Brief Overview/Summary


Tuesday was my first TWC lesson with Prof Shahi, and I must say, it was certainly different from anything I had experienced before.

For the first part of the lesson we went into the topic of building a sustainable model for technology and industrial development. How the old economic model of industrialisation used by so many developed countries must cease to be used, as the emerging economies will attempt to build on their previous examples. The United States accounts for only 5% of the global population but consumes 30% of the world's resources, this is a largely disproportionate amount. As the need to create technologies that can sustain the environment increases, it will also lead to the green tech revolution picking up more steam.

Next up was the individual presentation, Bernadette brought up a very interesting topic on Urban Aquaponics, which was an example of the cyclical industrial model brought up at the start of the lesson. It showed how much potential was inside the area of sustainable technology, and that more innovation and expertise was needed.

Yu Hui was second with her presentation of the new clean technology in Israel, which was vital to the country as it was surrounded by middle eastern countries and could be forced to provide their own energy in times of war.

The 2nd half of the lesson was about technology and innovation management. We generate large amounts of ideas everyday, but only a minimal amount of them will have to potential for great success. Innovation is all about doing something different, and it must be done consistently as well, because others will constantly want to emulate your example. A process which was unheard of by me, the R-D-A process was mentioned as well, it represented a much more realistic picture of the mindsets of successful businessmen and entrepreneurs alike. The R and D process is commonly known to everyone, but the application process was something implicit but yet indispensible in order for the product to be highly demanded in the economy.

Leon then gave a very unique one word per page presentation on the growth of google and how it has come to impact our everyday lives. We went on to discuss about how google has all information on our searches, which places the company in a very powerful position, be it to do good or evil. Currently, google has used the information to do good, but there is no telling what may happen should a malicious 3rd party get their hands on it, countless people will be victim to exploitation.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

The phrase on the whiteboard "Sustainability requires a shift from linear to circular thinking" brought about somewhat of a revelation to me. It finally dawned on to me that degradation problems still persists because we are unable to break out of the old linear industrial model, where economic development and environmental thinking were at loggerheads with each other. In this model, as an unaware consumer, I might just utilise several thousand pages of paper without realising how many trees were cut down from it. Every individual in the linear chain were simply concerned for their own well being and not for the whole big picture.

A new circular model, where every party is responsible or will feel the repercussions for the actions of another party has to be come into place. Either a middle ground has to come into place between the need for economic growth and environmental conservation or we have to wait for green technology to develop to the next level. Developing countries will have to start finding ways to head to the service based industries without going through industrialisation.

One of the queries for the presentation of Urban Aquaponics was also of great debate, the feasiblity of such an idea in Singapore. Singapore is a place with many fish farms, both fresh and saltwater. Should we adopt the technique for these farms, we could definitely save on the consumption of freshwater and increase the production of vegetables. It is different from hydroponics in a sense that it does not simply involve plants, but fishes as well, so to write the idea off simply because hydroponics cannot work in Singapore is wrong. Of course, this will not be sufficient to sustain Singapore on its own, but we will be less reliant on others. Granted, as my peers had pointed out, the issue of cost still has to be sorted out, with the most possible solution via further innovation to cut cost.

Key Takeaways

Perceptions have to be changed in order to create a sustainable planet for the future, as individuals we can do our part, but not without the help of the governments and large corporations. This has to work both on a micro and macro level.

The valley, summit and cloud opportunities concept was one I am sure everyone in the class would take back. We always look to the sky as the limit, it will be where dreams and ideas are formed, amidst the clouds, yet to be truly completed. The summit is currently where some of the world's most successful innovators, such as Apple stand. The world is their oyster, they control large amount of the various industries they operate in, or even multiple industries. However, should they cease to innovate, their competitors will soon catch up with them and squeeze them down to the valley, where everyone is clamouring to stand out and it is tough to do so. Examples of valley to summit, such as the French fighting for the rights for the term "champagne" are far and few between.

Research is like a giant tank that is stored in our head, constantly growing exponentially with ideas, many of our ideas remain in the embryonic stage. Sometimes all our ideas will remain in that stage if we do not voice them out or attempt them. The trick is to sieve out the diamonds among the giant piles of ideas, and work on them, this can only come with experience, through the process of trying to make an idea work

Issues for further discussion

Those in power are always resistant to change, that is why the world's most powerful leaders rarely get anything truly fruitful done on environmental issues, be it due to fear from suffering an economic backlash or pressure from large corporations. What are some of the ways in which we can change this? Will developing a circular economic model and asking them to adhere to it be sufficient, what if they refuse to change for profit reasons or they are unconvinced?

Having technology as well as being market driven are the main drivers of innovation, but in the lesson we discussed them as seperate entities. If you have funding, then you can afford to come up with an innovation based on technology. However, are they really two seperate entities? Looking at some of the most highly demanded innovations in the world recently, such as the IPhone, it was created based on both market demand as well as technology. Will technology alone be sufficient as a driver of innovation?

The hot-air car which was brought up in lesson reminded me of the electric car in the 1970s, even though it was invented then, the large corporations which still relied on fuel based cars bought over the idea and kept it secret. This carried on for the next few decades until the need to be more environmental friendly became more apparent. Are there currently any ideas that mirror that of the electric car in the 1970s which are being kept secret by large corporations?

Personal Ratings

I rated the lesson a 7, a broad spectrum of topics were covered, it was my first lesson so the influx of information was too great at times and I could not absorb everything. I hope that in subsequent weeks when I get used to the pace of the lesson, I will be able to absorb useful insights from both the prof and my peers.