Leyi's blog

The article by Maxwell-Gaines (2004), “Rainwater harvesting 101”, shares more information about rainwater harvesting with the readers. The process of collecting and storing rain from a building or other impermeable surface to reuse as opposed to allowing it to run off is known as rain harvesting. Rainwater harvesting is one of the earliest and most straightforward methods of supplying water to a home on one's own and it has been practiced for thousands of years by many countries. Rainwater was traditionally harvested from a roof. Nowadays, it can be collected with rain barrels or connecting downspouts from different gutters to the collection pipes. The entire house or business can then be supplied with water using the rainwater that has been collected. Rainwater harvesting is a method to green homes and reduces environmental impact and the collected water can be used anywhere we use tap water. According to Maxwell-Gaines (2004), he believes that rainwater harvesting is a viable tec...

The article by Maxwell-Gaines (2004) , “Rainwater harvesting 101” shares more information about rainwater harvesting with the readers. The process of collecting and storing rain from a building or other impermeable surface to reuse as opposed to allowing it to run off is known as rain harvesting. Rainwater harvesting is one of the earliest and most straightforward method of supplying water to a home on one's own and it has been practiced for thousands of years by many countries. Rainwater was traditionally harvested from a roof. Nowadays, it can be collected with rain barrels or connecting downspouts from different gutters to the collection pipes. The entire house or business can then be supplied with water using the rainwater that has been collected. Rainwater harvesting is a method to green our home and reduce our environmental impact and the collected water can be used anywhere we use tap water. We believe that rainwater harvesting is a viable technology in an urban setting (Max...

Dear Professor Blackstone, My name is Leong Leyi and I am writing this letter to introduce myself to you. I graduated from Nanyang Polytechnic with a diploma in electrical engineering with eco-design, specializing in green and smart technologies.  During my course of study, I developed a greater interest in the engineering field, especially in the building infrastructure sector. I have always been captivated by how structures come to life from paper and the process of designing and constructing them from scratch. Hence, I decided to continue with engineering during university by pursuing a degree in civil engineering at Singapore Institute of Technology. When asked to present or express my opinion in class, I get nervous and stutter easily. I end up blabbering and overuse filler words as a result, especially when in front of a crowd. This prevented me from delivering a good speech to the audience as a communication weakness that I have is struggling with communicating clearly. Bein...

“ I contend that we (engineers) are undervalued because of our widespread inability to explain what we do to the general public (and why it is so important). It is one of the hardest goals to accomplish, to be able to boil down difficult concepts into a short and easily understood presentation or elevator pitch.”  Marybeth Miceli, President, Miceli Infrastructure Consulting, USA (2011)   In the quote above, Marybeth Miceli believes that engineers are underappreciated due to their incapacity of describing complex and fundamental conceptualisations to a crowd that is unfamiliar with engineering terms. Compacting such a technical idea into a straightforward, comprehensible yet engaging talk can prove extremely challenging. Engineers are too accustomed to utilising engineering lingo to get their ideas and concepts across to their fellows. This would be an issue when trying to get the crowd to comprehend and interpret what engineers are trying to convey. The importan...