are hellbent on wrecking any form of opposition with a 300-page report with 30 full A3 drawings vis-a-vis the typical ~100 page reports.

i am thankful for knowing such insane people; it was fun working with them.

i suspect if its the same duo teaching the module again next time, they might be mistaken in believing that a 300+30 page report might be the norm, and that would be painfully funny to witness.

my apologies for those attempting to take this module this coming semester, and the near future!

(a+ for this module)

(also, i think i've accidentally written a module review which i'm not particularly fond of doing so)
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also, mopped up UROP as well.

while i was unable to definitively establish the variables that affects undercooling, but at least i've managed to eliminate variable density and heat capacity as possible factors.

if i've to do a stab in the dark, my guess is the nucleation sites and how they're oriented which could affect cooling rates.

but i guess that's a story for the next individual attempting this UROP.

its been a nice year learning fluent.

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spent the june holidays on reservist, and going back to learn hysys and doing fyp.

having the entire comp lab to yourself from morning till night is really nice i gotta admit.

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cleared grade 4 piano.

whoops, i screwed up quite badly on the sight reading part but nevertheless still managed to pass.

in all honesty though, i didn't quite get the feel of all three pieces but i still manage to do decently enough.

onwards to grade 5 i guess, on time on target.

at least at this level more of the classical pieces are starting to appear such as mozart (viennese sonatina in c allegro), along with more jazz-style piano pieces.

but all them pedalling (legato or otherwise) is going to test my hand leg coordination pretty rough.

its going to be a blast mastering them.

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with that, semester 7 (or semester 1, 2015/2016).

can't shake off that "its all going to be over that quickly by next year/i'm no longer a student soon" feeling when i'm in campus.

had an unnaturally relaxed semester with a three-day school week through some planning.

of course, most of that relax time is channeled towards FYP, or to the TE project (CN4238R,surprise another a+), or lab (CN3109) or HR2002 (group project/readings).

gotta admit, this semester has been a good run for me.

never would had thought i'll be going into extra time fighting to push for letter grades even at this juncture.

all of which would be pointless once i get a job.

well, i am grateful for even having the chance to do so, and i sure as hell will die trying if i have to.

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sometimes when i'm in the comp lab, i do overhear others who're discussing about their future prospects, or what they've already applied to.

i gotta admire them, they've already made some serious strides towards it already, with some awaiting interviews or have just completed them.

me? i only had one thus far, and i'm not going to pin up too much hope that they'll want me to do a second round thereafter.

had that sneaky suspicion that i messed up the interview somewhat.

attended like two networking(codeword for complete waste of time) sessions for the entire semester. maybe i don't value small talk that much i guess.


best of all, i feel that i have an equal inclination to engineering jobs and non-engineering jobs too (mainly MFA) so in that sense i'm ambivalent to what job i want to take since i think i'll be able to cultivate the passion for it in due course.

and also pick up invaluable skillsets too.

i hope their job hunting process goes smoothly.

(and so too for me, next year is already touted to be a crappy time for graduate jobseekers, and ignoring the issue of underemployment too).

if i've to go overseas (preferably japan) i guess i'll be open to that option.

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on the topics of jobs, when i talk to some in campus, they don't seem to be afraid of not being able to land a job (of their choice or otherwise).

their reason? because they have a degree from a local university.

or that the department is ranked fifth in the world (or is it? don't really follow them much).

to which i say this -

it is not the degree that defines you, but your personal character and attitude that does.

ranking and reputation all amount to nothing, when you dont have the necessary skillset or ability to back it up.

besides, you dont really need a degree to do a good job on something.

what one needs, is mastery and expertise obtained after years, or even decades of practice.

a shame that current society places such an inordinate emphasis on a piece of scroll, but i'm not at liberty to dictate what is right or wrong for society.

(ah and also how pay is tagged to degree scrolls, another bone of contention for most people too)

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usually at this time of the year i'll be reading some notes for next semester (one last TE), but unfortunately with FYP it means i'll be going into overdrive writing pages and pages of stuff until mid january.

thank god for no page limits.

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my grandmother's health has been in a wild, wild ride from the second half of this year.

in essense, it went along the lines of home --> ICU (~2 weeks) --> general ward --> home -->general ward --> rehab (for over a month) --> home --> general ward -->; home.

respiratory problems (water in lungs).

at least she's alright now, but at age 84, i got a feeling that this is merely a precursor for something worse down the line.

i hope she'll remain healthy for as long as she can.

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so, back to the original question that i've posed to myself when i first entered university.

what do i want to do with myself?

even now i don't think i can definitively answer it, which is a pity.

lets see if the toughest semester of all can knock some sense into me.

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apart from expecting the worst, i also find that it is also good to not overthink on several matters too.

not like it is going to change the outcome of that event now, does it?

those time spent thinking can be better channeled towards better things.

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so with that, here's to 2016 and another year of unpredictability and uncertainty!

this year is pretty much the most gamebreaking (i.e. critical) year that i'll be experiencing but i look forward to facing them.

good luck, gary!