Farewell - An Effective Retrospective

Kia ora!

I'd like to take a moment to appreciate my classmates who have helped me get through this term, as well as everyone who's been visiting this blog. Your feedback has been instrumental in my efforts at improving my academic performance. Thanks a lot!

This post also marks the end of the first trimester. I hope that I've been a positive influence on you all as well. Let us all press on toward our goals! Cheers!

- Ike


"All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time." - Mitch Albom

A Critical Reflection on SIE2016 Effective Communication

Privet!

As this term draws to a close, I look back on the past three months and realize that this Effective Communication program has benefited me in more ways than I thought possible. Having been in the working world for several years, I have given presentations to clients, prepared proposals and held meetings with both superior and subordinate. When I enrolled into the Singapore Institute of Technology, I assumed that I was already fluent in communication- and how wrong I was. I am truly glad to have gone through this program!

Through the instructional units in the program, I have been introduced to many tools that I can employ in order to convey ideas effectively, in both speech and writing, when addressing various audiences. My favourite among them is Monroe’s Motivated Sequence, which is a five-step process of delivering a persuasive speech. As I expect myself to be presenting to clients once again when I return to the working world, I am confident that Monroe’s Motivated Sequence will prove useful to me when that time comes.

Besides refining the art of communication as well as improving my command of the English language, I believe that for myself, an even more important takeaway from this Effective Communication program is being able to engage in continuous learning through reflective practice. In this fast-paced culture of university learning, it is often so easy for us to rush toward the end goal of getting a degree that we sometimes forget to slow down and reflect on our actions in order to learn from our past experiences. Personal growth and self-development never stops no matter which stage of life we are in, and I will certainly continue my reflective practices even after I enter the workforce as an engineer.

- Ike


“He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination.” - Jose Rizal

Technical Proposal - Letter of Transmittal

Date: 28 November 2016
From: Ike Domenden
To: Housing & Development Board
Cc: Brad Blackstone, Chris Kwa, Abiali
Subject: Proposal to Minimize Impact of Water Disruptions on HDB Residents

Dear Housing & Development Board,

I am Ike Domenden, a first-year student from the Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering programme at the Singapore Institute of Technology. Our lecturer, Mr. Brad Blackstone, recently tasked us to identify, analyse and solve a specific problem chosen from an approved range of industries including housing, building construction, rail engineering, energy, water resources and the environment. To that end, I was assigned to a project group with two other students, and we decided to research the issue of water disruptions in public housing flats with the purpose of finding a solution to this problem.

Attached is our proposal to achieve the abovementioned objective. This report includes the background of the water storage and supply situation in Singapore, our analysis of the problem of water disruption and its possible causes, as well as our proposed solutions to the problem, complete with technical details and comparison.

Should you require any further information with regards to the proposal, kindly let us know and we will gladly assist to furnish as required. Thank you very much for your consideration.

Best regards,
Ike Domenden
Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Building Services)
Singapore Institute of Technology