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Thursday, June 23rd, 2005
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2:03 pm - supaero for good...
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i think i'm actually sad to leave this place...it's different from london...the people here are much warmer...much closer to you...everyone feels like they're part of a big family here at supaero...
so many people came to my room today just to ask me what time i was leaving...some were even still very busy with their final project work, but all of them wanted to make sure they saw me when i left...
it makes me happy...and sad at the same time...
academically this was such a tough tough year...but the friends i made here are wonderful...and the place is beautiful too...
i'm spending my last few hours here...savouring as much as i can...saying goodbyes...taking pictures...cherishing every moment...
sigh...the bitter-sweet memories that this place would leave me with...
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| Sunday, June 12th, 2005
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8:09 am - mystery of the falling marbles...
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isnt this freaking us all out?
although i'm no structural engineer, i find it hard to believe that the sound comes from piping (what they call water hammer), concrete floors contracting, or steel cables embedded in the ceiling...they just sound too much like dropping marbles...
it's funny how this issue has not been brought up until now...especially since most of us would have had the experience of hearing these sounds...and would have been equally puzzled...i used to think it was really children playing with marbles one floor above...but do children these days still play with marbles? they're more likely to be stuck to their computer screens arcading away...
so what exactly are these sounds? are they really the spirits at work? i wouldn't be surprised...all i know is i'm glad i don't hear it anymore where i'm living now...or maybe i'm just too used to it to notice...
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| Friday, June 10th, 2005
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8:01 pm - that's why it's such a beautiful language...
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this is not so much about what TTL has to say about his séjour at SUPAERO, about his life and our lives, although most of what he says is more profound and inspiring than it is a chore to read...this is about, in my opinion, by far the most beautiful language in the universe...the sentence structures...the forms of certain phrases, certain expressions that can never be as well said in another language...the man is a writer, for his ability to use this language to construct such great forms of expression is...well...find me the english word someone...i am in awe...
Bonjour à toutes et à tous,
Comme un certain nombre d'entre vous le savent, je quitte Supaero et Toulouse après les jurys de juillet. N'étant heureusement pas sorti de la Star Academy ou d'autres creusets prestigieux, je n'ai pas la prétention d'écrire mes mémoires pour autant. Néanmoins, il me semble normal de vous écrire quelques mots plutôt que de filer à l'anglaise - ce que les Anglais et les Allemands appellent " partir à la française ". Lorsqu'un Turc prend congé un peu formellement, il dit en substance " Nous vous avons recommandé à Dieu " (allahismarladik) et celui qui reste répond plus légèrement " en riant, en riant " (güle güle). C'est joli et plus profond qu'il n'y paraît.
Vous êtes juste un peu trop jeunes pour vous en souvenir mais je suis arrivé dans cette école pour enseigner les mathématiques, du moins quelques mathématiques dont vous aurez besoin, même si vous ne le savez pas encore. Je l'ai fait avec plaisir et, les années passant, peut-être l'aurais-je même fait avec quelque satisfaction. Ce qui est certain, c'est que je n'étais pas venu pour la direction des études. On ne sait jamais ce que l'existence réserve et lorsque j'ai dû reprendre ce poste un peu fragilisé par le départ de quatre titulaires en moins de deux ans, j'ai voulu appliquer cette leçon simple de l'expérience selon laquelle il n'y a pas que ce que l'on fait qui est important, mais également la manière dont on le fait.
Le précédent directeur, auquel je suis au moins reconnaissant de deux choses : m'avoir permis de soutenir ma thèse dans des conditions décentes et m'avoir fait confiance dans la conduite du quotidien, pensait en me nommant que les autres professeurs, plus âgés en moyenne, plus anciens dans le métier, accepteraient mal de me voir occuper un tel poste d'arbitrage (je préfère de loin le décrire en termes de responsabilité et d'exigence que de hiérarchie). Le fait que je sois avant tout enseignant m'a, au contraire, beaucoup aidé et je n'aurais rien pu construire sans le soutien de mes collègues. Pour moi, c'était une évidence ; pour certains d'entre vous, c'est l'une des expériences positives que la vie professionnelle ou associative vous apprendra.
Malgré les erreurs, et nous en commettons tous, je me suis efforcé de faire ce que je pouvais, ce que je croyais bon pour le cycle ingénieur et, pour commencer, de ne jamais reposer sur des certitudes figées, d'éprouver mes convictions, les assumer aussi. Ce que l'on accomplit laisse rarement des traces durables. Ce que l'on n'a pas pu accomplir est bien plus long à oublier ; pour ce qui nous tient à cœur, cela met même une éternité. Il ne m'appartient pas de tirer un bilan de ma propre action. Je crois avoir aidé plusieurs personnes de mon service à retrouver un peu de stabilité, de confiance et d'envie de s'investir dans leur travail quotidien, au-delà de la conscience professionnelle qui ne les a jamais quittées. Je suis heureux d'avoir été là lorsque certains étudiants traversaient des phases difficiles, parfois critiques et se tournaient vers moi. Pour d'autres, les efforts étaient vains et cela aussi, il faut essayer de l'accepter.
Le président de mon jury de thèse répète encore, à ce jour, que c'est un immense gâchis que des gens comme moi ne consacrent pas toute leur vie à la recherche. Il est vrai que c'est une chance de pouvoir effleurer des enjeux intellectuels d'assez près pour ressentir que, parmi les mille contorsions de l'esprit humain, certaines se rapprochent probablement de " vraies " questions. Et il est aussi vrai que si ceux qui ont cette chance de contribuer, à leur mesure, à une meilleure compréhension des mystères, en abdiquent la volonté ou la foi, nous perdrons tous une partie de notre avenir et ne nous en apercevrons que plus tard, bien trop tard. Cela étant, la direction que j'ai prise m'apporte aussi de grandes joies et je ne la crois pas inutile, même si l'immense majorité des défis et difficultés qu'on y rencontre chaque jour ne vous est pas visible (et c'est normal).
L'une des grandes motivations est de se trouver à un moment un peu crucial des évolutions de l'enseignement supérieur. Tous les " non " du monde n'y changeront rien, nous allons connaître ensemble de nouvelles échelles, de nouvelles harmonisations. Qu'ils prennent le nom de master européen, de titre européen d'ingénieur, peu importe, les diplômes de demain ne pourront plus se protéger derrière les frontières. De la nature de ces diplômes, de leur variété, de leur lucidité dépendront, à terme, la teneur et le sens de vos métiers, de nos métiers. Il ne sert à rien d'ignorer ces mutations ; l'important, à notre niveau, est de réfléchir à nos formations, à leurs limites mais aussi leurs atouts, à ce qu'elles apportent de spécifique, au besoin auxquelles elles répondent et répondront encore à l'avenir, aux convictions sur lesquelles elles s'appuient. C'est seulement au prix de cette prise de conscience que le passage à des standards internationaux n'impliquera pas la dissolution pure et simple de l'apport national. Si chacun y contribue, la construction de l'espace européen de l'enseignement supérieur peut aller bien plus loin qu'une formule creuse et ronflante. C'est un véritable enjeu et je suis content de m'y trouver confronté, avec des centaines de collègues.
Ce n'est pas seulement un moment crucial dans l'histoire des établissements, c'est aussi, année après année, un moment précieux dans vos vies. Les études d'ingénieur à la française se placent probablement parmi les plus exigeantes, du moins durant les premières années, ce ne sont pas toujours les plus séduisantes au quotidien. Mais elles comptent aussi parmi les plus riches en matière scientifique et technologique. Je regrette toujours de ne pas mieux réussir à vous transmettre, et que vous ne soyez pas toujours prêts à vous approprier, ce que cela représente de substance, de réalité, de plaisir aussi pour les êtres pensants que nous sommes. Oui, c'est du travail mais tant de choses en ce monde sont du travail et toutes ne portent pas autant de signification, parfois même de beauté, ne permettent pas de telles réalisations. Par mes origines, j'ai connu des personnes proches dont tout le labeur suffisait à peine à survivre à l'adversité. Vous aussi, autour de vous, vous en avez sûrement côtoyé. Aussi ai-je envie de vous dire : critiquez, râlez, plaignez-vous, mais n'oubliez pas de retrouver le sens général de ce que vous faites, des acquis que vous engrangez pour bâtir un parcours professionnel qui constituera une part non négligeable de votre vie. Cette formation n'est pas tant la nôtre que la vôtre. N'oubliez pas d'y chercher la part de bonheur que cela contient. Personne, en définitive, ne le fera à votre place.
Sans aucune démagogie, car je connais peu de choses aussi foncièrement stériles que la démagogie, c'est souvent une joie que de travailler avec vous, même s'il est parfois laborieux d'arriver jusque là. Lorsque vous mobilisez votre intérêt pour un sujet, sur un projet, vos ressources sont surprenantes, inutile de le nier. Cependant, il nous arrive souvent de penser que vous vous enlisez dans des questions, des appréhensions qui ne sont pas vraiment fondées, alors que des défis autrement plus concrets vous attendent. Il est toujours étonnant de constater votre surprise lorsque ce que nous vous disons s'avère correspondre à des réalités du monde industriel, par exemple. Ce n'est pas parce que nous passons le plus clair de notre temps dans des bureaux, des labos, des réunions que nous n'en percevons plus mille messages de notre environnement : cela fait évidemment partie de notre métier et de notre existence. Que vous n'en soyez pas pleinement conscients est normal ; je ne peux m'empêcher de ressentir que, parfois, les combats que vous menez vous assombrissent la vie bien inutilement, que, inversement, des contraintes négatives que vous tenez pour données ne sont pas des fatalités et qu'il tient surtout à vous de les comprendre, de les surmonter. En fait, je le dis fréquemment, je vous trouve parfois un peu désenchantés, vis-à-vis de nous, du travail proposé, mais aussi en vous-mêmes, entre vous. Cela me choque parfois mais cela, surtout, m'attriste. Même si je sais que vous êtes jeunes et dépasserez tout cela, encore une fois, le bonheur que l'on peut saisir à un moment donné ne se représente pas toujours. On ne choisit pas la nature de ce bonheur, davantage l'intensité avec laquelle on s'en saisit.
A titre plus personnel, je ne sais pas ce que j'ai pu donner à chacun d'entre vous mais vous, certains en particulier, m'auront apporté beaucoup ; ce n'est pas nier la différence d'âge, d'expérience ou de responsabilité que de le reconnaître. Tout ce qui aide à mieux cerner l'endroit - de sa vie, de son univers - où l'on se trouve et à partager cette compréhension avec autrui est précieux. Je sais très bien que pour l'immense majorité d'entre vous, si ce n'est tous, avant d'être une personne, je suis une fonction, bien que peu d'entre vous la connaissent ; en gros, je cristallise parfois (à tort) ce qu'il y a de bien et (un peu plus à raison) ce qu'il y a de mal dans le cycle ingénieur. Peu importe, c'est ce qui se passe chaque jour, les centaines de questions, les problèmes inédits, les surprises bonnes ou mauvaises qui font la chair de cette relation. En dépit de tous ses côtés ingrats, usants, j'ai aimé cette aventure avec vous, avec tous ces personnels de l'École qui tiennent à leur " maison " jusqu'à en devenir parfois possessifs et rendent cet endroit si curieusement attachant.
Ainsi que je le disais à un groupe de vos camarades de 1ère année, c'est sans doute après quelques années de vie dite active que vous identifierez mieux en quoi vos années de Supaero vous rapprochent, vous rendent spécifiques par rapport à vos collègues issus d'autres établissements, nonobstant vos personnalités propres. Je parle autant de la formation, de la structure d'esprit scientifique et humaine que du campus ou de la vie associative. Je le vois avec un œil assez objectif, n'étant pas moi-même sorti de cette école mais ayant beaucoup échangé avec des Supaero de tous âges. À une époque où tout est un peu plus mobile, voire instable, votre passage dans ces murs fera lui aussi partie de vos racines personnelles. Vivez-en toutes les dimensions, même celles dont vous ne percevez pas, ici et maintenant, la raison d'être. Il vous en restera toujours quelque chose. Quant à moi, je n'oublierai pas mon séjour ici, dans ce lieu irrationnel auquel tout un chacun finit par donner sans compter et trouve cela tout naturel.
Bon courage à tous et bonne chance. Si quelques-uns d'entre vous souhaitent m'envoyer des nouvelles de temps à autre, je les recevrai avec plaisir. Ne perdez pas de vue les buts qui vous tiennent à cœur. Lorsqu'ils vous sembleront plus incertains, quand certains se révèleront provisoirement hors d'atteinte, rappelez-vous la simple et belle devise des Tziganes : " le voyage, ce n'est pas le bout du chemin, c'est le chemin ".
Bien amicalement,
Thanh-Tâm Lê
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| Thursday, June 9th, 2005
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12:10 am - a (very busy) day in my supaero life...
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6:50am: snooze...
6:55am: snooze...
7:00am: snooze...
7:05am: snooze...
7:10am: urgghhh!!!
7:11am:
i put the water to boil...tune in to power98 fm on my ever-trustworthy laptop...brush my teeth...
7:15am:
breakfast in my chambrette (french for "pathetic little room")...coffee and biscuits...i scan through the headlines on straits times interactive...
7:45am:
getting ready for my "bureau d'etude"...it's an aerodynamic study on the TB20 of the SOCATA society, a private propellor plane that takes 4 to 5 passengers up to 2000km with 6 hours of autonomie...
8:00am:
it's pair work...i'm partnered with steph...today's session is important as the results derived from this pre-study would serve as reference for tomorrow's wind tunnel session.
8:20am:
the class is slow...and the tutor is hopeless...steph and I try to get as much out of this as possible...the key is to find out the methods to use to solve all the questions...the actual values and results can be solved for later in the day...
11:00am:
by the end of the session we had completed about 70% of what was required...the rest of the day would quite surely be taken up by writing the pre-study session report for tomorrow...
11:15am:
back in my chambrette...i look through the notes we'd taken during the session and begin to write this report...steph has a shock wave experiment in the afternoon and would not be free to do the TB20 report...looks like it's me writing today's report and him contributing his part by writing the wind tunnel analysis tomorrow...
12:00pm:
lunch...it's puree and pizza (yes they don't go)...sach seems troubled...so lunch went by quite quietly...the hot weather makes it a lazy day...but i have too much work to afford the time to slack...
12:50pm:
back (once again) in my chambrette...i continue writing the report...it's a calculation of the drag polar of the TB20, a fundamental aerodynamic characteristic for aircraft...it's the dependence of the drag coefficient on the lift coefficient...basically it's how much drag the aircraft generates by having a certain amount of lift...it's an analysis by parts...wing, horizontal tailplane, vertical fin, fuselage...then everything put together...
1:45pm:
sheesh almost forgot to print the noise spectral charts on the Astafan turboreactor experiment...sach and i need them for 2pm for a meeting with our project supervisor! damned printer...don't fail on me now...hurry hurry...
2:05pm:
sach and i arrive at ONERA (Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aerospatiales/National Office of Aerospace Studies and Research)...it's a meeting with Biron, supervisor of our project on the acoustic study of the turboreactor...purpose: to discuss the results we'd obtained on the Astafan experiment, mainly the noise spectral analysis results and what we managed to get out of the noise sources localization technique...
despite my rush printing the charts the discussion went quite smoothly and Biron was impressed with what we got...phew...
3:10pm:
back in my chambrette...i remove my contact lenses...change into more comfortable clothes...
now back to my TB20...where was i...oh yes...the drag polar is done...now it's a moment analysis of the aircraft...to find its neutral point...that is the point on the aircraft where the moment coefficient with respect to this point does not vary with incidence...how do you do this...urgh...
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7:05pm:
what the...time passes quickly when you don't have it...yes it's time though that i take a break...satisfy the calling of my grinding stomach...
dinner is spaghetti and turkey steak with long beans (yes it still doesn't go!)...it's talk about how life is boring without the EPL...then other random stuff...
7:45pm:
ok...the final stretch...i'm left with analyzing the effect of the deployment of the horizontal tailplane on the lift, drag and moment characteristics...
then finally an evaluation of the rolling and yawing coefficients due to a deployment of the ailerons...
9.55pm:
done!
10:00pm:
it's a meeting with steph in his chambrette to discuss what i've written...he's impressed, embarrassed and sorry...for all the hard work i've put in while he idled in his pathetic little room...but i say "don't worry...tomorrow it's you who's writing everything else!!!"
10:25pm:
return to my...yes...what a TB20 day...i'm so tired...it's time for a shower...
12:06am:
hmm...my eyes are closing...it's off to bed!!! tomorrow's wind tunnel experiments require this little brainette to work again...
*yawn yawn yawn*
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| Thursday, May 19th, 2005
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4:06 pm - cough cough irritation sniff sniff...
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| Saturday, May 14th, 2005
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2:26 pm - electronics!
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me with electronics is such a joke! i appreciate the elec. engineers for all the work that they do...digitisation...computerisation...multimedia...vcds...dvds...they have done marvellous to improve our lives today...
but tell me to explain how a semi-conductor works...or the transistors which give you your operational amplifiers...and i am...totally totally lost!
i'm not sure if i'll ever come to understand these fundamental electronics concepts...they're just not my stuff...what circuit gains and bode plots...bandwidth filters and what not...it's HUH??!! on my forehead...
still remember i freaked out during last year's signals & systems exam...totally panicked...couldn't think...it's still a mystery how i managed to get 80% from that paper...i guess in the end i bluffed my way through and managed to deceive the markers...threw some rubbish formulas in and got lucky with the answers...and plus they must have moderated the marks...
monday's exam will be a joke...i'm not even sure if i'll be able to write one line...am probably going to sit there for two hours drawing fighter planes on my exam script...
bleau...=( haha...
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| Thursday, May 12th, 2005
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11:48 pm - and the boot split...
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we were in good spirits to start the match...we had won them 3-2 the last time we played and so were confident of the decisive victory which would take us to the finals...
i started on the bench...i had seemed exhausted during training two days before and the coach thought better to start with someone whom he knew wouldn't last 90 minutes...
the referee blew the first whistle and the match took shape...we had been slow to settle down and they soon took avantage through a well-worked free kick which took an unfortunate deflection on its way in...keeper steph thrown off his feet...1-0 to them...
the referee could not have been any worse...and it wasn't only against us...he blew for legitimate goal when laurry had his hand touch the ball before he lobbed it into the net...1 partout...
i was asked to warm up during half-time while the team talk was going on...and soon after started the second half on the left flank...we were playing football at our best...composed, constructed football...and nico soon slammed it in...2-1 to us...
we lost it when we started to think it was in the bag...the referee was at work again...hand ball to them this time...but since he did it for us, he decided to help us return the favour...2 all...
and then we couldn't get out of defence...and for ten minutes we lost our heads...we watched the football rather than play it...a good shot from them, a good goal...3-2.
i was playing better than i had expected to be...given my physical state, i had thought i wouldn't do the job...but i did the runs...made the passes...got into the tackles...but just couldn't make the last touch count...i lacked the killer instinct...
time was against us...the legs were getting tired...the rain started to fall...but we only needed to equalise to go into penalties...
and then yes...laurry fell in their penalty box...clearly a foul...we have a penalty...the last clear chance to make it into the finals...
laurry would have been the best man to take it...but he was on the touchline treating himself from being slashed in the shin...
jamel was calm...and jamel knows...he's one of the better players in the team...jamel had to take it...and he had to put it in...
the whistle went...the kick was made...the rain was pouring...the goal...wasn't there...he shot it right at the keeper...and the rebound effort was in vain...the referee blew his final whistle...
drenched in a mixture of hot sweat and cold rain...the jerseys were untucked...the heads fell...on this cold rainy night the score was once again 3-2...but it wasn't for us to take...
i looked down on the ground...the bleeding from the knees were being washed away by the rain...the boots...the boots that had seen me through my soccer days during my second year in jc...the same pair that had won raffles the final that year...the same pair that was staring at me now...the one on the right split down the sides...
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| Tuesday, May 10th, 2005
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2:41 pm - Finding the best compromise...
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Was doing a write up on my project about noise production and noise reduction technologies for turboreactors when I subconsciously launched into a philosophical debate...
It's certainly the driving force in engineering but in the end it's all about life isn't it? The human race battles on to find the best compromise between having the best things in life...it's all again the same thing in a relationship...it should not hinder or destruct but instead, it should create passion...a passion for wanting to live life to the best...
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On peut effectivement constater qu'il y a deux facons a reduire le bruit produit par une source sonore tel que le turboreacteur :
1) Methode indirecte : Attenuation du bruit par des attenuateurs complementaires. Ex. l'application des materiaux insonorisant ou absorbant des bruits, l'utilisation des silencieux etc.
2) Methode directe : Reduction du bruit par des modifications directes des sources sonores. Ex. la modification de la forme des tuyaux et des gaines.
La deuxieme methode parait etre une meilleure solution puisqu'il s'agit d'une reduction de l'energie perdue par la production du bruit, qui peut donc se traduire par un meilleur rendement de la machine sous l'aspect des performances. Pour le turboreacteur, ce serait une augmentation nette de la poussee.
Il faut noter toutefois que cette deuxieme methode, certes plus directe, est limitee aux contraintes imposees par d'autres aspects du fonctionnement de la machine. Dans le cas du turboreacteur, ce serait, par exemple, l'aerodynamique qui determine la forme de la tuyere d'ejection. Autrement dit, ces aspects fondamentaux dans la conception d'une telle machine seront plus determinants que les considerations du bruit produit.
En plus, si l'on en croit Jean-Luc Boiffier, professeur du dynamique du vol a SupAero qui declare : " Ce qui est bon pour une discipline se paye en general dans une autre discipline ", on va percevoir qu'en reduisant le bruit, il va avoir de forte chance qu'un ou plusieurs des autres parametres de performance seraient affectes dans un sens negatif, de sorte qu'a la fin, le rendement de la machine ne serait pas meilleur qu'avant.
Par contre, si on peut trouver une solution, soit une modification d'une partie de la machine sonore, qui permet de reduire effectivement le bruit et en meme temps, d'augmenter la performance de la machine, alors le probleme est resolu, et la situation est gagnee. C'est ce que l'on cherche a faire, mais malheureusement, ce n'est pas si simple que ca...
A la fin, c'est toute une " bonne gestion des compromis ". Si en regardant une machine on peut encore se poser la question " Est-ce qu'on peut faire mieux que ca ? Est-ce qu'on peut trouver un meilleur compromis que ca? ", alors l'histoire n'est pas finie...
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| Tuesday, April 12th, 2005
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11:58 pm - academic and engineering maturity
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once listened to prof. hillier talk about this...wasn't exactly sure what he meant at that time...and my ideas about this apparent academic maturity were vague.
today i start to make sense of what i think he was talking about...it's probably not so much due to the french education system (i still believe their system does not produce engineers with the best abilities to look at the issues at hand with the right perspectives)...it's rather perhaps due to the fact that i'm in the third year of my course...and that i start to develop rightfully my own engineering skills.
it's hard to describe...i used to think that ever since the apple fell on Newton's head and he wrote his three laws, the world became totally defined and there was nothing else to discover...i was wondering what all these research stuff that was going on was all about...because they only built on previously established theories or principles, they were nothing new...nothing exciting. when Newton explained gravitation that was exciting...that was mysterious...
at that time i didn't look at things the right way...the fact that i had to learn for my exams defeated my own stride towards academic maturity...obviously just learning for exams is learning for nothing...
gradually i'd discovered for myself how much more you can get, how much more you can satisfy yourself if you not only just study to solve the exam problem, but study to engineer...
it's about looking at the subject with a step back...to take in the whole picture...to understand the concepts...to question the way it's been done...to ask yourself if there's a better way to do it...rather than to just take the "proposed solution" as the rightful one...
it's about a mastery of previously acquired engineering skills...modelisation techniques...optimisation...compromises...striking the right balance...it's about building on past experience...using what you already know to create (yes the word is create because there is often no one correct answer) a solution to your problem.
engineering often involves firstly an understanding of the problem (objectives), followed by a modelisation of the problem to study its characteristics (eg CFD, numerical analysis etc). In the end it's all about getting the best out of your system by tweaking the problem parameters (optimisation, cost benefits, efficiency, loses...)
now i try to look beyond the text...i try to ask myself why the books had been written this way...i try to use what i know to understand what i don't...
so that in this way i can engineer...i can create new solutions...i can invent...have a patent...
and in this way the world continues to explore new solutions...of course some of these solutions can turn out to be potentially destructive (think nuclear technology for eg)...we then in this case try to put in counter-measures...but think the advantages that invention and engineering has brought into our lives...if in your daily life you would just think about everything you use or do...movies are all the more thrilling and real with dolby digital surround sound - acoustics engineering...travel and transport are all the more comfortable and fast - mechanical, energetics, automobile, aeronautical engineering...communications via email and the internet, online journals - computer engineering and electronics (nanotechnology etc)...and so on and so forth...
am excited about my current research project...a study of noise generation from aircraft engines: an identification of the principal sources of noise from aircraft engines and methods of noise reduction. =)
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| Sunday, April 3rd, 2005
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6:58 pm - beautiful sunday...
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i love supaero on a sunday...so tranquille and lazy...
took a walk around the campus...the weather's warm enough now for me to just stroll around in my raffles t-shirt, khaki berms and nike slippers...
in a far corner a security guard standing outside the guard post looks at what i'm up to...and i nonchalantly walk on...pretending not to notice...
sat beside the canal for a while...took some movie clips of the water flowing pass...of a floating leaf moving with the ripples on the water surface...
took pictures of flowers blooming from the ground...covering the grass and painting spring...
back in my room i sit on my chair and stare out of the window while power98 from my laptop plays some really good hits...
i go and lie on my bed and watch the sun set...
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| Monday, March 28th, 2005
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1:52 pm - engineering - a sign of better things to come
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engineering is the creation of new theories/perceptions/methods/applications based on a totality of knowledge (old theories/methods/applications) that have previously been established.
the newly engineered theories/perceptions/methods/applications then add themselves to the totality of knowledge already established which permit then an engineering on a higher (advanced) level...and so on and so forth...
hence why pentium IV had to wait for the 486...why mobile phones had to come after landlines...why turboreacteurs had to be conceived after steam engines...
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| Thursday, March 24th, 2005
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10:48 am - travail bien fait...
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"Vous avez fait vraimang du bon boulot!"
- M. Berenes et M. Heid, laboratoire de propulsion
"Votre presentation était parfait, votre rapport est bien ecrit, et vraimang vous avez compris les objectifs de ce TREX. Je crois que ce TREX vous a apporté beaucoup. Ce qui est assez satisfaisang, c'est a voir que le travail que l'on fait a vous apprang des choses, est bien apprecie et donne des resultats. C'est ce à quoi on vous attang...donc merci a vous"
so there...the joy of knowing that the work you've put in is well appreciated by the profs...and that they actually feel touched...to see the results of their hard work being paid off...
current mood: accomplished
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| Tuesday, March 15th, 2005
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1:52 pm - home is where the heart is...
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hmm...just had a nice heartwarming talk with my mum...which by the way does not happen very often for me...
it's always good to find out about how she is...and it's comforting to know that she's coping ok...with her job...with supporting the brothers...
she's a little stressed out at times still...and said she really missed me the other day...so much so that she'd called yu just to find out about me...i told her off for not calling me directly...i mean told her off in italics...jokingly...and she just said very typically that she'd misplaced my number...
i'm proud to be her son...very proud...she works very very hard...too hard actually...but i understand why she does what she does (perhaps also because in this aspect i'm quite like her)...i know she cares a lot about kenneth and i...and she really wants to make this little family work...it's so much commitment...so much love she has for us...and knowing what she's been through...it's all the more incredible...
in a way i really miss her...and i think going back in april is definitely the right decision...i'd want to ease her mind...to tell her she'll always have me by her side...
i'm glad too that kenneth is growing up and maturing lots...he'd got a job at sentosa recently and earned himself half a grand...didn't do too badly at all for his As...could have made it to jc but chose to go to temasek poly instead...well you always have to respect one's decision...hope he'd do well to find his niche...
voila voila...how i miss home...
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| Monday, March 7th, 2005
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8:23 pm - a year less than 365 and a quarter days...
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i had just soaped myself twice in my shower...i was pondering on my post and suddenly asked myself this other question:
i asked myself if the sun would appear at exactly the same position as it was a year ago exactly a year after? this would only happen if the number of revolutions the earth makes on itself in a year is exactly a whole number.
it turns out that in a strict definition of a year as 365 and a quarter days (exactly 31557600 seconds), the earth would have rotated 366 and a quarter rounds! which means that the sun would not appear at the same place! sunrise would be a quarter of a day earlier after every year.
which (i guess) is probably the reason why man decided to have a year concluded in 365 days. in 365 days (31536000 seconds) , the earth would have rotated slightly less than once about the sun, but the earth would also have rotated exactly 366 times around itself, so the sun would appear at exactly the same position again after a year.
but obviously we had to make up for the quarter of a day we lost every year, so every 4 years we had a year consisting of 366 days. this extra one day is exactly what is needed for the earth to "catch up" with the sun, to make up for the distance it lost in not making a complete revolution every 365 days.
and amazingly, the sun does not change position after a leap year because after 366 days (31622400 seconds), the earth has rotated about itself exactly 367 times!
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7:02 pm
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7:00 pm - a day less than 24 hours...
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do you know if the earth stopped rotating about the sun, a day would last less than 24 hours? to be precise it would last exactly 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds! we would age faster and have less time to do our stuff!
man defined a "solar day" as the time taken for the sun to reappear at exactly the same location as it last was looking from the earth reference frame. this was found to be exactly 24 hours. we all know actually that sunrise and sunset are not due to the sun rotating about the earth but in fact due a coupling between the earth's rotation about itself and its rotation about the sun...
now we know the earth rotates about the sun exactly once (360 degrees) every 365 and a quarter days...which implies that the earth's rotational speed around the sun is exactly 0.9856 degrees per solar day (24 hours). this now meant that looking from earth, the sun had to "rotate", not 360 degrees, but exactly 360.9856 degrees per day to make up for earth's rotation about it, so that it would again appear at the same location.
so we have the sun "rotating" 360.9856 degrees in 24 hours, which implies that the sun's "rotational speed" around the earth is 15.0411 degrees per hour. now what if the earth stopped rotating about the sun? then we would only need the sun to "rotate" 360 degrees before we see it appearing at the same location again! given the sun's "rotational speed" as 15.0411 degrees per hour, it would have turned 360 degrees in...you guessed it...23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds!
scientifically 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds (or exactly 86164 seconds) is termed a "sideral day". it is the time taken for earth to rotate exactly once about itself. man found this value from the exact reasoning above!
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| Sunday, March 6th, 2005
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8:22 pm - hiding in my room...and nobody knows...
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there's so much so much that's going on inside me...so many thoughts...so much confusion...and yet i have no one to talk to...not even her...i think she's not ready to listen to what i wanna say...she'll just say i'm like that again because i'm stressed...she would just dismiss me...she knows after a while i'll be ok...
or she thinks...everyone thinks i'll be ok...but it's coz i do well to hide my true identity...during meal time with friends here i'm always so cheerful...grinning and making silly jokes...i look like someone without a single worry...but inside i'm in shreds...i'm so down and out and yet nobody knows...
it's frustrating to have all my true friends so far away from me...i'd really like to be able to just call jan out for a drink to spill out all my feelings...or phone zy or tong just to pot some balls and change my ideas...but it's not that easy...they're on the other side of the globe...
can't wait to be back home...i'd like to just lie in bed with her...and do nothing else...and just feel...i'd like to hold her in my arms again...and whisper to her that i love her...and watch her eyes and kiss her lips...
then i guess my confusions would subside...and i'd have a clearer idea of what i really want in my life...
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2:49 pm
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life is a struggle...love takes it's toll on one...but somehow one hang's on...
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| Sunday, February 20th, 2005
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3:22 pm - boulevard of broken dreams...
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My god...such a good good song...think this is Green Day's greatest song ever...
I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone
I walk this empty street
On the boulevard of broken dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one and I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk a...
My shadows the only one that walks beside me
My shallow hearts the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
Till then I walk alone
Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ahhh
Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ahhh
I'm walking down the line
That divides me somewhere in my mind
On the border line of the edge
And where I walk alone
Read between the lines
What's fucked up and everythings all right
Check my vital signs to know I'm still alive
And I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk a...
My shadows the only one that walks beside me
My shallow hearts the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
Till then I walk alone
Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ahhh
Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ahhh
I walk this empty street
On the Blvd. of broken dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one and I walk a..
My shadows the only one that walks beside me
My shallow hearts the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
Till then I walk alone...
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| Tuesday, February 8th, 2005
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12:41 am - Le geant des airs - le grand defi
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The great thing about coming to study here is probably the fact that this place is in the heart of the aeronautics industry, esp. from the european point of view. Toulouse is right there in the aeronautical history books...from the days of Louis Bleriot (first pilot to cross the channel) to Concorde...to the latest product of Airbus Industry, the A-Trois-Cent-Quatre-Vingt...or the A380.
Had the chance today to sit in a conference organised by SupAero on the conception of this Superjumbo, in which was present the Head of Project A380 Charles Champion, Marketing Director Philippe Jarry, Chief Flight Test Engineer Fernando Alonso and Project Manager A380 series Sylvain Pascaud.
I guess for the not-so-passionate-about-aeronautics it's hard to understand the honour of being able to meet these people. People who are in the heart of it. People who gave birth to this new aircraft, people who for the past 5, 6 years of their life thought about project A380 from the moment they woke up every morning. And it was intriguing to hear them talk (very humbly) about the experience, from the initial stages of Projet A3XX in 1996 as a counter-attack against Boeing's planned 747-X, to market surveillance - door to door meetings with the major commercial airlines (y inclut Singapore Airlines of course - coincidentally the first buyer of this new aircraft), to putting pen to paper, to investing billions of euros in this dream so called of these passionate people who literally wanted to build something big, to the first prototype, and to the near future first test flight and delivering (to SQ of course) in mid-2006.
This I have to mention. Project A3XX became Programme A380 because the guys had listened to their Asian airline companies who told them that 8 was the magic number! And they looked at the new plane as two fuselages merged into one flying machine, just like the figure 8...and hence the A380.
The size of this thing is simply...amazing. I mean...wings spanning the length of a football pitch. These guys were saying they had to limit the wingspan to 80m only due to airport parking limitations! They had ideas to make it bigger than that! I mean...a wing surface area of 800m2...and tailplanes as big as the wings of an A320. Unless Boeing can come up with something twice as big, this plane is definitely the next big thing to watch.
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