nic's blog

In the article “NOMAD, an Integrated Suite of Three Spectrometers for the ExoMars Trace Gas Mission: Technical Description, Science Objectives and Expected Performance”, it talks about a spectrometer suite incorporated into the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, NOMAD (“Nadir and Occultation for Martian Discovery”). The article mentions that the purpose of NOMAD is to study the trace gases, clouds and dust present within Mars’ atmosphere. NOMAD comprises of three spectrometers: Solar Occultation (SO), Limb and Nadir Occultation (LNO) and Ultraviolet/Visible Spectrometer (UVIS). The SO spectrometer only performs solar occultation and works in infrared range. The LNO spectrometer is capable of performing solar and nadir occultation and limb observations. The UVIS spectrometer can be used to detect carbon dioxide ice grains at high altitudes. These spectrometers work with each other to collect data which allows us to understand Mars’ “atmospheric composition and the related physical and chemical ...

  Exomars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) search for traces of atmospheric gases on Mars that could be evidence of ongoing biological and geological processes. Biomarkers reveal the possibility of life on Mars. The TGO comprises of 4 scientific instruments to help achieve its goal - Atmospheric Chemistry Suite, Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System, Fine Resolution Epithermal Neutron Detector and Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery (NOMAD).  NOMAD uses solar occultation and reflected light nadir observations to identify methane and other atmospheric constituents. It has three spectrometers, two infrared and one ultraviolet. An instrument with three spectrometers is used: one for solar occultation measurements alone, one for both limb and occultation measurements simultaneously, and one for ultraviolet and visible measurements as well. It will detect isotopologues of many key Martian atmospheric species. NOMAD will provide global 4D views of the atmosphere of Mars by combining ...

Dear Prof Brad, I am writing this email to introduce myself, hoping for you to get to know me better. Before coming to Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), I was pursuing a diploma in information technology at Singapore Polytechnic. I first started having an interest in engineering when I was building Lego. Then I moved on to building kits from K’nex that have a motor as I wanted to see what I build move. This led me to be interested in robotics where mechanics and software are combined in a machine. Regarding my communication skills, I feel that I tend to speak softly and a little high pitched in front of a very large crowd. This happened in secondary school when I had to present a short segment during the morning assembly in front of the whole school. Even though I did not do an excellent job in my delivery of the speech, my teacher was encouraging and told me that I did a good job with the content and presentation slides despite the short time frame. When it comes to communi...

I think that there would be more emphasis on effective communication and critical thinking in the workplace as the research mentioned in the excerpt shows what ineffective is costing companies. In the excerpt, it mentions “Poor communication is also linked to poor employee engagement and attrition.” There may be more employee engagement programs organized in hopes that this would improve relationships between employees and the relationship between the employer and employees. In return, hoping that this would result in better communication which helps improve the way information is being conveyed which eventually could influence the way things are done at work. When attrition occurs, there needs to be effective communication to be clear on the new tasks or responsibilities that the employees have due to the decline in the number of workers. When the responsibilities are not made clear, employees may get frustrated or confused. I feel that effective communication can only be achiev...

“While all engineers should have good communication skills, global engineers face additional challenges, making effective communication an imperative.” Debra Kraft, Careers Content Writer, Demand Media (2016) While an engineer ought to have good communication skills, the added task of having to work internationally and communicate with many people from around the world for global engineers makes effective communication even more so important and necessary.