Soups Don't Cook Themselves - An Analytical Reflection on the Technical Presentation

Bonjour!

A few days ago, our team gave a presentation to our class, with the topic being the implementation of an improved water storage and supply system that solves water disruptions in HDB flats. Despite being a technical proposal, our presentation was described by a few of our classmates as being simple to understand, and its concepts easy to grasp. Our reviewing lecturer also stated that we seemed quite laid-back and natural when speaking. Of course, our public speaking skills have yet to be on par with that of toastmasters, but I was nonetheless very pleased when our presentation was voted as the best in the class.

In retrospect, our success in conveying our idea to the audience was the culmination of the tremendous amount of effort spent on preparation. From the initial brainstorming stage to the discussion of technical aspects, and even the selection of visual aids for use in our slides and speech rehearsal, many long nights were spent exploring every idea as well as working out every detail of the technical proposal in the weeks leading up to our presentation. On a side note, good time management was also practiced, which ensured that we did not spend too much time on this proposal and end up neglecting our studies for other subjects.

In cooking, a lot of time is spent on preparing the ingredients used to make a dish. This includes marinating meats, whisking eggs and making sure that there are no missing ingredients before beginning to cook. That being said, as an aspiring engineer, I believe in being well-prepared, as companies will appreciate an employee who shows judiciousness and diligence in his work more than one who has a lackadaisical attitude. Therefore, in all that I do, I must put in my best effort and prepare myself to handle the assigned task well in advance, instead of waiting until the eleventh hour to rush through the task and submit last-minute mediocre work just to meet the minimum requirements.

- Ike


"There is no excellence without labor. One cannot dream oneself into either usefulness or happiness." - Liberty Hyde Bailey



Commented on parallel posts in the following blogs:
- Abiali's Journey to Fluent English
- Frankie's Collector's Item
- Jerry's Beyond the Unseen
- Ming Kang

Summary & Reader Response - LTA Article, Draft 4

Update: This is a post-assessment reader response draft, with revisions made to references (both in-text citations and bibliography).

Summary & Reader Response for Article: LTA – Draft 4

By Ike Domenden

In the news release titled “Trains on the North-South and East-West Lines Safe for Service”, the Land Transport Authority (LTA, 2016) wrote that despite undergoing replacement works, the trains that have been in the media spotlight are safe for service. According to LTA, all new trains are tested before they are put into service. For the defective trains, immediate action was taken to prevent defects from resurfacing during train operation. Hairline cracks that were also discovered during inspection were confirmed to not affect operational safety. Nevertheless, to ensure that there are sufficient trains for commuters, all affected trains were sent back, one at a time, for rectification. Stringent checks were also performed regularly to ensure operational safety of all trains. However, although the LTA claimed to have exercised diligence and accountability in its corrective processes for the defective trains in question, there would have been no need for such action had it improved upon its pre-deployment checks.

The LTA’s news release suggests that it took well-planned steps to eliminate the possibility of future problems for the battery housing component by improving the housing design as well as engaging a different supplier. However, the news release fails to describe in similar fashion the steps to rectify the issue of the cracked draughtscreens. The LTA could have better described its “appropriate action” taken by including details, instead of leaving them to the reader’s conjecture. For example, the LTA could have released an official statement to clarify if it was the manufacturer’s installation process that had to be subject to proper review and revision or if it was negligence from the manufacturer, for the sake of convenience, that led to the installation error despite the installation process being reviewed and approved. Unfortunately, the omission of details such as these in the report may have inadvertently led to questions raised concerning the credibility of LTA’s quality checks. Such was the case when the People’s Power Party (2016) demanded further clarification from LTA as to whether it performed any “due diligence on quality checks” for the trains in question before deploying them.

The LTA’s news release also attempts to alleviate any concerns from the public by asserting that there were no adverse effects of the hairline cracks, which were discovered during routine inspection, on operational safety. To substantiate this statement, the LTA claims to have sought advice from its engineers, as well as the contractor and an external assessor. To further show that the LTA prioritizes safety over deployment availability, the news release mentions that despite presenting no risk to operational safety, the defective trains are being sent back to the factory for replacement works. However, the discovery of such a defect only serves to show that there have been lapses in quality control, as these hairline cracks were found to be caused by impurities in the material used during manufacturing. In an interview, former Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation’s Acting CEO Samuel Lai Man-hay stated that these defects show that the “quality control of the entire manufacturing process” may be compromised (FactWire, 2016). Therefore, the LTA should have conducted more comprehensive checks so as to ensure that defective trains are not being hastily deployed in order to meet operational needs.

In conclusion, although the news release strives to show that the issues with the defective trains are swiftly dealt with by the LTA, it is important that the LTA continues to endeavour to maintain high safety standards. Commuters’ expectations regarding public transport in Singapore may have grown as a result of being accustomed to train reliability for over two decades (Tan, 2015), and the LTA must consider that the investment of resources into improving pre-deployment processes is more efficient in the long run, as compared to expenditure on corrective processes to fix a problem that could have been prevented in the first place.

References:

FactWire (2016, July 05). Secret Recalls: China manufacturer for MTR secretly recalls 25 SMRT subway trains after cracks found. Interview with Samuel Lai Man-hay. FactWire News Agency. Retrieved from https://www.factwire.news/en/MTR-securetly-recall.html

Land Transport Authority (2016, July 06). Trains on the North-South and East-West Lines Safe for Service. Land Transport Authority Press Room. Retrieved from https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=0f8b1220-0289-4bef-99c9-b2455f17a66c#_ftn1

People’s Power Party (2016, July 07). People’s Power Party’s statement on defective trains from China. The Online Citizen. Retrieved from http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2016/07/07/peoples-power-partys-statement-on-defective-trains-from-china/

Tan, C. (2015, December 24). MRT’s past ‘teething problems’. The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/mrts-past-teething-problems

Technical Proposal - Problem and Purpose Statements

Problem Statement:

According to CP 48 (2005), high level water storage tanks in high-rise Housing & Development Board (HDB) flats store at least one day’s worth of water to cater to residents staying at the upper floors in the event of a water supply disruption in the main supply pipe from PUB. However, residents staying at lower floors continue to be affected by the disruption as their water supply comes directly from the main pipe.

Need therefore arises for the implementation of low level water storage tanks with a storage capacity of at least one day’s water usage requirement, in order for the residents staying at lower floors to be able to draw water reliably even during temporary water disruptions.

Purpose Statement:

The aim of this report is to propose to HDB the construction of two water storage systems, which will be located at ground level. These twin tanks will be connected in parallel, so as to supply water in a similar fashion to the existing high level water storage tanks while maintaining redundancy within the water storage system. This implementation will minimize the impact of water disruptions and improve the reliability of water supply for residents.