Some kind advice on investments from Dr. Wong Lian Aik

Dr. Wong Lian Aik is my teacher for the Advanced Written English. During the classes, he not only teaches us the knowledge regarding how to write a thesis, but also gives us some excellent advices on life. The following is the summary of his advices. Hope I can master them.

Do you still remember what I said to you at the beginning of the semester regarding the investments in your life?  I'd like to repeat them as follows:

*Knowledge and skills in your area(s) of specialization (For this, you should be proud of yourselves for having reached the highest level of education – Ph.D.)

*Ability to read and write, and communicate effectively  (Most of you have done well in this although there is still scope for improvement, especially in your spoken English for some among you.)

*Relationships/networking (This is important for your career development and you should start building on this if you have not done much in this area.)

*Finance management (If you have not had a financial plan for your life, start immediately.  Begin by putting away some money in a fixed deposit with a reputable bank or some very safe instrument every month.  The earlier you do this, the better it would be for your life.  When you are more established in your career and financially, you can take more calculated risks for better returns over mid and longer terms.)

*Physical and spiritual health  (This is as important as the other four, if not more important.  Set a noble vision, have a faith, eat wisely and exercise often.  This will give you the courage and strength to go on your life journey and become happy human beings.)

Fast Tool Servo Diamond Turning of micro-structured surfaces

    Fast Tool Servo (FTS) Diamond Turning is increasingly becoming an important technique for fabrication of micro-structured surfaces (or free-form surface, non-axisymmetrical surfaces, etc). It differs from the conventional diamond turning in that an additional axis, which is named Fast Tool Servo (FTS) or Slow Slide Servo (SSS), is integrated into the conventional diamond turning machine. The newly integrated axis is able to move the cutting tool in and out of the workpiece rapidly within one spindle rotation. The mainly difference between FTS and SSS is the their bandwidth. The bandwidth for SSS is normally below 100 Hz [1], while the bandwidth for FTS can go up to 10 kHz (the normal bandwidth is serveral kHz) [2-5] depending on the types of actuators used and the structural design.In addition, the stroke for the FTS is normally very small within micrometer range, while the stroke for the SSS is in millimeter range.Therefore, FTS diamond turning is limited to machine surfaces with feature height below 1 mm.

    A FTS diamond turning machined is developed at the Advanced Manufacturing Lab at National University of Singapore as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 is a closer view of the machine. A piezoelectric type FTS was developed and integrated into a miniature lathe [6] to realized the function of machining micro-structured surfaces.  

  

Fig.1 A photo for the self-developed FTS Diamond Turning machine at Advanced Manufacturing Lab, National University of Singapore.

Fig.2 A closer view of the FTS Diamond Turning machine.

    Some typical examples of the fabricated micro-structured surfaces are micro-lens array, aspheric lens, Fresnel lenses, sinusoidal grid, etc. Fig. 3 shows a photo of a fabricated micro-lens array. It was measured by whitelight interferometer and an example of the measured result is shown in Fig. 4. It can be seen that the micro-lens array was successfully fabricated with good surface fidelity. 

Fig.3 Photo of a fabricated micro-lens array

Fig. 4 Measurement of portion of the micro-lens array

    To explore the capability of the FTS diamond turning machine, my photo as shown in Fig. 5 is used to generate motion command for fabrication. The machined surface was once again measured by Vecco White-light Interferometer. 2D and 3D view of the measured surface are shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 respectively.

Fig. 5 My photo used for machining.

Fig. 6 2D view of the machined surface measured by Veeco Whitelight interferometer.

Fig. 7 3D view of the machined surface.

References:

[1]http://www.tlatla.net/Res11/4/images/PDFs/Slow%20Slide%20Servo%20Applications%20-%20Y.%20Tohme%2005.05.pdf

[2]Lu, X.-. and D.L. Trumper, Ultrafast Tool Servos for Diamond Turning. CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology, 2005. 54(1): p. 383-388.

[3] Trumper, D. and X. Lu, Fast Tool Servos: Advances in Precision, Acceleration, and Bandwidth. Towards Synthesis of Micro-/Nano-systems, 2007: p. 11-19.

[4] Yu D.P., Gan S.W., Wong Y.S., Rahman M., and Hong G.S., "Design of a Fast tool servo based Diamond Turning Machine for Fabricating Micro-structured Surfaces," Key Engineering Materials, 443, pp. 669-674, 2010.

[5] Yu D.P., Gan S.W., Wong Y.S., Rahman M., and Hong G.S., "An Optimization Approach for Tool Path Generation of Micro-structured Surfaces in FTS-based Diamond Turning," The 3rd international conference of Asian Society for precision engineering and nanotechnology, Kitakyushu, Japan, 2009.

[6] Gan S.W., Rahman M., and Lim H.S., "Development of a fine tool servo with force monitoring system for nanomachining applications," J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B, 27-3, pp. 1272-1277, 2009.

Reading Notes for "水煮三国"

水煮三国笔记

1. 时间管理的技巧：大约可以分为高、中、低三个层次。低层次的管理技巧着重利用便条和备忘录，在忙碌中自行调配时间和精力。中层次的管理技巧强调行事历与日程表，反映时间管理已注意到规划的重要性。高层次的管理技巧讲究对事务的分类处理，按轻重缓急进行优先解决。在这三种层次中，由于工作量和工作对专业的要求，都有一个授权的问题。

紧急 不紧急

A（碎石型的事务） B（石块型的事务）
* 危机 * 发掘新机会
* 急迫的问题 * 规划
* 有期限压力的计划 * 改进产能
* 建立伙伴关系
* 防患于未然
C（细沙型的事务） D（水型的事务）
* 不速之客的接待 * 一些可做可不做的杂事
* 某些信件、文件、电话的处理 * 一些不必要的应酬
* 某些会议的出席 * 有趣的活动
* 某些必要而不重要的会议、活动

整天忙于处理碎石型事务的人，时刻有压力感，总在处理危机、收拾残局，因此显得心力交瘁。偏重于沙子一类事务的人，通常缺乏自制力、短期行为严重，喜欢巧言令色，人际关系浮泛。偏重于水一类事务的人，可谓全无责任感，恐怕连自己如何维生都很困难。

偏重于石块一类事务的人，他的碎石会很少。偏重于碎石一类事务的人，他的碎石会源源不断。

只有偏重于石块一类事务的人，才是真正有效率的人，他善于审时度势，能够抓住问题的关键，急所当急，当机立断并防患于未然。尽管有时也会有燃眉之急，却能设法降到最低。因此，这类人显得有远见、有理想，守纪律，自制力强，生活平衡有规律，而且能成大事。

2. 自助者天助：自助与天助之间究竟有什么关系呢？
       1.真正的自助者是令人敬佩的觉悟者，他会藐视困难，而困难在他的面前也会令人奇怪地轰然倒地—这个过程简直有如天神相助。
      2.真正的自助者就像黑夜里发光的萤火虫，不仅会照亮自己，而且能赢得别人的欣赏—当人们欣赏一个人时，往往会用帮助的形式表示爱护—好运气因此而降临。
      3.人们相信，一个真正的自助者最终会实现他的成功，而所有帮助过他的人也会为此感到欣慰。
      4.如果自助者懂得报恩，人们就会给他更多的帮助，他因此可以更加轻松地面对生活。


3. 如果说这一盒沙子就像我们面对的生活、挫折和枯燥的书本，那么，这块磁铁就是一颗充满爱的心。心在哪里，你的财富就在哪里—如果你有一颗充满爱的心，那么，它会在你的书本里、在你的生活中寻找，从中找到许多有益身心的知识，就像磁铁能吸出铁屑一样。但是，一颗不懂得爱的心却像你的手指，它在沙子里面找呀找，可怎么也找不到一点点铁屑。难道不是吗？同学们，只要你有一颗热爱生活的心灵，你就总是能够发现，每一天都有收获，每一天都有积累，每一天都有值得高兴的事情。 心在哪里，你的财富就在哪里—不论你们今后遇到怎样的困难、怎样的逆境、怎样的迷茫，都要相信这句至理名言。不论何时何地，只要有一颗真正的爱心，你们就能像磁铁一样，吸引到有用的资源、美好的事物以及幸福的生活。


4. 做个受欢迎的人
              第一，每天对着镜子练习微笑；
    
    　　第二，遇到同学，要亲切地打招呼；
    
    　　第三，以一颗善良的心主动去帮助别人；
    
    　　第四，人非圣贤，孰能无过？以同理心来宽容地对待身边的每一个人；
    
    　　第五，坚信善待他人就是善待自己的公关哲学。


5. 让心灵充满激情
    到哪里去找这种源源不绝的积极思想呢？
    水龙头里的水代表着快乐、活力和积极的想法，它能稀释你的烦恼、冲走你的困惑、排除所有消极的东西。就像你需要一杯清水一样，你应该去选择那些积极的令人振奋的思想，让它不断地冲刷你的心灵。
    只要你不怀疑，那些快乐、肯定、哲理名言、对事物的美好想像、对自我的嘉许，甚至仅仅是一句座右铭，都能够源源不绝地激荡你的心灵。可是，只要你怀疑，你就会沉寂下来—只要你一沉寂下来，那些积极思想也会停止作用—而尘世间的种种烦恼仿佛漂移不定的灰尘，就会趁机把你的清水变得浑浊。