Friday, April 3, 2009

Applying the basic

An inspirational story from my lecturer. A short message that make me love engineering deeper. Especially the assignment and lab. Want to preserve this message as semester will end and will never get to read this message in future.


"Many students are facing difficulty in applying theories into
practical work.

My experience is rather different from many lecturers. I started
working as a technician when I was 20 years old. My "laboratory" was
at the production floor. I trained myself to apply theories by working
backwards. When I see a practical result or symptom, I'll ask myself
why that happen? I'll start searching for the answer through reading
articles which were relevant. Many called this the "top-down
approach". Years after years of self-training, I eventually picked up
the skill. I believe I'm not a high-IQ person but I definitely have
passion for electronics - I see them as toys.

I believe many students are learning the basics from books - but
engineering is not just about learning from books. Reference books are
very ideal, I called them the "wallpaper" - they simply look nice on
the monitor screen, you don't really get the same when you are dealing
with the real stuff. Reading a lot will surely enhance your knowledge,
but you need the WISDOM to apply the correct knowledge at the correct
place. Sometimes you might even need to trial and error to gain the
wisdom. Too bad there are no short-cuts to this.

Do projects, troubleshoot projects that do not work, read magazines
related to electronics, visit forums in the web that discuss on these
topics, join the discussion - make all these your hobby. Don't treat
them as your duty or as a task for examination, if you do then you'll
never excel from what you are pursuing. "

Kind regards,
TW Chan.


BEST lecturer i ever seen. 2 thumbs up!!! but he will kill you in final examination =(

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