Week 6

Brief Overview/Summary
The class focused mainly on the bio-medical industry, and how would it change our current society, in the way we are cared, or the methods of treatment, and the focus of the industry.
Interesting Observations and Ideas

• Technology will change the focus of health care, such as care by A.I. instead of humans.
• Change of global culture resulting in decreasing infectious diseases such as cholorea, to chronic diseases caused by modern livestyle (i.e obesity)

Key Take Away Points

• Ideas in the health care industry take a long time to take off as compared to many other industries, due to the relative importance of proper testing to ensure no harmful side effects, but most of the time it is way too slow
• The side and scope of bio business is far larger than expected, and it permeates pretty much every facet of our lives, with huge potential for future growth
• The advantages bionic parts can bring up on to the competitive scene, as they are improved continuously and could potential take over actual biological ones.

Issues for Further Discussion

• The potential development for the sector is big, especially with in the medical industries, however, bulk of the future technologies bring up many ethnic concerns, then should humans be allowed longer lifespans, despite the amount of resources we use up.
• The time taken for new technology in the field, such as meds are taking too long, yet there are still unethical companies releasing improper products, is such testing even useful, if companies can just bypass by different methods.

Personal Ratings for Session

• 8/10, the lesson covered many parts of the industry which is relatively unknown to most people.

Week 5

Brief Overview/Summary

The lesson is about different information and communications technology, how the different technology affects and would revolutionize our lives.
Interesting Observations and Ideas

• What it means to be human now- what we do, what we have, what we use or is it based on the collective social consciousness that we should have, or be able to do- a need to be integrated into social media, or different technologies or just get left behind.
• Cloud computing- At the moment limited to mainly data sharing and storage purposes, whereas cloud processing, which people can offload their computer processes such as calculations, data processing, this could possibly increase the pace of research and result in faster development by making them more cost efficient.
• The inter connectivity of our current society, makes us highly dependent on technology, such that it would probably be unlivable for most people. It is also the bane of our current society, as we depend on the internet for information. However, if the information we get is incorrect or meant to mislead people by malicious means. http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2265506/chinese-hackers-hijack-us-government-website-to-spread-malware As you can see, even governments are still susceptible to hacking, makes us wonder what can we trust on the the internet.
• The view on augmented reality in retail is actually being used in many games, such as games which are catered for children, they are able to try on different outfits in games, such as the new generation consoles, which have recognition functions, to make control easy.

Key Take Away Points

• Adopting a technology does not mean just having the machinery, it means making full use and be able to use it efficiently to pass information in a more interactive way. Not having the skills or creativity to use it would just mean more junk to be discarded when there is a newer product available
• Many technologies are already available, they are just not used due to high costs, impractical applications or just the lack of public's knowledge to push for the adoption of the technology.

Issues for Further Discussion

• In the first reading, there is an issue on how ICT has leveled the playing field for businesses in developing nations. Though has it really leveled, by ICTs it has provided many avenues in which these business could just set up a web page for advertising cheaply. However, do big businesses not have any advantage, as now these big companies are still  able to do a very comprehensive advertising strategies which goes through every facet of our lives, such as the constant bombardment of web adverts in this digital age, as compared to smaller businesses starting in developing countries.
• The want and the desire for freedom in the modern age, as compared to the uptake of modern technology which usually forces us to give up on our privacy, it is a paradoxical relationship which we are trapped in. How should we progress forward, or is the want for freedom characterized by the loss or privacy?

Personal Ratings for Session

8/10. The lesson was comprehensive, which covered all facets of the ICTs in the industry, it also brings up the point that, we are a society which thrives on ICT as a driver for world change, yet we are seamlessly being attracted, and addicted to it.

Week 4

Brief Overview/Summary

The lesson is about what drives world change, and the effect of a management and leadership change has on the profits, the direction and how in many case might be the changing factor of a company from negative to positive.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

• An interesting observation which i have seen would be that a lot of the drivers of world change in the reports, are similar.
• Leadership at the management level is often a key to the failure or success of the company
• Gandhi's quote in the slides is sobering thought which upholds the need for one to be an example in order to influence others to do the same.
• The change from the traditional model to the modern model shows the new to be adaptable, however, would the changes get faster till the point it would be hard for most people to keep up?

Key Take Away Points 

• If we realize we need to change, it would be up to ourselves to influence, since without any initiative, the lure of just staying put would prevent any progress.
• The change to a sustainable living has started to influence every facet of our life, all that's left would be to make the bulk of the technology affordable, so more people would be willing to take it up.

Issues for Further Discussion 

• Is there a need for a constant change of leadership, or is it better to change when only when there is a need to? 

Personal Ratings for Session

8/10, the lesson proceeded was well-paced as we got to hear the opinions of many people in the class, and discuss the issues brought up despite the packed schedule. 

TWC individual outline

Electromagnetics-Ticket to a better future

Lwee Yong Xin Michael (michaellwee.2013@business.smu.edu.sg), 1st Year student, Bachelor of Business Management, Singapore Management University
Executive Summary
"I happen to have discovered a direct relation between magnetism and light, also electricity and light, and the field it opens is so large and I think rich" -Michael Faraday

Electromagnetism as stated by Michael Faraday, is a wide field whose developments has changed the way we test and develop new technologies from various fields, due to the interactive nature of the field.

This paper examines the way electromagnetics have been used as the basis for many technologies in the past 2 centuries, and how it's application has improved, allowing the incorporation into current and future technologies to make more efficient machines.

1. Introduction

2. Historical Perspectives

2.1 Electrical Telegraph

2.2 Radar

3. Current Applications

3.1 Maglev

3.2 Electromagnetic Jamming

3.3 Wireless

4. Future Applications

4.1 Electromagnetic Railguns

4.2 Wireless Charging Roads For Electric Vechicles

5 Implications

5.1 Social Implications

Health and Safety Risks

5.2 Environmental implications

5.3 Political Implications

6. Conclusion

7. References

Week 3

Brief Overview
The lesson looks at the change to industrial perspectives from the past to the current model of higher sustainability, and innovation in the different industries and how does it fit into the current consumer culture.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

• The change from 'linear' to 'cyclical', where the development is more sustainable, however, is it sufficient in this global context to prevent the deterioration of the world
• The increase in the speed of development for the different generations of backward countries, mainly due to the ease of communication and movement over time due to technological advances.
• The R.D.A. process of dreams, nightmare and reality 
• The idea of Venus Project, is like Noah's Ark in Bible, it might at accurate prediction of our future, if Earth's condition deteriorates to the extent enclosed cities are needed for survival.

Key Take Away Points

• The increase prominence of clean, alternative source of energy, which solar energy takes about 10 years to repay itself in costs. Possibility of a city outfitted with all solar panels to sustain itself without any other energy inputs.
• Innovation is profit driven, since now sustainability sells, more companies are moving towards that direction to make more 'green' products, thus, more vital to persuade consumers to make the 'green' shift, in order to sustain the current pace of development. 

Issues for Further Discussion 
The lesson has discussed the issues involved in quite great depth, if i had to choose, it would be the possible situations, in which would lead to a plan like the Venus Project being viable and accepted.

Personal Ratings for Session
I would give a 9/10, despite the late start, we are still able to discuss and keep in pace for the whole class pretty much all the issues which needed to be covered.

Week 2

 Well, the second week was the first round of individual presentations which presented particularly intriguing ideas and issues for us to think about.

Brief Overview/Summary 
  The themes discussed in this session would be how countries, cultures, or even companies attempt to exert influence, in order to gain an advantage in their environments. Then, we looked at the development of technology and humanity over the times as a whole.

Interesting Observations and Ideas
  Prof talked about a brief overview of the world, and most interestingly the topic of colonialism and the atrocities committed in that era. Whilst Singapore's time under Britain was mainly positive, as the English helped to build the infrastructures which drove the economy in early Singapore, and even set up the basic structures of Singapore's governance. Yet, to compare, not all colonial efforts by the English were nearly as civilized, as stated, they often resort to slavery, genocide or other measures. However, there is also another group which we can draw parallels with, which are the Japanese. The Japanese took over Singapore, Malaysia and even large parts of China as their efforts to colonize for the development of the Asian regions, as they believed they were superior, thus they should lead. In these countries, Japan was seen as an aggressor, though, their efforts were not totally negative. In Taiwan, many of the older generations still remember the how the Japanese bought many benefits and development to a largely neglected by China. Thus, colonialism is largely determined by what governance does the colonist brings in, which would determine the period to be positive or negative.

  On Sylvester's presentation on eugenics, many of the views seem to sound extreme, however, it remains that there are many facts within his arguments. His ideas, are that we should embrace eugenics as a means for humans to evolve further, at the stance that if only superior genes are left, humans are able to improve intellectually based to just pure IQ. This would allow our further generations to maybe discover things faster, put resources to better use. Yet our average IQ has decreased in this few decades, due to less selection, as our environment and resources are spread out, such that all sectors of society is able to live and reproduce successfully, thus, bringing the quality of our gene pool down, due to a loss in selection pressures. Yet, wouldn't it be a type of selection pressure if you would say, since the loss is attributed to how successful humans are in controlling their environment, that this is the way nature is attempting to bring humans back to a more controllable level, by slowing down our development.

Key Take Away Points
  A main key take away point for me would be the rising star and falling star theory, it helps us to analyze various reasons why civilizations rise and fall. It is also a philosophical viewpoint that shows if we wish to continue to progress as a leading nation, we need to be hungry and willing to be receptive to all ideas.
  Another take away from this, is that whether we are willing, times change and if you do not move with it, you will be left behind. Yet if you move too fast, you risk facing many issues, such as genetic discrimination in the case of eugenics, like the movie Gattaca.

Issues for Further Discussion
  The time which we spend for the eugenics, more time could have been spent in the discussion of this radical topic, in which we should have examined the different concerns more closely. The discussion on the happiness index seems insufficient too due to time constraints. More suggestions could also been given to the presenters, on how should they improve their presentations.

Personal Ratings
  I would rate this lesson a 7/10, despite having so much interesting topics, the time management of the session was way off, making the coverage of the topics seem quite superficial, due to a lack of in depth discussion.