17th Oct 2006

Five Polytechnics Join Hands To Promote - PASSION & POSSIBILITIES in Engineering

Released Date: 17 Oct 06

Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister of State for Education and Manpower, Launches Engineering Week 2006 and new engineering education web portal

SINGAPORE - 17 OCTOBER 2006 – The public’s perception of Engineering may be one of an outdoor job when they see road works or constructions sites. But this is far from true. In reality, e very technological product from the sleek Apple iPod Nano to Nike running shoes to the sleekest handphone and coolest LCD TV has to be designed and its fabrication overseen by engineers.

The five local polytechnics have come together for a third year to dispel misconceptions about engineering and to highlight the rich possibilities available to engineering students with the message that with the passion to innovate comes endless possibilities. Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister of State for Education and Manpower, will officially launch Engineering Week 2006, on Tuesday, 17 October, at 9am at the Singapore Polytechnic Convention Centre .

Engineering Week serves to encourage more post-secondary school students to consider engineering as a career option. "Engineering: Passion and Possibilities" is the official theme and tagline adopted by the polytechnics to promote engineering. The tagline emphasizes the wide range of choices that an engineering background provides. This annual event which started in 2004 is organised by the five polytechnics with the support and endorsement of A*STAR; EDB; Institute of Engineers , Singapore ; Ministry of Education as well as the Singapore Science Centre.

“In today’s knowledge-based economy, the demand for engineers has shifted into high value-adding areas such as research & development, product design and professional services. In order for Singapore to stay competitive, we need to have a sufficient and steady supply of high quality engineering graduates from the polytechnics,” said Mr Edward Ho, Chairman of the Polytechnic Engineering Promotion Task Force and Deputy Principal for Technology, Nanyang Polytechnic.

“To achieve this, the Polys are in constant touch with the industry to ensure the curriculum stays relevant and up-to-date. In addition, the Task Force has embarked on a series of activities to ignite the passion of engineering in students and to show them the plentiful possibilities of an engineering career. Engineering Week is one of the many activities,” added Mr Ho.

Creative exhibits by each Polytechnic and by the Singapore Science Centre will be put up at the Singapore Polytechnic Convention Centre. Another highlight of Tuesday's event will be the launch of a new website www.engineering.edu.sg by Mr Gan Kim Yong. The website hopes to open the possibilities of engineering – by offering a fun and insightful journey of discovery based on the theme, Engineering: Passion and Possibilities.

The week ahead will see thousands of secondary school students flocking to the five polytechnics to participate in the many exciting Engineering-related workshops organised especially for them. There are over 100 interesting workshops with over 4,500 places. Topics range from the mechanics of flight, to solar energy powered cars, to the making of a hand phone.

Details of the activities that each polytechnic has lined up for Engineering Week can be found at the official Engineering Week website: http://www.engineering.edu.sg/ew06

The programme for the Opening Ceremony is given in Annex I; Highlights of Engineering Week workshops can be found in Annex II; And Highlights of Engineering Projects on display at the Opening Ceremony are in Annex III.

For further enquiries, please contact:

i. Nanyang Polytechnic : Sandra Tan (Tel : 6550 0223/9479 1033)

ii. Ngee Ann Polytechnic : Sadiah Bte Ahmad (Tel : 6460 6232)

iii. Republic Polytechnic : Leo Kwang Lin (Tel : 9299 2844 )

iv. Singapore Polytechnic : Adrian Lim (Tel : 6772 1350)

v. Temasek Polytechnic : Vimala Christie (Tel : 6780 5019 )

Annex I

PROGRAMME
8:30 am	Arrival of Guests
8:45 am	Guests to be seated EDB Video on Manufacturing Screening of the Combined Poly video
9:15 am	Arrival of Guest-of-Honour Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister of State for Education and Manpower Short Video Presentation on Engineering Week 2006 Welcome Address by Edward Ho Sze Leung, Chairman of the Engineering Promotion Taskforce and Deputy Principal for Technology of Nanyang Polytechnic Opening Address by Guest-of-Honour Launch of new engineering.edu.sg website and Engineering Week 2006 Presentation of Memento to GOH
9.40 am	Special Performance - "Who Wants to be an Engineer?"
10:00 am	Tour of Exhibits by Guest-of-Honour Games session for students with exciting prizes
10.30 am	Departure of Guest-of-Honour Reception
12:00 noon	End of Programme

ANNEX II

SUMMARY OF SOME HIGHLIGHTED WORKSHOPS AVAILABLE DURING ENGINEERING WEEK 2006
NANYANG POLYTECHNIC
1.	i-tech Robotic Challenge 18 – 20 October 9am – 5pm This is an annual competition where students will find out about robotics technology and its application in daily life. They will also learn basic programming, and put their knowledge to test in an exciting robot wrestling competition.
2.	Making of a handphone! 18, 19 and 20 October 9am – 12pm As one of the most popular workshops conducted, this course will take students through the different technologies that go into making a handphone, such as wafer fabrication, electronics circuitry and product design. They will also participate in games, quizzes and enjoy free ring tone downloads on their handphones.
3.	Telescope for Star Gazing *Visit to the NYP Observatory* 19 October 9am – 12pm Been to an observatory for star gazing? NYP opens its doors to students to the exciting Observatory to learn about the various types of telescopes used in star gazing. There are only two observatories in Singapore and NYP's is one of them. This unique experience will give participants a glimpse of the various applied technologies involved in astronomy and excite them in the world of stars.
NGEE ANN POLYTECHNIC
1.	Tech Track Students will learn a variety of technology through experiments such as controlling and manoeuvring a mini-robot, building a rain detector with electronic devices, and powering up an environment-friendly fuel cell.
2.	Magical World of Automation What goes on behind a musical fountain? How does it work? Wonder no more. Students at this workshop will learn how to program a fountain! Students will also learn how to use a PLC to generate and control lighting patterns, and dance sequences.
3.	The Heartbeat Detector Abnormal heart rhythms can be a sign of a major problem so it is not a bad idea to monitor your heart rate on a regular basis. Students will have a hands-on session to make their own heartbeat detector. This electronic device combines the knowledge of how blood pulses through our finger tips (human physiology) and how this information can be picked up using optics (physics) to detect the heartbeat.
REPUBLIC POLYTECHNIC
1.	Automa.06 The Automa.06 competition is for students to learn to control the robotic arm and use it to fit jigsaw puzzles pieces into the puzzle. Four individual trophies will be awarded to the students of the top team in the competition.
2.	Logistikos.06 Logistikos.06 is a simulation game. In the morning session, the students will learn to control company’s cash flow and costs, secure and fulfil orders, build factories and warehouses to have sufficient capacity to manufacture and store products. In the afternoon session, the students will learn about supply chain management concepts. Four Trophies would be given out for the champion team for each session.
SINGAPORE POLYTECHNIC
1.	Dancing Structures Students are required to design and construct a stable structure with the given materials. The completed structures which satisfy all the criteria will be placed on a shaking table. The structure which can withstand the dynamic load without falling off the shaking table will be declared the winner.
2.	Wonders of Flight A brief on the mechanics of flight and the use of flight controls. Demonstration of lift and drag on an airfoil in a wind-tunnel. A visit to Cessna 310 and the A4 Skyhawk. Hands-on flying experience on a Flight Simulator.
3.	Solar Energy That You Can Use to Run a Toy Car Solar energy (the energy from the sun) is one of most promising and high potential energy resources because energy in use comes almost entirely from the sun. The solar energy can be converted into electricity directly by photovoltaic (PV) technology. In this workshop, the participants will learn the principle of photovoltaic technology and build a mini-solar car through the hands-on exercise.
TEMASEK POLYTECHNIC
1.	Aerospace - Reach for the Sky In this worskhop, you will apply scientific theories, Newton 's Law of motion and aerodynamics principles to design and fabricate a rocket model using a 1.5 litre pop-bottle and some recycled materials. A water rocket launcher will be used to propel the rocket model high up into the air. Teams will be awarded prizes based on the furthest distance travelled by the rocket and the most innovative design.
2.	Creative Physics Workshop This workshop aims to help you understand the topic “Electricity” in the ‘O’ level Physics examination by taking part in hands-on experiments in basic electricity. You will also apply your creativity in designing electronic signatures and solving digital crossword puzzles.
3.	The Biomedical Experience This workshop introduces you to the interesting world of Biomedical Sciences. You will be playing on-line games related to Biomedical Engineering. You will also learn how biomedical professionals and engineers are improving our quality of life using various biomedical tools.

ANNEX III

SUMMARY OF HIGHLIGHTED ENGINEERING PROJECTS AT THE OPENING OF ENGINEERING WEEK 2006
NANYANG POLYTECHNIC
1.	Slicky Slicky is a robotic snake whose movements are derived from 24 dc servo motors powering the joints in an oscillatory pattern. Passive wheels harness the fiction they have with the ground to propel the snake forward, backwards and side wards – very much like a real snake. The elegant motion is achieved using an innovative control algorithm that runs on a microprocessor embedded in its head. Slicky was designed and developed by the students and staff of Nanyang Polytechnic’s School of Engineering . It won a Gold Medal at the Singapore Robotics Games 2006.
NGEE ANN POLYTECHNIC
1.	Modelling of Aircraft Flight Controls Interested in Aerospace Technology? Try your hand at the various aerobatic manoeuvres that you can execute at the virtual flight control unit developed by Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Online computer tracks the movement of the aircraft when the joystick is moved. Flight parameters such as height, bearing and orientation of the aircraft are displayed on the virtual electronic flight instruments as you "fly" the aircraft. You will also learn about the aircraft's various axes of motions and the mechanics of flight.
REPUBLIC POLYTECHNIC
1.	Secure Credit Card of the Future Currently in all credit cards, the signature of a credit card bearer is recorded in the white strip at the back of the card itself and in the payment transaction process, the cashier will visually validate the signature on the charge slip by comparing it with the signature recorded at the back of the card. It is well known that such a system is prone to signature forgery. However, if the digital image of the signature can be captured, encoded and stored within the memory of RFID-chip in the credit card, a low-cost device which is integrated into point-of-sale machines to read, decode and display the recorded digital signature to the cashier for validation will help make such a transaction process less prone to forgery.
SINGAPORE POLYTECHNIC
1.	Carnival of Robotic Toys See a toy robot controlled from an internet based control platform through the wireless LAN or a reconfigurable omni wheel soccer robot with detachable infra-red, ultrasound, compass and vision sensor. Or try the human-robot interaction system that acquires and processes bioelectric signals through electrodes pasted on the skin to control the movement of the robots simply by moving eyeballs or contracting arm muscles.
TEMASEK POLYTECHNIC
1.	Multi-user 3D Emergency Evacuation Game The project is a Multi-User 3D Network Game based on the Emergency Evacuation Exercise in Temasek Polytechnic. More than a game, it provides information on the evacuation processes in various situations like fire and explosion and also on the roles of different people who are involved in the evacuation. The key features include : Allows training and coordination to be done and tracked digitally. Saves resources incurred in training. Actual TP procedures and environment are built into the game. A Role Playing Game (RPG) environment. Allows public and private chatting. Allows toggling between first and third person views.