A day with my professor

Why i am still in campus while others gone back to hometown. The reason is today. Today i hang out with my professor and a bunch of master and final year students. We went to some surplus warehouse to check some stuffs out.

Firstly we went to Juru and somewhere in a kampung we reached the warehouse. There are a lot of surplus stuff there and we can actually buy those things a lot cheaper compared to purchase a new one. I was accompany them looking around searching dynamos, panel meters, VDMs, etc. We also have to be aware of the market price to prevent pay over value for old stuffs. Looking at these stuffs i feel my machinary adrelina pumping as i wanted to something out from these things. Engineering is my right choice, i reassured.

Talking about my prof, he is a kind of energetic man and you will be very motivated when working with him. I am inspired by his style and openess. His is a great guy and simply can be your good friend rather just your lecturer. I feel privilaged because i have the chance to close encounter with Prof Horizon Gitano, a Colorado Guy.

Next, we went to Kampung Benggali where is furthur down to Butterworth. That is a electronic street where you could get a lot of electronic stuff like transistor, transformer, capacitor, circuit board, bla bla bla...

Prof Horizon introduce me to these places and show me how this stuff works. I am not clear cause i never work this stuff with my hand. I gonna learn them up. I dont want to be a bookworm in university. I want to be a guy simply can work things out when idea comes in mind.

So this is my day.Going home tomorrow...

Penang Half Day Trip

Its raya break this week everyone gone back while i still stay in campus for few more days to do some research. Well today is saturday and i got a ride to Penang from my 4th year seniors.So..lets hike up to Penang.

Firstly we took our brunch at the famous Parit Buntar laksa.

Good food stays hidden all the time. It is true in Penang.

After that we went up to Penang Island and this took an hour to reach there.

Upon reaching Penang, we went to Cintra Street to find out my small hostel where i will plan to stay overnight if i want to in Penang.

It looks a bit old but it smells heritage site for me. It has a folk museum but today its closed due to the 'curator' is out station. I met a english speaking uncle there and he is in charge of this place. He looks friendly to me.

Next we proceed to penang road to taste the famous cendol.

This place has become a must go place each time i am in Penang island. To my doubtness opposite site this famous stall theres a cendol stall too. So it looks like a big contrast while so many people gather at the famous one buying cendol and the other one calm.

After that we walk around Prangin Mall and then we went to Mcallister road and branching a Lebuh Selamat to eat the expensive Sister's Char Koey Theow.

It serve with big juicy prawns which makes it expensive. The cheapest cost RM6.

Approaching evening....we head to north to Gurney Plaza. That place is a nice place with a lot of branded restaurant like Chilis, Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Secret Recipe and etc. I like the place.

For dinner, i have in Gurney Drive. Theres a lot of food there. Me and Jun Yan eat quite a lot a there. Cher Hu, Or Chin, Chee Cheong Fan....

Before we go back we head south to Queensbay and take a nice picture of Penang Bridge.

Scientist going Engineer,Engineer going Scientist

Till now, i am getting more and more excited. I am making the best out of my possesion. I am lucky enough to get to know someone like Goh. He gives me oppourtunities to learn more. I am going to work as research assistant during holiday. As for now i am working on accomplishing my APOLO project. I want a great team to run this project to success. Today looks like a good start to me. My task is to influence and motivate my colleague to have some goals to be achieved.
For a few days onwards i will meeting with some top professor and i hope to learn something valuable from them.
My core inspiration is always MIT. Mens Et Manus very meaningful to me. Mind and Hand is working principle and i am holding firm on it.

Mens et Manus!!

Goodbye my friend

I have an aquaintance. He is leaving USM to Notthingham Malaysia campus under a company scholarship.

He is a music talent. he could play good piano and sing well.

18th sept night is karaoke night.He perform and what impress me was he sing One Night in Beijing.Great. It will rocks more if accompany by a band. How i wish i can play drum that very moment supporting him.

So i resolute to learn up drumming. Rock all the way.

Interesting Lecture

So far my lecture in USM is quite boring and hypnotising....

Things changed when change a lecturer for my electric technology course. A singh lecturer take over.

First day of lecture.
My status: Unprepared. Hit by unexpected question by him. It was an easy question though. I anawer wrongly. Feel ashamed of myself.

2nd lecture.
My status: Sit at inobvious seat to prevent question hit. Blurred by his lecture. Feeling guilthy of not studying properly. When he ask for question from students... i didnt have any doubt. I feel insulted cause i lost my principle of learning.

3rd lecture:
My status:Well prepared.Sit direct in front of him so i can inquire, he can hear. I point of his mistake in his lecture note.Questioning him few times. Feel good. Feel steady.

Good Time, Good Food

This morning i wake up at nine with the determination to eat Parit Buntar's famous laksa. I called up Siu Hou and we two cycle the back streets of PB for the laksa quest. After i came to the juntion before the bridge as my friends told me, we turn right in the pathways. Its way to the shop is unnoticeble until we ask so local kids playing around there. The way in is totally unexpectable. Its just like small sand muddy narrow path between two houses and thaadaa we found the famous laksa shop.

We reach at 10 am but it opens at 1130am.Thus we go out to coffee shop to have a coffee and chit chat. When clock ticks to 1130 am we went back and see long queue from that shop house. People are eager to taste the sour and hot laksa. We ordered a bowl of laksa for each of us and taste it. Its soup is the best ever soup i taste before. I was indulged by the prefect recipe.

We pay Rm2 for our meal and leave the place with fully satisfactory mood.

Mid Autumn Festival

Long time never celebrate mid autumn festival....last time at home i used to simply eat mooncake and never appreciate it so much.

This year in other states, staying in campus in USM, we students organise a mooncake celebration in the campus. I was one of the committee in this event.

Well...for me i got a kinda feeling that i was lonely in the crowd. Although i was surrounded by a bunch of amusing folks but i feel some loneliness in the sense that awaiting someone really cares me....I admitted that i was too focus on my undertaking and might neglected people around me.

Anyway, i feel good too as i receives some dedication from my senior and some mysterious friends. Time passes by and i feel that its neccessary to care about people around me. Human need friends...we work in team....we share ups and downs together. That what friends are for.

Working Something Interesting

As days passes by, my life in USM is becoming more and more interesting. I started to learn a lot about software. Today i was engaged with SolidWorks and Agilent Vee Pro. SolidWorks made me passionate about design and drawing. While, i am also working out with Agilent Vee. Its is a graphical measurement programme. Tonight i was learning this software with my seniors together with a bunch of students who are also interested. We set up the resistor, diod, motor ..etc on the breadboard and then take the value using Agilent Vee. Its kinda fun doing this and i met an inspiring senior who inspire me to work by passion. I was glad that i made up the choice choosing engineering. I am loving this kind of life. Solving problem all the time.

Later, we SAE club will doing more and more activities and tasks. We are looking forward to building an engineering environment for the school.

USM granted Apex status

PUTRAJAYA (Sept 03, 2008): Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) was yesterday chosen for the Accelerated Programme for Excellence (Apex), beating three other universities, including the country's oldest, the University of Malaya (UM).
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin told a press conference that USM was selected based on the university's transformation plan and its preparedness to make changes to its proposal paper.
"The selection for the Apex programme is not only based on past achievements and excellence, but more on the planning for the future and whether the university is able to achieve a world-class status within the stipulated period of five years," he said when announcing USM's selection for the programme.
During the five-year period, USM must be able to put itself in the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) list of world's Top 100 universities and among the Top 50 by 2020, he said.
He was confident that USM would be able to achieve world-class standard.
"Let's see how USM fares and then we will decide whether to choose another for the programme," he added.
Mohamed Khaled said USM's selection for the programme did not mean that other universities were sidelined. On the other hand, this should spur them to further improve their position, he said when asked why UM was not selected.
Nine public universities nationwide had submitted their application for the programme but only four -- USM, UM, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia -- were shortlisted.
USM's winning proposal paper is titled "Transforming Higher Education for a Sustainable Tomorrow".
The Apex university programme is part of the National Higher Education Strategic Plan where universities will be divided into three groups -- Apex University, Elite University and Competitive University.
An Apex university is a university of excellence used as a yardstick in higher education worldwide.
Under the programme, an Apex university is promised autonomy in finance, service scheme, management, student intake, study fees and in determining the top administrative leadership, Bernama reported.
USM’s recognition as an Apex university is the culmination of initiatives since the university produced a working paper on ‘Transforming Higher Education for a Sustainable Tomorrow’ a few years back.
In a brief statement today, USM deputy registrar and communications head Mohamad Abdullah said the university has undertaken a series of innovative programmes to enhance its capacity and stature in academic fields.
He noted the university’s emphasis on fostering research and specialist expertise as a prime factor in elevating its credentials.
“We at USM feel gratified and touched at being selected by the Higher Education Ministry to start the Apex university programme,” he said.
He added that the recognition was a fitting gift for the university’s 40th anniversary next year.
He stressed that USM has taken great pains to ensure its educational thrust remained relevant to future needs.
Mohamad noted the effect of programmes like the ‘Healthy Campus’ and ‘University in a Garden’ initiatives to encourage voluntary work in global and environmental activities among faculty members and students.
USM has also had workshops and planning activities based on ‘scenario planning’ which later materialised various activities to promote the transforming focus of higher education, he stressed.
Updated: 07:55PM Wed, 03 Sep 2008