This is the longest hiatus I've ever taken since I've started blogging. Halfway into 2011 without an entry, I was in two minds about whether to continue blogging or just shut it down altogether. So the time was ripe to revisit my original intent of blogging, as it has certainly evolved over the years,
During my army days, the sole purpose was to hone my writing skills. I was thoroughly convinced that I could guard the mindless wasting of my brain with some pseudo-intellectual discourse on my social life and current affairs. Of course, that pragmatic goal quickly retrogressed and my blog became a place where I could seek solace and bitch publicly.
In my four years of torture in NUS, it kept me sane (or so I think…) as I struggled through an engineering course, despite my apparent lack of aptitude for it.
It was great fun delivering verbal diarrhoea, knowing that friends and stalkers (or fans as I endearingly call them) would read my rants and raves. Yet because I knew intelligible life forms were actually visiting my blog, I felt compelled post regular updates.
On days when I was swamped with work, I resorted to posting an obligatory series of web comics. During periods of gruelling examinations, I would take a break altogether.
Just I thought I was really busy in NUS… Then I graduated and entered the workforce. The frequency of updates was proven to be directly correlated to scarcity of time.
Then came... Facebook.
If I wanted to announce anything to my circle of friends, I no longer had to resort to my ailing blog. If I wanted to make my friends envious (not deliberately of course…) of my overseas escapades, I could upload photo albums with a few clicks of the button. Complete with auto-resizing and reduced resolution!
In a nutshell, Facebook provided greater interaction with people I knew and cared for.
Yet surprisingly, I’ve found a good reason not to shut this blog down.
So what's next for this blog? My guess is probably nowhere.
As a matter of fact, I cannot imagine Blogspot to continue on perpetually. The mere thought of visiting a blog already sounds so passé to me. But like an open diary, I might return to reminiscence the naive crap I've written over the years.
Of course, I might even add on to this ever growing list of incriminating rubbish from time to time. Probably not as often as I used to, but hopefully more frequently than once every 6 months.
BN3101: Biomedical Engineering Design, the mother of all Bioengineering modules has finally drawn to a close. And what an experience it has been!
For all who haven't had the privilege of taking this module, it's a compulsory design project module that all NUS Bioengineering students have to take in the first semester for their third year.
The Project (for 2008)
You are working in a Medical Device company
You have no choice who your colleagues are
You are given a small budget and a dateline to do a proof of concept design
Your team is to present to management at the end of 12 weeks a design solution for a new total ankle or total wrist replacement.
Your team is to convince management that you should be given more money (US$1 million) to bring concept to clinical trial.
What to Design
A total wrist replacement
Instrumentations for insertion of the device
Instrumentation for cutting guides
I had manage to delay the inevitable for a year when I bolted out of Singapore to seek solace in New Zealand. But fast forward one year, BN3101 was back to breathing down my neck.
I was dreading every moment of it after hearing all the horror stories from my fellow BIE mates who had already gone through fiery flames of BN3101. Furthermore, the implication of doing a design project module concurrently with a final year project seemed almost insurmountable.
Like it or not, I had no choice. LPPL.
Things started off with a sour note when BN3101 held 4 pre-lectures on week 0. (What the heck are pre-lectures anyway?!) It was expected that everyone mastered Solidworks in that week so each group could start designing on the medical device when semester officially begins.
On another note, for the first time in short history of BN3101, the bioengineering batch was tasked to design two types of prostheses. Half was tasked to design an ankle replacement and the other half, a wrist one. My group was assigned the latter.
So with little engineering background (Bioengineers are not real engineers btw, unlike traditional engineering fields i.e Mechanical/Electrical/Civil engineers...) and zilch knowledge on orthopedic implants, everyone unwillingly embarked on this seemingly impossible task.
After a couple of weeks of brainstorming, my group presented our brilliant ideas to the specialists at Department of Hand & Reconstructive Surgery, National University Hospital.
And boy old boy. Who would forget that condescending remark as our group entered the meeting room "these are the guys that want to design a wrist prosthesis in one semester!" *cue in snigger*
Dr Tan Ter Chyan was so convinced about the impossibility of our project, he assured us that he would talk to Prof Casey to change the scope of our project. . . . No, he did not.
To be fair, after having quite a bit of fun ridiculing us, he did rope in Dr David Tan to help us out. Nonetheless, everyone was pretty much sian jit pua (Coxford Dictionary: Hokkien adjective to convey boredom, weariness, frustration and emptiness) after the interview.
Of course, apart from designing a total wrist arthroplasty (artificial joint reconstruction) system, we had our individual roles such as intellectual property protection, regulatory affairs, market survey. I "wisely" chose design rationale and design verification.
Aargh. I have no idea how many journals, American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) papers and British Standards I had to put up with. *strikes off future research/career in Biomechanics*
As a group, I personally thought our group was progressing at snail's pace. For example, we only finalized the name of our supposed company in the last couple of weeks before the deadline. Previously, we were unofficially called "terroWRIST" (fingers point to a certain Wayne...)
But thankfully, things did not retrogressed to the dismal state that plagued my previous design project, ME4253: Biomaterials Engineering. It was no surprise I made it my personal goal that ME4253 will be my final NUS project which I screwed up.
The Vascular Graft project that gave me a heart attack.
The smiles belies the bitterness simmering beneath.
With our amazingly helpful mentor, Dr Kim Sangho chasing us for our presentation slides, we actually manage to complete our presentation slides 5 days before the actual day.
And that left us to plan for other interesting stuff.
1. Fake brochure printed on Glossy Paper
The jeans blue border was a personal eyesore to me, so I manage to convince the rest that it didn't look too professional. Much to the dismay of Kenny. (Haha... Oops.)
2. Board to illustrate our amazing surgical instrumentation
Pity the hideous colours and font type though... 3. Surgical simulation for budding pseudo-surgeons 4. To top things off, our dress code was the antithesis of PAP.
However, to others, we looked like : A) Mourning/Funeral/anything depressing B) Mafia/Secret society/黑社会 C) University Cultural Centre Usher D) Waiters/Waitress E) Etc. Nothing really flattering... Seriously.
So after 12 weeks of group meetings, complicated lecturer-student scandals, McDonald breakfasts, Olive Cove pancakes, YIH lunches, Eusoff escapades and even more pancakes, Wiz-a-Wrist was born.
Wiz-a-Wrist™ It's worth the risk.
The day of presentation (ON A SATURDAY) began miserably with a lack of sleep and last minute printing of individual reports. The disgusting unappetizing lunch at the infamous YIH canteen didn't help matters.
To think we originally planned for a feast at NUS SUN Asian Bistro.
We did try to make it up a bit by having dinner at Kim Gary, Vivocity.
I digress.
It was a fuzzy swirl of events after lunch. But in short team averNUS nailed the presentation, had a clean sweep of the awards and lived happily ever after. . . . . . . I wished.
While we thought we emerged as possibly the strongest contenders in the "Wrist Group", there laid an even stronger contender in the "Ankle Group". Group 6, helmed by Eric Cher, stole the limelight. On top of garnering the Best Presentation Award, they took home the Most Innovative Award, which I was personally convinced we would get it.
Nonetheless, they were the rightful winners. As I read about using Fuji pressure-sensitive film to find out about the pressure distribution, Group 6 was already there using actual real films to test their prototype. When our group made use of wood and saws to attempt to model our surgical jigs, Group 6 had produce impressive acrylic models, presumably by rapid prototyping.
Wayne, the master carpenter at work.
So averNUS were relegated to runner's up position along with two other groups.
But hold your breath, everyone. . . . . . .
While we did not emerge as best presentation, we clinched the PRESTIGIOUS DIRECTOR'S AWARD with the following 500 words!
BN3101, Biomedical Engineering Design assembled a team of six people, heralding from different ages, nationalities, and cultural backgrounds. United towards a common goal of perfecting the total wrist arthroplasty conundrum, our diversity enabled us to explore different perspectives to this multi-faceted problem. Starting out with six disparate designs, weeks of adaptation and accommodation gradually converged the best elements of each design to one original idea.
It was in consensus that this module has differentiated itself from other NUS project modules. The concept of adopting a Quality System Template whereby each member was tasked to an allocated specialization further provided a holistic depth of realism. This enabled us to pick up new skills such as CAD drawing with Solidworks, appreciate the intricacies behind a patent application, the workings of FDA etc. This in turn, gave us a slice of what a potential bioengineering job might entail in the future.
Apart from the academic aspect, BN3101 has successfully bonded the six of us as a team. With camaraderie forged, we could trust one another to complete our individual tasks before every meeting, further easing the burden of a difficult module. The impact of BN3101 was not only observed as a group, but felt on a more personal individual level.
As leader of Group 12, Kenny acknowledges the difficulties in managing a diverse group while taking on an equally daunting project task within a tight schedule. Yet, BN3101 has convinced him that team work was the geist to handling massive projects. By and large, Kenny has thoroughly enjoyed the whole working process and unforgettable experience.
Puay Han contends that BN3101 has increased her knowledge about product development process and product marketing. She hopes that this useful course of learning would be applicable to future career option.
Krizia appreciates the formidable task of solving a real-world medical problem by translating an abstract idea to a concrete design solution, and compelling her “to think, act and talk like a real design engineer”. Furthermore, she values the opportunity of an actual self-made entrepreneur/orthopedic surgeon as a principal instructor of BN3101, who has enriched the learning process.
Like Krizia, Wayne agrees that BN3101 is especially challenging when it comes to designing a solution which is able to meet the needs of patients and surgeons while maintaining its practical feasibility. He posits that unlocking this perennial problem would be creativity.
Unexpectedly, BN3101 has unraveled the meaning of being a bioengineer for Qian Lan. She fondly recalls how this module has taught everyone to be open-minded and allowed the final prototype to be a marriage of various innovative features from different members.
Last but not least, Kelvin is enlightened on the inherent limits of learning through top-down pedantical knowledge and how BN3101 has done the exact opposite. He concurs that “only through learning how to learn, can the learning experience can be truly be expanded beyond boundaries.”
All in all, we as members of Group 12 hope that BN3101 will continue to be a cornerstone to NUS Bioengineering course.
LOL. Okay, the award ain't that prestigious, because submission was optional and carries absolutely no grade weightage. Nevertheless, it was more of a cheap thrill that my last minute effort to compile, collate everyone's thoughts and ideas paid off.
The day ended with a unimpressionable Quantum of Solace at Vivocity, which was probably more forgettable for Qian Lan who slept through most of the movie.
Korean Kim Chee, a formidable mentorThe white man behind NUS BIE nightmares
On hindsight, BN3101 was most painful because there was so much self-learning to be done. But it was ironically enjoyable because everyone was suffering together. As they always say, misery loves company.
So yeah, guys and gals of Group 12/averNUS, you have truly been of great company.
I never thought that I could would handle so many T75 Flasks in one go.
That probably sums up the past couple of weeks. The deadly combination of BN3101: Biomedical Engineering Design and my Final Year Project is finally taking a toll on me. Indeed, while many have pointed out that I've only 2 modules with one solitude FYP to deal with this semester, it still felt like a horrid 6 modules semester.
But then again, if you've never taken BN3101 before, you would never comprehend the arduous twice weekly group meetings, along with presentations, consultations and tests. Yes, I finally comprehended with my heart and soul why BN3101 is the nightmare for all NUS Bioengineers.
Then again, one would say, it's only one freaking module... How can one single module mess up your semester?
Easier said than done, unless you're doing your FYP at Biopolis. Ha. You probably would have heard me whine about the irritating bus service 95, and how the return trip from NUS would take me an hour.
Then again, I proved myself wrong when I subcultured 12 T75s the next time.
Sigh...
Remind me again why seniors would warn against projects dealing with cells... Like ADHD-babies, my damned stem cells keep protesting to be seeded, harvested and counted.
So for 3 times a week, I would either have to take my lunch or dinner at least 2 hours after my normal mealtimes, in the name of FYP.
@#@*10.30PM??!! (#*@#@(*@#
I don't know how the heck I'm going to avoid developing gastric pains, but wise time management would be much appreciated.
