Sunday, 29 September 2019

Draft #1; Summary_Reader Response: New paths for the roads of tomorrow


In the blog post “New paths for the roads of tomorrow”, Decaux (2017) observed that developments in smart infrastructure can be applied to roads, which will further improve roads to be more “smart, connected and safer”. Decaux mentioned that roads are mainly made of asphalt, which is a costly material and encourages the formation of "heat islands during heat waves in cities". Developments have been done to create more sustainable materials which will reduce wastage and improve on the quality of roads. Materials such as "recycled plastic" helps to make roads more resilient, while cigarette butts mix with asphalt reduces the "heat island" formation. The author found that other developments include using solar panels on roads to harvest energy, using it to heat up roads during winter and lighting up the roads in the night via motion sensors. Improving on road user’s safety, and the usability of roads.

While there exist greener materials to be used in replacement of asphalt as Decaux mentioned, it is not a comprehensive comparison. The author lists the disadvantages of using asphalt, comparing that against the advantages of using the greener materials. Instead, he should have also listed the advantages of using asphalt and disadvantages of its replacement material.

Asphalt, being the current bulk material for road building, also has its upsides. Firstly, asphalt can be recycled and is one of the “most recycled material in the world”. It begins when pavements have broken down and as such has been “reprocessed” into the form known as “Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP)”. The main use of RAP is to be added back into the mixture that makes roadway structures. This has many benefits, such as improving the strength of new roads. In the online research publication “User Guidelines for Waste and Byproduct Materials in Pavement Construction”, the Federal Highway Administration (2008) states that when RAP is added to the foundation mixture, it makes the resulting roads stronger over a period of time.

Another benefit of recycling asphalt is that it is a penny-wise process. Adding recycled asphalt into mixtures reduces the amount of raw asphalt needed which is cost-efficient as asphalt is a “petroleum-based material” so its cost will grow as the petroleum prices rise. Furthermore, this addition of RAP will lessen the need for mining, manufacturing and transporting of raw asphalt to be processed which are known to be expensive tasks, with the added benefit of easing carbon emissions. In the blog post “How to Recycle Asphalt”, Bennett (2015) talks about the decreased necessity for new raw asphalt and the huge “environmental impacts” caused by the shipping.

In the blog, Decaux (2017) mentioned one of the replacement materials being plastic. Using plastic in road-making helps by reducing Earth’s plastic wastes but there are also problems associated in this process. Firstly, not all plastic can be used. There are currently many forms of plastic, and with that, the melting point of each type of plastic differs. Bitumen, used in mixtures for road-making, is heated to “150 – 177 Degree Celsius” in the process. According to Polymer Handbook (4th edition) (1999;2005), most plastic (polymers) melts at a higher temperature than the heating of bitumen which means they are non-integrable in road-making.

In conclusion, recycling asphalt has advantages that are comparable to the advantages of adding plastic in road-making. Quoting Joel (2008), basically “Recycled asphalt provides a better product at a lower cost!”. Plastic, on the other hand, have the disadvantage of issues with integration, which results in non-integrable plastics still being wasted. As such, I believe that it may still take some time before greener materials may be able to replace asphalt in the road-making world


Original blog post:

Decaux, J. C. (2017, October 23). Mobility & Trends; New paths for the roads of tomorrow 
Retrieved from


References:

Bennett, S. (2015, June 17). How to Recycle Asphalt. Recycle Nation.[Blog Post]
Retrieved from

Brandrup, J. Immergut, Edmund H. Grulke, Eric A. Abe, Akihiro Bloch, Daniel R.. (1999; 2005). Polymer Handbook (4th Edition). John Wiley & Sons.

Gopal Mishra. (2018, March 24). Steps in Bituminous Road Construction. The Constructor.
Retrieved from

Harrington, J. (2005). Recycled Roadways. U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.
Retrieved from

Joel. (2008, September 17). What is Asphalt Recycling? Pavement Recyclers. [Blog Post]
Retrieved from

McCartney, T. (n.d.). Do microplastics from the road get washed off into the environment? MacRebur Limited.

Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (2008). Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement.  User Guidelines for Waste and Byproduct Materials in Pavement Construction. (Publication Number: FHWA-RD-97-148)
U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.
Retrieved from 







Thursday, 26 September 2019

Summary Draft #2: New paths for the roads of tomorrow

In the blog post “New paths for the roads of tomorrow”, Decaux (2017) observed that developments in smart infrastructure can be applied to roads, which will further improve roads to be more “smart, connected and safer”. Decaux mentioned that roads are mainly made of asphalt, which is a costly material and encourages the formation of "heat islands during heat waves in cities". Developments have been done to create more sustainable materials which will reduce wastage and improve on the quality of roads. Materials such as "recycled plastic" helps to make roads more resilient, while cigarette butts mix with asphalt reduces the "heat island" formation. The author found that other developments include using solar panels on roads to harvest energy, using it to heat up roads during winter and lighting up the roads in the night via motion sensors. Improving on road user’s safety, and the usability of roads. 


While I agree that there are greener materials to be used in replacement of asphalt as Decaux mentioned, I feel that it is not a comprehensive comparison. The author states the disadvantages of using asphalt, comparing that against the advantages of using the greener materials. Instead, I feel that he should have listed both the advantages and disadvantages of asphalt and its replacement material.



Reference:

Decaux, J. C. (2017, October 23). Mobility & Trends; New paths for the roads of tomorrow 
Retrieved from https://www.jcdecaux.com/mobility-trends/new-paths-roads-tomorrow

Friday, 20 September 2019

Summary Draft #1: New paths for the roads of tomorrow

In the blog post “New paths for the roads of tomorrow”, Decaux (2017) observed that developments in smart infrastructure can be applied to roads, which will further improve roads to be more “smart, connected and safer”. Decaux mentioned that roads are mainly made of asphalt, which is a costly material and is known to increase surface temperature. Developments have been done to create more sustainable materials which will reduce wastage and improve on the quality of roads. Materials such as “recycled plastic” helps to make roads more resilient, while cigarette butts mix with asphalt reduces the surface temperature. The author found that other developments include using solar panels on roads to harvest energy, using it to heat up roads during winter and lighting up the roads in the night via motion sensors. Improving on road user’s safety, and the usability of roads. 

Thursday, 12 September 2019

Assignment 1: Formal letter


Dear Professor Blackstone,

I am writing to you to formally introduce myself. My name is Chng Joe Hui, and I am a 1st-year undergraduate in Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Land).

Previously, I was a student from Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) and was one of the students in the pioneering batch of Polytechnic Foundation Programme (PFP for short). After PFP, I went on to complete my diploma in Nanotechnology and Materials Sciences (specialising in Materials for Sustainable Technology) in 2017.

Since I was young, I was always intrigued by the components and mechanisms behind different objects. Thus, I chose to study materials sciences as I wanted to have a deeper understanding of how objects work from a smaller scale. Filled with understanding from my diploma programme, I wanted to look for another engineering field to apply this knowledge. That is when I found out about the news of lacking engineers in the railway industry in Singapore, and as such decided to pursue this degree in SIT.

I believe that my communication strength is speaking with impact. Often, I am tasked to start and end the team’s presentation. In fact, I was complimented by my communications lecturer on how I introduced the content of the presentation while briefly introducing my teammates that was presenting those respective parts.

On the other hand, I believe my greatest weakness is my tendency to speed through content when I am stressed/ nervous. I had never been a confident person, and as such, becomes stressed easily when all eyes are staring intently on me. Even during Friday’s tutorial class, where we had to share content with our tutorial mates, I realised that I was speeding through and not articulating some of the points as well as I could have done.

Through this module, I hope to have better stress management and by extension stop the habit of rushing through content and articulate my ideas better. I hope to develop these skills under your guidance.

Best Regards,
Chng Joe Hui
SIE2016 | Tutorial Group 6


Edited 27/10/19

Saturday, 7 September 2019

Draft of Formal Letter


Heres my first draft of the Formal letter:
Currently > 300 words... am at 352...
Gotta look into reducing the word count...
Feedbacks are more than welcomed.

Dear Professor Blackstone,

I am writing to you to formally introduce myself. My name is Chng Joe Hui, and I am a 1st-year undergraduate in Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Land).

Previously, I was a student from Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) and was part of the pioneering batch of Polytechnic Foundation Programme’s (PFP for short) engineering student. After PFP, I carried on further studying and had graduated with a diploma in Nanotechnology and Materials Sciences (specialising in Materials for Sustainable Technology) in 2017.

Originally, I chose to study materials sciences as I was curious by how the knowledge of materials sciences could be applied to enhance the world around us. After my 3 years learning the applications and how to’s, coupled with the news of lacking engineers in the rail industry albeit its continued growth, I have decided to pursue this degree in SIT.

Prior to this effective communication module, I had completed 2 communications modules in polytechnic, both attaining the letter grade of ‘A’. Although I am not sure if it was due to the lecturer being lenient, I believe that one of the possible reasons might be due to the good flow of my content.

One such example would be when there was a group presentation, I was charged with presenting the introduction and conclusion. While I introduce the content, I also briefly introduced the person presenting that particular part. After the presentation, I was praised for doing a splendid introduction.

On the other hand, I believe one of my greatest weakness is my tendency to speed through content when I am stressed/ nervous. I had never been much of a confident person, and as such becomes stressed easily when all eyes are staring intently on me. Even on Friday’s tutorial class, where we had to share content with our tutorial mates, I realised that I was speeding through and not articulating some of the points as well as I could have done.

In short, I hope to have better stress management and by extension stop the habit of rushing through content and thus articulate my ideas better. As such, I hope to develop these skills under your guidance.

Best Regards,
Chng Joe Hui
SIE2016 | Tutorial Group 6

P.S. Doing at this ungodly hour cause I had inspiration... (it's 3:10am, 08/09)

Thursday, 5 September 2019

Informal assignment 1: The Importance of communication skills for engineers


Hey all,

Professor asked us to explain a quote and I was assigned this following one:

Communication skills are an essential component in the education of engineering students to facilitate not just students’ education but also to prepare them for their future careers.”
Marc Riemer, Faculty of Engineering, Monash University (2007)



To me, this sentence means the following:

“Having good communication skills is beneficial regardless of who possesses it. It doesn’t just enhance an individual’s learning prowess, but also can help them better communicate with others at a professional level or even in their daily dealings. As it helps in reducing and/or eliminating possibilities of miscommunications/ misunderstandings. Etc. "


Some afterthoughts:

Perhaps, Mr Marc Riemer understands the importance of communication skills from his professional experience and as such urges us, engineering students, to learn and better craft our skills in communication in hopes that we will benefit greatly from this skill even before entering the workforce. And by extension, be able to integrate seamlessly into the communications of the working world without much additional effort needed.