For my group's website, please visit the link below:
http://www.wix.com/twccarsandtech/aircraft
For my group's facebook page, please visit the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-future-of-aviation-Aeroplanes/268188619883091?sk=wall
For my class' blog page, please visit the link below:
HTTP://TWCSHAHI2011.BLOGSPOT.COM/MASTERBLOG
Thank you all for your support!
Friday, November 11, 2011
WEEK 13. Last lesson. Boohoo :(
It was the last lesson for TWC and my group was supposed to present for our group project, out of 3 groups. We presented on the topic ‘The future of aviation’ with an emphasis on aeroplanes. After 13 gruelling weeks of projects, thesis papers and blog posts, it has finally come to a finale. I would like to thank Prof and the class for a wonderful classroom ambience and an effective discussion on technological issues. This class has expanded my horizons and made me realize how far technology has come in the last decade. A very prominent example will be the iPhone, which changed the consumers’ expectations of a phone and made smartphones the must-have item for every young consumer.
The second group presented on the topic of telecommunications, and they made a very creative and funny video on how telecommunications have evolved since the 18th century. It was an eye-opener for me because I always thought that the telephone came before the telegraph, but the actual reality was that the telegraph came into existence nearly 60 years before the telephone experiment by Alexander Graham Bell. Following that, the fax machine came into use, followed by a giant leap in technology from the Internet. Despite all these improvements, the future remains exciting. In five years’ time, holographic images projected from mobile devices for us to view images, type notes and basically perform all functions available on smartphones may be available.
My group presented on the future of aviation, focusing on 4 aspects, namely fuel efficiency, gravity-powered airplanes, scramjet engines and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Gravity-powered airplanes are still in the theory stage, which means it has not been tested in an actual experiment. It works in the same principle as the Zeppelin which was common during the pre-war years. However, instead of using hydrogen or helium, vacuum is used so as to further reduce the weight of the plane and displace more air for the same volume. As for scramjet engines, it is a futuristic form of engine that provides so much thrust to the plane that it is able to reach speeds of nearly Mach 10, or nearly ten times the speed of sound. This means that the time spent on air travel can be minimized to as little as two hours for a round the world flight. It can also allow for greater fuel efficiencies since it uses hydrogen as fuel. However, one limitation is that it needs a conventional jet engine to boost it to Mach 5 speeds. Further, until now, no prototype of the scramjet engine has survived its test, mainly because at such high speeds, the engine experiences too much friction and its flight pattern becomes very unpredictable. UAVs are a form of planes heavily utilized in the military world, with the Americans and Israelis relying on them heavily for missions in the Middle East. They remove the need for a plane to have a pilot, instead relying on a ground pilot to control the UAV remotely from a safe distance. This reduces the casualty rate, allows smaller planes to be built which can then escape detection by radar more easily and saves fuel since a lighter plane can now be built. In the future, we debated whether these planes can be used in the commercial arena. Even though autopilot is now a standard procedure on commercial flights when the plane is cruising at 12000m above sea level, a switch to totally unmanned flights will possibly face large resistance from passengers due to security risks, safety risks as well as a stigma against totally relying on computers.
All in all, these group presentations had been very informative and had piqued my interest in TWC. Despite this course coming to an end, I believe I will continue to be inspired and amazed by new technologies, and will take an active role in getting exposed to these technologies and learning about the possible limitations and social problems that it may cause. I would like to thank Prof Gurinder Shahi for his very engaging and innovative approach to teaching.
The second group presented on the topic of telecommunications, and they made a very creative and funny video on how telecommunications have evolved since the 18th century. It was an eye-opener for me because I always thought that the telephone came before the telegraph, but the actual reality was that the telegraph came into existence nearly 60 years before the telephone experiment by Alexander Graham Bell. Following that, the fax machine came into use, followed by a giant leap in technology from the Internet. Despite all these improvements, the future remains exciting. In five years’ time, holographic images projected from mobile devices for us to view images, type notes and basically perform all functions available on smartphones may be available.
My group presented on the future of aviation, focusing on 4 aspects, namely fuel efficiency, gravity-powered airplanes, scramjet engines and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Gravity-powered airplanes are still in the theory stage, which means it has not been tested in an actual experiment. It works in the same principle as the Zeppelin which was common during the pre-war years. However, instead of using hydrogen or helium, vacuum is used so as to further reduce the weight of the plane and displace more air for the same volume. As for scramjet engines, it is a futuristic form of engine that provides so much thrust to the plane that it is able to reach speeds of nearly Mach 10, or nearly ten times the speed of sound. This means that the time spent on air travel can be minimized to as little as two hours for a round the world flight. It can also allow for greater fuel efficiencies since it uses hydrogen as fuel. However, one limitation is that it needs a conventional jet engine to boost it to Mach 5 speeds. Further, until now, no prototype of the scramjet engine has survived its test, mainly because at such high speeds, the engine experiences too much friction and its flight pattern becomes very unpredictable. UAVs are a form of planes heavily utilized in the military world, with the Americans and Israelis relying on them heavily for missions in the Middle East. They remove the need for a plane to have a pilot, instead relying on a ground pilot to control the UAV remotely from a safe distance. This reduces the casualty rate, allows smaller planes to be built which can then escape detection by radar more easily and saves fuel since a lighter plane can now be built. In the future, we debated whether these planes can be used in the commercial arena. Even though autopilot is now a standard procedure on commercial flights when the plane is cruising at 12000m above sea level, a switch to totally unmanned flights will possibly face large resistance from passengers due to security risks, safety risks as well as a stigma against totally relying on computers.
All in all, these group presentations had been very informative and had piqued my interest in TWC. Despite this course coming to an end, I believe I will continue to be inspired and amazed by new technologies, and will take an active role in getting exposed to these technologies and learning about the possible limitations and social problems that it may cause. I would like to thank Prof Gurinder Shahi for his very engaging and innovative approach to teaching.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Week 12 (Presentation Week)
Today, for the lesson, there were 3 groups presenting their websites. One group presented on social networks and their impact on society, one presented on technology for disabled people, and another group presented on technology and the arts.
For the first group presenting on technology and the arts, it was a eye opener for me because throughout the course, we had been focusing on technology and its practical uses. There was little attention given to technology in the arts. This group presented that technology will be infused into the way we hear music in the future. For example, when we listen to music, no longer is it merely sound waves travelling into our ears and us simply listening to the beats from our music players. The next generation of technology will allow us to ‘visualize’ music, such that when music is played, we are actually able to ‘make out’ the shape of the music waves dancing around in our heads. I think that this is actually a very interesting idea to work on, but whether it will be accepted by the public is another issue. For example, some may simply want to listen to their music for relaxation after a long day at work, and do not wish for any ‘advancements’ in their music to distract them and make it too complex for them. To these listeners, music is to be enjoyed at its purest and simplest form, not a technologically-modified song that has ‘depth’ and ‘movement’. I belong to this group of listeners, so I can describe vividly how we feel, and this technology will not be very popular with us.
The second group talked about using technology for disabled people. We watched a video of Nicky Vujicic, a man who was born with no limbs at all. It was an inspiring sight to see him make full use of his life and to treasure it as well, despite having such a terrible disability and not being able to do things that normal people will be able to do. If there were more resources used to help these people, it will be even more wonderful. Luckily, there are already advances in this field. Using telebraille, among other innovations, to help the disabled communicate with other people and to help them learn as well. This field of innovation is very meaningful, since society has for a very long time sidelined this group of people and has not devoted enough energy, money and attention to helping them. However, one constraint of this technology is the high price that machines that employ these technologies command. This limits the number of people who can afford these machines, which means they will not be effective in helping many of the disabled, which is what this field is all about. Secondly, there are barriers to overcome before these new technologies are accepted by mainstream society so that they can be provided to the disabled at low cost and to be widely available. Again, technology has to be fused with monetary concerns and practical issues before it can be called a success.
The third group presented on the social networks and its impact on society. They focused on the social and political issues. This topic is very similar to my individual topical review paper, so I was very aware of the current situation as well as the future considerations that social networks provoke. The group talked about the Arab Spring, and how social networks such as Facebook were used for communications and to mobilise large crowds to gather and protest against the regimes. However, the group failed to find proper examples on societal changes that social networks have catalyzed, and they had confused political change for social change. As Prof has said, social change is more on how social networks change the way people interact with one another, not whether social networks have been used for democratic change, since that will be classified under political change. Overall, all three groups presented quite well, but I thought that more can be done to make their websites more interactive and more interesting for the casual visitor to browse through. Also, more can be done to substantiate the content on the website. A paragraph or two on each point is simply too short and too frivolous for a reader to take the website seriously, since he or she can simply use Google to find a website that contains more information.
For the first group presenting on technology and the arts, it was a eye opener for me because throughout the course, we had been focusing on technology and its practical uses. There was little attention given to technology in the arts. This group presented that technology will be infused into the way we hear music in the future. For example, when we listen to music, no longer is it merely sound waves travelling into our ears and us simply listening to the beats from our music players. The next generation of technology will allow us to ‘visualize’ music, such that when music is played, we are actually able to ‘make out’ the shape of the music waves dancing around in our heads. I think that this is actually a very interesting idea to work on, but whether it will be accepted by the public is another issue. For example, some may simply want to listen to their music for relaxation after a long day at work, and do not wish for any ‘advancements’ in their music to distract them and make it too complex for them. To these listeners, music is to be enjoyed at its purest and simplest form, not a technologically-modified song that has ‘depth’ and ‘movement’. I belong to this group of listeners, so I can describe vividly how we feel, and this technology will not be very popular with us.
The second group talked about using technology for disabled people. We watched a video of Nicky Vujicic, a man who was born with no limbs at all. It was an inspiring sight to see him make full use of his life and to treasure it as well, despite having such a terrible disability and not being able to do things that normal people will be able to do. If there were more resources used to help these people, it will be even more wonderful. Luckily, there are already advances in this field. Using telebraille, among other innovations, to help the disabled communicate with other people and to help them learn as well. This field of innovation is very meaningful, since society has for a very long time sidelined this group of people and has not devoted enough energy, money and attention to helping them. However, one constraint of this technology is the high price that machines that employ these technologies command. This limits the number of people who can afford these machines, which means they will not be effective in helping many of the disabled, which is what this field is all about. Secondly, there are barriers to overcome before these new technologies are accepted by mainstream society so that they can be provided to the disabled at low cost and to be widely available. Again, technology has to be fused with monetary concerns and practical issues before it can be called a success.
The third group presented on the social networks and its impact on society. They focused on the social and political issues. This topic is very similar to my individual topical review paper, so I was very aware of the current situation as well as the future considerations that social networks provoke. The group talked about the Arab Spring, and how social networks such as Facebook were used for communications and to mobilise large crowds to gather and protest against the regimes. However, the group failed to find proper examples on societal changes that social networks have catalyzed, and they had confused political change for social change. As Prof has said, social change is more on how social networks change the way people interact with one another, not whether social networks have been used for democratic change, since that will be classified under political change. Overall, all three groups presented quite well, but I thought that more can be done to make their websites more interactive and more interesting for the casual visitor to browse through. Also, more can be done to substantiate the content on the website. A paragraph or two on each point is simply too short and too frivolous for a reader to take the website seriously, since he or she can simply use Google to find a website that contains more information.
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