Looking back and Futures

Looking back of this semester, I usually feel very rush because I have too much schoolwork. Especially, in the end of this semester, I have to do three final projects, three final exams and several assignments. Each project need to do presentation and hand in the final papers. Oh, I am overwhelmed by these stuffs. When I was in undergraduate school, we usually have two exams and two or three assignments each class in one semester. It is very different from past to now. So, I feel difficult to adapt these after I left school environment for three years. Actually, I rare have me time to do what I like. In the begin of semester, I thought I can travel a lot, but I disappoint. However, I also learned a lot of professional knowledge from school. Fortunately, all of pains will pass by soon, and summer vocation is coming.

After this semester, I have to readjust even reschedule my steps to finish my program. I plan to use a part of summer time to take two courses in summer semester. I believe this is the best way to ease pressure from incoming semesters. In addition, poor English is still a stress source to me, I may use summer time to join activities from language center to improve my English. The better language skill, the lower stress from school life. In summer vocation, I also plan to tour CA’s national park with my family. Balance school and social life is always a hard mission for student. Anyway, I believe in fall semester my loading will lower than this semester because in that time I will become familiar with U.S. school life. Finally, I hope I get all grade A in classes and have more time to traveling or meet friends.

Data commentary

 
Figure 1 shows simulation return loss (dB) of the broadband antenna with an open slot. As can be seen, frequency from 1.09 GHz to 3.40 GHz all under -10 dB (lower is better). That is to say, the operation frequency has 2.31 GHz which is compatible with multiple frequency bands, such as GSM 1800/1900, WCDMA 1900/2100, 802.11 b/g/n, and LTE 1700/1800/2100/2300/2600.

Lin, Y. S. (2012). Designing a Broadband Antenna with an Open Slot. p. 6.
(from my undergraduate final project)

 








Figure 2 shows percentage use of electricity in various sectors in the U.S. As can be seen, IT occupies 14%, HAVC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) takes up 16%, Lighting is at 19%, the percentage of Motors is 51%. The usage of Motors is responsible for over a half. Therefore, we can save huge energy by using adjustable-speed electric drive to raise efficiently of motor operating system.

Mohan, N. (2011). Power Electronics: A First Course (1st. ed.), p.5


Figure 3 is a kind of Moore’s Law. It reveals transistor numbers of Intel’s CPU has exponential growth by years.
More accuracy, transistors doubling every 18 months. The semiconductor manufacturing process becomes miniaturization, so manufacturer can put more transistors in a chip. The more transistors the faster of the processing speed.

DuckieHo. (2/22/2015). [PC World] Intel: Moore's Law will continue through 7nm chips [Web forum posts]. Retrieved from http://www.overclock.net/t/1542835/pc-world-intel-moores-law-will-continue-through-7nm-chips

Summary of "Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are"

Amy Cuddy is an American social psychologist and associate professor at Harvard Business School who study social psychology. Her famous TED talk “Your body language shapes who you are” has been viewed more than 33.5 million times.

Human and animals show the same body language to convey emotions or information. For example, we stretch our body out when we feel confident or ㄇ. On the contrary, we curl our body to make ourselves smaller when feel depressed or weak. In fact, because of hormones body pose can change mental conditions, and mental conditions can change exterior behaviors. A study shows that after people imitate high-power poses in 2 minutes, people’s testosterone raises 20% and cortisol decreases 25%. These changed parameters reveal that people’s will feel confident when they change their gestures. It means we may improve our performance by displaying high-power motions. Therefore, we can try to alter our body language or mimic the gestures of powerful people to optimize our performance.

Comparison of Academic and Informal Writing

The Xia et al. 2008 is an academic journal in management field. However, the Azuma 1997 is a general article. After comparing two articles, there are many differences in writing style, including: intended audiences, argument, style and vocabulary. To better illustrate my point of view, I list several comparisons in following paragraphs.

First of all, the intended audiences in these two articles are totally different. The Azuma 1997 article is for common people who want to get master’s or Ph.D degree. The author compares some characters, situations and environments between graduate school and Ph.D. For instance, graduate student should have more motivation to obtain resources.  However, Xia (2008) focuses on academic people. The author provides many math equations and graphics, so I think this article is for researchers or students who study business.

Second, their arguments and writing style also showing in different way. The Azuma 1997 article uses author’s and other student (Joe Capowski) experiences or examples to state his or her opinion, such as view of school policy or student life. In contrast, the Xia et al. 2008 article uses theorems, models, and industrial examples to support author’s statements.

Third, vocabulary and tone used in these two articles also differ greatly. The Azuma 1997 article almost uses casual vocabulary to express his or her arguments and different section of school life. In addition, the Azuma 1997 article mainly uses active voice to describe mood and events. However, the Xia et al. 2008 article uses exact vocabulary and a lot of business proper noun in writing. Furthermore, the Xia et al. 2008 article usually uses passive voice to present findings and theories. The tone in the Xia et al. 2008 may let audience feel objective. However, the tone in Azuma 1997 is more subjective.

To sum up, the Azuma 1997 article is easy to read and understand, this article is a kind of informal writing. Nevertheless, someone who read the Xia et al. 2008 article need background knowledge to understand. Undoubtedly, the Xia et al. 2008 article is a kind of academic writing style for expert audiences. Finally, we may conclude that the differences of these two articles are intended audiences, arguments, vocabulary and tone.

A little bit about me

Hi, I am Brody, a guy from Taiwan. My program is MS in Electrical Engineering. I enjoy traveling and doing yoga in my spare time. I feel hard to speak English fluently and recognize English accent from around the world. Verily, I will try my best to strive against difficulties. Anyway, I am glad to meet everyone.