Eavesdrop

As an international student, I try to create opportunities for myself to improve my English. “Eavesdrop”, to some extent, is helpful to improve my listening. In the dinning hall or on the bus, I concentrate on people’s conversations. Sometimes empathy triggered by their words even changes my mood. Here are two examples.

Picture from borderchallenge.net

On the last day of fall break, people came back to campus. In the Woodruff Dining Hall, I was having dinner alone. There were two guys sitting at the next table, talking about how their break’s going. A said “I came back home and played at the beaches for two days.” B replied “You are so lucky, man. My home is too far away from here. So I only stayed at the dorm and went to CRC, so boring.” At that moment, I even did not need to imagine myself as B since we both could not go home during the break. I was thinking if I could go home, I would be able to have meals with mum and dad; I would be able to hang out with my old friends; I would be able to…No doubt, I would be envious of A’s fall break and feel a little depressed. Then I could only end up by saying “Well, there’s only half of the semester to go. I will be home soon.” In this case, I have the empathy for B. To be honest, when B was talking about his break, I did imagine the layout of my house and the skyline of my hometown Shanghai. Their talk made me down for a little while.

Here’s another case. Yesterday after dinner I walked back to dorm. On my way, two guys walking beside me were looking at the sky. C said “Look at the star beside the moon! I think it’s Polaris.” Then D pointed at another direction and said “Look at that! I think that’s Polaris.” Seconds later, C laughed “That thing is moving! Hahaha!” If I were D, I must be very embarrassed, although mistaking a plane for Polaris is not a big deal. I would think how careless I was and then laugh with C together.

To me, eavesdrop is no longer a way to practice my listening, but a shortcut to emphasize with others and to experience others’ worlds.

Diary of my 90th birthday

picture from http://www.workathomenoscams.com/2009/11/10/work-at-home-no-scams-120-birthday-giveaway/

Date: 10/01/2082   Thursday      Weather: Sunny

Today is my 90th birthday. Almost all my family came and congratulated me on this big day. We went to my favourite Chinese restaurant for dinner. In the lobby, I saw an old photo of me blowing candles on my tenth birthday. Also in the photo, mum and dad were standing beside me. We were so young at that time. Watching a little boy running upstairs, I sighed. Andrew pushed me and wheelchair into the lift and said “Dad, everybody is waiting for us. Are you excited?” “Oh, yes”, I replied.

I forgot what the dishes were at the dinner but I clearly remember what I said at the end of the toast “….God bless the family of Sheng. God bless the People’s Republic of China.”

Now I’m sitting in front of the desk, writing diary on my computer. I check my Facebook. Several old friends of my age send me “Happy B-day” messages. I also notice many friends never show up online again. I’m lucky to survive into nineties.

I think about the question my great grandson asked me at the dinner: “What have you accomplished in your life, great grandpa?”

I was the first person studying abroad in my family. I graduated from Georgia Tech and then after several years’ work, I came back to Shanghai and started my own business in the field of electricity generation. For the rest of my career, I was a successful businessman and my company grew bigger and bigger. I married Anna and had two kids. My family life is always happy.

When thinking about my career, once again I question myself: What if I worked on the research of smart grid instead of selling equipments to power plants? I used to convince myself that I’m not good at researching; like my dad and grandfather, I’m more capable of running business. But what contributions have I made to the world? Almost none.

When I was ten, I said to my mum that if I could make changes to the world and be commemorated by people after I died, then living for only 40 years would still be worthwhile.

Now my age is more than twice of that number but I seem to have forgotten my meaning of living almost in my entire adult life.

How can I forget that? Tears roll down my cheeks.

Mini-Saga: Reunion

edit by myself (source: http://www.qqnannv.com)

 

In JFK Airport, little Chou and Zhou played  together. They couldn’t understand each other’s words.

When picking up each kid, Chou’s dad and Zhou’s mum met and froze. Old Chou murmured “How are you these years? (In Chinese)”

A man’s voice broke in “Who’s this gentleman, darling? (In Chinese)”

 

 

 

Explanations:

The story above is about an accidental “reunion”.  Chou’s dad and Zhou’s mum were once a couple and had two kids . After divorce, Zhou’s mum took little Zhou back to China and married the man who comes at last. Old Chou and little Chou live U.S.

“Chou” and “Zhou” are the same family name in Chinese while “Chou” is used in U.S. So little Chou and Zhou are brothers but one speaks English and the other speaks Chinese.

 

 

 

Follow me to learn about the exciting future!

After doing some research, I’ve had a clear view of the smart grid technology. But for most people, it may still be hard to understand or its effect may be underestimated. Now I’m going to tell you my exciting discoveries in a more understandable way, not just what smart grid can do, but what YOU can benefit from it.

1 You can not only save money, but can also MAKE MONEY by smart grid!

Every family spends a portion of income on electricity expenses. Smart grid can save people money not by lowering the energy price, but by helping you make rational decisions. For example, the smart meter (device affiliated to the grid) in your house will let you know your usage of electricity. It can tell how much you have to pay if you open the dish washer or recharge the electric vehicle under the current price of electricity.

Moreover, you can make money from the smart grid just by applying the basic strategy in the stock market: buying electricity at lower price and selling it back when the price goes up. Since the price of electricity varies in different times of the day, buying surplus electricity at off-peak time and selling it back during peak hours is a good idea to earn some “pocket money”.

2 Farewell to blackouts!

Electric grid worked hard to avoid power failure in the past decades but still in August 2003, people living in Northeast U.S experienced the “Great Blackout”.

(Blackout in NYC)

Smart grid can avoid power failure with the help of a large number of sensors. These sensors are connected to the grid in order to collect information and send it to the “control room” of electricity utility. The “information” includes the electricity consumption from the demand side, whether certain part of the power line is overheated and so on. Operators in the control room will know the real-time condition of the grid at once. Suppose there’s potential risk of power failure in your house but you are unaware of it, operators can switch off certain appliances for you so that blackout is avoided!

3 Cleaner energy, more available!

Smart grid also plays a key role in clean energy development because it improves the efficiency of power transmission and distribution.

Wind farm in Texas

Alternative energy resources are found far away from industrial cities and districts, for example, the abundant wind resources in mid U.S. However, there’s no industry nearby so electricity has to be transported in a long distance. Such transportation wastes much energy. Compared to the old grid, smart grid is fit for long-distance energy transportation because it can collect and deliver energy in a more efficient way.  When the cost of energy transportation becomes cheaper,  smart grid will to a great extent boost the clean energy generation.

Now are you excited about the benefits you will get from the smart grid? I believe all these wonderful things will happen in the near future!

Reference:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrcqA_cqRD8

  A symposium of smart grid; You can find Georgia Tech‘s professor Divan at 0’16” !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8cM4WfZ_Wg

Scientific American’s vivid illustration

Four Giants in Power Generation

In my last blog, I talked about my career goal of power generation and more specifically, the “smart grid”. This time I will tell you some giants’ feat in my “goal” field.

1  Thomas Edison (1847-1931)

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison is a great inventor. It’s no surprise that he also made great contributions to power generation.

After inventing the DC (direct current) generator, Edison originated the concept and implementation of electric-power generation and distribution to homes, businesses, and factories – a crucial development in the modern industrialized world. His idea of power distribution is actually the earliest form of “grid”.

2 Nikola Tesla (1856-1943)

Nikola Tesla

Unlike the famous Edison, Tesla did not leave people with deep impressions. To me, “Tesla” appears more often as the unit of the magnetic intensity; I know little about the person “Tesla”. But the truth is, in the field of power generation, Tesla’s feat is probably greater than that of Edison.

Tesla invented the AC (alternating current) Motor. This invention markedly reshaped the form of power distribution because the long-distance DC current distribution required people to build power station one every other mile, while for the AC current distribution, there only needed to be a little transformer station, which costed far less than a power station. As a result, Tesla’s invention took the lead.

A War changing our world

Later, the two great inventors became adversaries in part because of Edison’s promotion of direct current (DC) over the more efficient alternating current advocated by Tesla. Finally, Tesla won the “War of Currents” and to a great extent helped usher in the “Second Industrial Revolution”.

3 General Electric (1892-  )

General Electric

Then I change my target from single person to a group of innovators, GE.

GE has a long history of generating electricity. It is still the most influential company in the power generation industry. In recent years, GE keeps spending huge amount of capital and effort to research the renewable energy and pollution control. It has already done great jobs in both fields. Moreover, as my potential “employer”, GE attracts me with its world-leading research and practice on the “smart grid”.

Here is the website of GE’s smart grid. You can find vivid portraits of smart grid and convincing data on it:

http://ge.ecomagination.com/smartgrid/#/landing_page

Here is a video introducing the future “smart grid”:

http://ge.ecomagination.com/smartgrid/#/video

I can’t help but feel excited about the GE’s ideas and conceptions of the “smart grid”. I wish I can be a part of it and make my own effort to the world!

4 IBM (1911-  )

IBM

Before watching this video, I had the stereotype of IBM as a company making laptops. But now I surprisingly find that IBM is also a pioneer in the field of “smart grid”.

IBM is helping utilities add a layer of digital intelligence to their grids. These smart grids use sensors, meters, digital controls and analytic tools to automate, monitor and control the two-way flow of energy across operations—from power plant to plug. A power company can optimize grid performance, prevent outages, restore outages faster and allow consumers to manage energy usage right down to the individual networked appliance.

IBM’s “Smart  grids” can also incorporate new renewable energies such as solar and wind power, and interact locally with distributed power sources, or plug-in electric vehicles.

I’m going to compare the “GE version” and “IBM version” of smart grid and find which one is more feasible to be applied to the Chinese grid system. Then I’ll make the decision and start my career.

These four” giants” will keep motivating  and enlightening me  in the future.

Smart Grid & Power Generation

As the son of a businessman who trades with power plants, I have shown great interest in electricity since my childhood. Once seeing the black smoke released by a power plant, I asked my father whether burning coal was the only way to generate electricity. He said it was the cheapest way for China even though it led to polluted skies. At that time I set a goal: improving the power generation in China.

 

Traditional power plants are polluting our earth.

Last year, I learned a wonderful thing called “smart grid”. Compared to the old grid, “smart grid” can save much more energy when transporting electricity to different parts of the country. It can also avoid blackouts and many other undesirable malfunctions. To me, the biggest advantage of “smart grid” is that it will allow people to store electricity in batteries for later use at off-peak times. In other words, “smart grid” will find a smart way to manage energy and improve the efficiency of people’s lives. However, “smart grid” is still being developed and some research shows that upgrading grids costs much more than we thought. If the “smart grid” technology can be more mature and less expensive, the low-carbon power generation will no longer be out of reach in China.

 

This is the ideal form of the "Smart Grid" in the future.

These are my motivations to study electrical engineering at Georgia Tech. After four years’ study, I will know some basic knowledge of electricity generation. But it’s far from enough. I will apply to GE(General Electric)’s department of power generation and learn how the real “smart grid” works. When I’m able to manage the “smart grid” technology, I will go back to China and try to make it fit into the Chinese grid system. Maybe I will even start my own business to promote the “smart grid”…

 

Although there are many uncertainties in the future, I will stick to my goal and work hard to make it come true.

 

Invention Mob 10 Materials

The following link will lead you to the  final products of “GT Family”. We’ve finished all we planned.

inventionmob10.wordpress.com

I’m making the board! (MOB 10)

Our group work is divided into three parts:  Michelle and Yiyi draw the world map; Minsik and I make the game board and the game cards; Thomas is in charge of making the video.

Now I have finished most parts of the game board. The materials I use are eco-friendly and do not cost much money.  After we finish making the game, we’ll play the game first to check whether the rules of our “monopoly” are “player-friendly” or not.

We’ll try to make people understand how to play the games and the purpose of our project.

Invention Mob: Different backgrounds, One family

Our project’s objective is to create the opportunities for both groups of American and international students to understand each other better.

There will be three parts.  The first one is a survey which asks both groups of students some questions about their backgrounds and whether they are willing to learn the other group’s culture.  These days we are gathering data in two ways: inviting people to do the paper survey and interviewing people on campus.

Here is a sample Q&A video I recorded in my dorm.

All the interviews will be recorded as videos.  We will choose one of those interviews and display it at the presentation.

After we gather enough data and information, we will move to the third part and the most attracting one, the board game. The game will to some extent resemble the Monopoly. Each box on the board will represent a country  which is collected in our survey and interview. We will first make the board and then ask both groups of students to play.

We believe after playing the game, students will understand each other more and GT will  be a better place for different cultures to thrive.

GAME & LIFE

Here is the video of my once favourite  game “Monster Hunter 3rd”:

I gave up playing Monster Hunter half a year ago because it’s too time-consuming. Before I managed to get rid of it, I had spent about 200 hours perfecting the character. Basicly, my tasks in the game were to hunt monsters. Since most of the monsters were insanely strong, I had to keep purchasing  outfits and weapons with the money I  earned after each victory.   Sometimes, I fought with my friends. Overall, that game was only a way of killing time. In my old thought I will never take games seriously.  Game is game and life is life.

Now that both Jane McGonigal’s  “Gaming can make a better world” and Mr. Pink’s book have positive views on games, I choose the exercise of  “Get Your Game On” and  give “Monster Hunter” a chance to change my attitude towards games. This time I pay more attention  to the abilities that the game tests during the play. For example, the seizure of opportunities is the core of the game. As a “veteran”, I can often lay the pitfall at the perfect time, leaving no chance for the monster to attack me. When the monster is dying, I kill it as soon as possible, or it will escape to somewhere and get back stamina. Also, I know the importance of  preparing in advance like sharpening the weapon and enhancing myself to the “battle mode”.

Those abilities are not gained at once, but come from 200 hours’ practice. Not surprisingly,  those abilities are reflected in real life.  In my tennis game, I learn to give my opponent a desperate “shot” if he seems to be out of power. At school,  I have known the importance of  reading the textbook before class. Although there may be great possibility that it is the tennis training and  setbacks in exams that develop those abilities, playing games can remind me of their importance time and again.  This is the biggest advantage of playing games.

In conclusion, I don’t think games can cultivate “super-powered hopeful individuals”, but I believe as long as the abilities developed in the game have their practical use in daily life,  the time and effort I spend on game is worthwhile.