LSCMS IG Visit to Port of Tanjung Palapas (PTP) and Senai Airport (7th Oct 2010)

On 7^th October 2010, 13 students and 4 DSCM staff from Republic Polytechnic went for a one-day trip to the Port of Tanjung Palapas (PTP) and Senai Airport, both in Johor. This was a collaborative initiative between Republic Polytechnic-Diploma in Supply Chain Management (DSCM) and Logistics & Supply Chain Management Society Interest Group (LSCMS IG) with The Chartered of of Institute of Logistics and Transport, Singapore (CILT). Besides representatives from Republic Polytechnic, the trip also comprised of CILT members who are mainly industry practitioners.

During the trip, we were given an introduction about PTP and the developments for Senai Airport. This was then followed by a port tour at the facilities by both the port representatives.  

Besides getting to know about the port operations (e.g. how it work, key challenges) as well as their future plans,  this trip also provided a chance for our students and staff to mingle with CILT members from companies such as Changi Airport Group, Chevron, NTU, DHL and Future Electronics.

The trip would not have been possible without sponsorship for the IG students from Supply Chain Asia, a community that seeks to promote the supply chain industry, which paid for the costs of all the students. This is definitely one of the perks of joining LSCMS IG!

The feedbacks from our students have been most positive after the trip. Overall, it has been a most fruitful and enriching trip to our students as well as our staff.

Here are some photos taken during the visit.

Visit to NTU SCBE on 6th October 2010

On 6^th Oct 2010, Medical Electronics IG organized a trip to NTU SCBE. The trip provided an eye-opening opportunity for students to understand the programs, modules provided by NTU SCBE. The students were also invited to visit some labs and got  a glimpse of the cutting edge research and development projects conducted in NTU SCBE. 

Exchange Programme with Students from Kitakyushu College of Technology

Bringing together, on behalf of Republic Polytechnic and School of Engineering, Cyriva Club warmly welcomed students from Kitakyushu National College of Technology all the way from Fukuoka, Japan to visit us on our Campus and facilities on 27th September 2010.

Though the weather wasn’t perfect to start with (some showering and pouring), but as soon as the students arrived, the sky brightened up and we totally forgot about the weather.

With a rich history of 45 years in education, Kitakyushu National College of Technology (KCT) has molded many of their students to be the future stronghold of Japan.

Representing KCT, 2 of their students presented on their own experience and lifestyle in Japan. They also shared the 4 seasons they have, their school activities and also the festivals they had locally.

After which, we brought them tour around the campus and explained the different infrastructure in Republic Polytechnic. We also had many photo shoots with them as wonderful memories for the trip.

The exchange programme ended with gifts and emails exchanging between KCT and RP students. Even though we have merely known each other for a couple of hours, we already found it hard to say goodbye. It was indeed an enriching and fruitful experience for us.

SEG Graduate talked about getting her degree from East Asia Institute of Management

Ms Tan Chew Ling graduated from Republic Polytechnic in February last year. She was an SEG student studying Diploma in Industrial and Operations Management.

Unlike other students who will have to undergo a 3-4 years of a standard Degree course in a government university, Ms Tan will get her degree in just a month's time. The Degree in Bachelor in Business (Supply Chain Management) from the University of Southern Queensland offered by East Asia Institute of Management (EASB) is what Ms Tan is pursuing currently. What is more surprising is that she found out about the offer during an exhibition in Republic Polytechnic.

She was glad to know that course is fast-paced, intense and accelerated which allows her to graduate within a year's time. She needs to clear 15 modules and have exams every four months. She credits her lecturers, which comprises of full and part-time lecturers who are helpful, knowledgeable and experienced in the field of study.

The lecturers there are more than willing to provide her with analogies and real-life examples that may occur in  her future workplace. The extra-curricular activities which are organised by the school also makes her feel part of the EASB family. The EASB Sports Day was one such event held at Queenstown Stadium in August which involves students and staffs from the two EASB campuses in Balestier and Henderson Road. The event  was one effective way for her to mingle with the students from the Balestier campus as she is from the Henderson Road campus.

Visit to A*STAR FUSIONWORLD organised by EHIG! Be Wowed and Entertained in the Technology Wonderland!

 Visit to Advanced Technology Wonderland - FUSIONWORLD

The visit to A*STAR FUSIONWORLD was conducted successfully on 27^th September 2010. This event was proudly organized by EHIG. A total of 23 SEG students and 2 SEG staff participated in the visit.

The visit has been a fruitful and enriching experience for SEG staff and students. The visit has provided the opportunity for SEG staff and students allow to experience cutting edge technologies and innovations from Singapore’s  Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in an advanced technology wonderland.

EHIG Blog: http://electronichobbiesinterestgroup.blogspot.com/

RP students with F1 driver Sebastian Vettel

A group of SEG DBME students  successfully demonstrated a brain-controlled F1 race game on 23 Sep 2010 at a Puma exclusive event at 313 @ Somerset!

Although, due to time constraint and crowded media reporters, the F1 player got no  time to try RP’s “F1 race”, we did attract many medias attention. The emcee of the event highlighted  RP’s contribution to this event to all the media several times during the event.  RP students were also invited to take some photos with Sebastian Vettel,  a driver from Red Bull, who won the 2^nd place in F1 night race Singapore.  

Amazing Night Cycling Race 2010

The Amazing Night Cycling Race was held on the 28^th and 29^th of September 2010. All the Cyriva Club members gathered at W1 Student Forum to prepare and get ready to start of the event at 1:00pm. The event registration started off at 1:30pm and participants came after awhile. 

We started off with ice-breaking games like, ‘Caterpillar’ and ‘7-Up’. Everyone laughed and enjoyed while they were playing Caterpillar as they have to move from one point to another only using their own hands and bottoms with their legs interlocking at the waist of the front person. The last few teams had forfeit and they were dancing on the stage. They had fun as everyone was laughing non-stop.

As time passed, it’s time to play ‘7-Up’. The participants formed a big circle and waited for instructions. The participants had to number off and whenever it comes to a number which contains ‘7’, they have to say ‘UP’ instead of ‘7’. After a few rounds, the game was modified; the participants have to say ‘UP’ whenever there’s even number. This goes on for another few rounds followed by their forfeit and they sure had fun for these two games as there were laughter here and there.

Ice breakers session ended and it’s time for games like ‘Polo Master’, ‘Test Your Senses’ and ‘Memory Game’. For the game ‘Polo Master’, participants in their own teams were required to get the polo to the other side without dropping using a straw. It sure was a challenge as it’s quite hard to connect a straw to another without touching it, patience is important in this game. 

Next game was ‘Test your senses’. Each of the participants were given a period of time to use their senses and sense the item in the box or the item that the game masters gave them and they are required to guess what was it. For tasting part, one of the team members had to use their mouth and get the polo sweet hidden inside the small container before guessing what they had tasted. Those who tasted gave a weird expression as there is a mixture of sour powder, flour and sugar. For smelling part, it was white pepper and lastly, the feeling part, the participants must guess what is inside the box after they put their hands in for a few seconds. 

 The third game was ‘Memory Game’ to test the memory of the participants. Each team had to send up a representative and they are given around 30seconds to 1minute to memorize 10 numbers. After memorizing the 10 numbers, they need to go back to their team and tell their team members what he/she had memorized. Once one number is said wrongly, the team cannot continue unless they get the right number. Some of the team members guess the numbers until they got it right. After a few rounds, the game masters modified the game and it became more challenging as the participants had to memorize the number after subtracting, adding, multiplying or division.

After games, the participants took some rest while waiting for dinner and they have yet to know what is going to happen during the night cycling later on. Briefing for the Night cycling was given after dinner, and the participants are required to search for the cue cards that were hidden somewhere before they head off to East Coast Park. Enthusiasm was seen in the participants. 

As soon as the participants reached their kick off location at East Coast Park, they took their bikes and looked for one of our team member who was hiding with the clue card for their next destination.

As soon as they found their clue cards, they went off to their destination and started to complete the game given by the game master to obtain their next clue card. The game was ‘Dig It’ and the objective was to find a piece of coloured paper to exchange for the clue card. Below is the picture where the participants need to dig to find the piece of coloured paper.

At the next pit stop, they were given the task of keeping their ankles together in a straight line all the way to the end mark so that they would be able to receive their clue card to their next pit stop but any breaks in the ankles, they would need to restart the whole game. Even if the task seems easy, the teams had a hard time of keeping their ankles together all the way to the end.

As the night went on, the participants had to move on to their next pit stop which is at Sun Plaza Park to proceed on to their next task. The team had to take exact photograph of pictures given to them by the game masters. Once all the photos have been taken correctly, they are given the clue card to their next pit stop.

As the participants had gone deeper into the race, they found themselves in Pasir Ris Park trying to conquer a challenge that may seem weird to some of the teams. The game called ‘Pass The Oil Paper’, had some of the teams grossed out as they had to pass screen paper to one another until the end using nothing except their mouth. After completing that task, they would receive their next clue.

After a long cycle, they took a long break at Changi Village to rest their body and especially their exhausted legs. While taking a break, they had time to enjoy the food  to refill their energy.

After their meal, they were given the clue to their pit stop and they moved on according to their timing. When they reached the pit stop at Changi Jetty, they had to test their concentration. ‘Pass The Ball’ is a game that needs a firm and steady hand as they need to balance a ping-pong ball with a chopstick and pass it on to the next teammate until the last teammate has a chance to balance the ball.

After completing the challenge at Changi Jetty, they had another tough challenge which was the long park connector back to East Coast Park as their last pit stop is back at East Coast Park. The picture below shows one of the teams trying to figure out where is the last pit stop.

 As soon as they reached the pit stop, they had to take a group photo at Bedok Jetty. Once that task is done, they would return back to the game masters and they would be given entry to the garden tower to find their final clue card for the End Point which was hidden at the tower.

After a long cycle through all the pit stops, they all have one last task to be done. It was the final stretch all the way to the End Point. At the end, a member of the Cyriva club is waiting to greet them as they arrive one by one at the end.  

Woodcraft has a great deal going on a nice 170 piece Brad Point Drill Bit Set

I was at our local Woodcraft store the other day, and while my bride sat patiently in the car I rummaged through their router bits looking for just the right one.  As I made my way to the checkout I was stopped dead in my tracks by a special that was on an end cap.

Until the end of October they have sets of 170 titanium nitride coated brad point drill bits for $39!  This is 1/2 price, or if you prefer, 50% off.

The set has 5 - 10 bits of each size: 1⁄16", 5⁄64", 3⁄32", 7⁄64", 1⁄8", 9⁄64", 5⁄32", 11⁄64", 3⁄16", 13⁄64", 7⁄32", 15⁄64", 1⁄4", 17⁄64", 9⁄32", 5⁄16", 21⁄64", 11⁄32" & 3⁄8"

The set is in a nice box, and it also includes a drill size gauge.

I'm not usually a sucker for TiN coated bits, because I've seen too many sets at Harbor Freight where the manufacturer obviously coats the bits that have the worse edges in order to hide their sins.  What a scam!  They take their scraps and put 50 cents of electroplating on them and charge a premium!  Anyway, TiN coatings help to reduce heat on the cutting edge for increased bit life, and this Woodcraft set looks very nice.

They also have a set of standard metal-drilling bits at half price.  Take a look at these sets at Woodcraft.com


Sale ends October 30th. Don't ask me why it's not through the 31st.

Porter Cable Introduces the Qick Jig Pocket Hole Tool

The new Porter Cable Qick Jig is a unique design for drilling pocket screw holes.   

I own two Kreg jigs; one that's 10-12 years old and made of aluminum.  It does a fine jog, but was limited to 3/4" lumber.  It has no dust collection option and the two hole pattern is not adjustable.  If I want to space the holes closer or further apart I have to unclamp the part and relocate it.

My second Kreg jig was purchased about two ears ago and is made entirly of plastic.  It does not make provisions for dust collection, and though it requires me to take it apart and add or remove parts, it will allow me to drill stock up to 2" thick.  It has three drilling locations, but they are not adjustable, so I still wind-up moving the parts between drilling operations.  Kreg has since change this tool and has added a dust chute.  I gave it a go one afternoon at my local Woodcraft and am convinced that the version I have is superior.  They did relocate the clamp, so at least it's not on the opposite side of the stock from the drilling action. 

Enter the Porter Cable Qick Jig:

This tool was introduced at the IWF show in Atlanta in Aug and it is purported to be accurate and repeatable.  I can't believe with as slow as the show was this year that I was still unable to leave our hall and visit the tool hall, so at this point I have to take the word of my buddy Scott Philips. He says that you simply place the material in the jig, slide the guide mechanism into place, tighten down and drill.

Unlike the Kreg jig, there's a single location for the stop collar on the drill bit, and there's even a fixture built into the jig to help you set it.  On my Kreg jig I have to change the stop collar for different material thicknesses and even have purchased a second bit and collar because it was such a hasstle.

It's got an automatic depth control that allows for different material thicknesses, so again, there's no adding and subtracting of parts.

One of the most interesting things about the jig is that you can adjust the distance between the drill holes with its Variable Spaced Bushings.  No more clamping and unclamping between every hole.    

The first time I watched the video it apeared that there was quite a bit of fumbeling between drilling operations, but upon further investigation it turns out that once you have it set for your project you simply lock and unlock the mail (lower) clamp between joints. The top clamp is only adjusted if you need to change the board thickness or the hole spacing.

And though it's not a huge deal, the dust that's created from a pocket hole jig does pile-up fater that you'd believe, so a dust chute would be nice.  The PC Quick Jig has just such a dust port.

Click here to see (and buy) the Porter Cable Qick Jig from Woodcraft.com

Watch my buddy Scott Philips as Doug Harmon walks him through the new Qick Jig.

"Guards? We don't need no stinkin' guards!"

OK, not really, but woodworkers ARE an independent lot, and we don't need a nanny to tell us how to be safe in our own shops. Wear this shirt in the shop, while you shop or anywhere you feel like telling the world that you know what you're doing.

This shirt features an image from one of the original US Patents for the Unisaw.  Click on the image to see the shirt at Zazzle, or on the PatentPlaceUSA link below to see other woodworking tool tees and gifts. 

Guards? We don't need no stinkin' guards! by PatentPlaceUSA
Shop Zazzle for another tshirt . zazzle

SEGeTogether 2010

The wait was finally over for all of us. SEGeTogether 2010 was held on the 26^th of June 2010. At 10:30am, all the Cyriva Club members gathered at the W1 Student Forum to prepare their logistics and get ready to start off the event. The event registration started off at 11:30am and participants came rolling in.

The day kicked off with ice-breaking games like, ‘Honey, do you love me?’ and ‘Musical Chairs’. Everyone roared with laughter and squeals as they witness their teammates professing their “love” in a bid to make the “victim” laugh. The rest of the participants had to brave themselves not to laugh so as to not be the next one to profess their so-called “love”. As the hour draws on, the participants decided to proceed ahead with ‘Musical Chairs’, a game that is more popular to the younger generation. It was nerve-wrecking for the participants to make sure that they will get a seat as soon as the music stops, yet they sure had fun as there were laughter here and there.

The Games Section 1 commenced after noon with the game, ‘Search in the Paper’. In this game, participants in each team had to search for selected challenging words that can be found in newspaper articles. It sure was a challenge as there were a lot of teamwork and communication going on. There were around 20 words to be searched in one whole article. Mind you, those were very challenging words!

Moving on to the next game station, which was ‘Snap’, the participants had to overcome their fear of being snapped with rubber band. Participants had to use their mouths to transfer sponge balls from one point to another point. The catch, they were bound by rubber bands. It sure was exhilarating as participants kept praying and hoping that the rubber band won’t snap!

The third game was ‘Crossing Over’. Here, participants had to cross over to the other side of square plots. The fastest team wins. Unfortunately, it was a tie! Instead, we continued with a tie-breaker by challenging each team with the most common and traditional game, ‘Scissors, Paper, Stones!’ The participants were not allowed to speak to play the game. It sure does sound fun!

Refreshments were served after the three games and boy were they exhausted! However, they have yet to know what they were in for, which was the Mass Photo Hunt after. After relaxing here and there, the teams shot off in a bid to be the fastest team and most photos taken during the hunt. The game proved to be exhausting as they ran around the whole school to take the photos!

The last game was ‘Scrabbling’! Here, the participants each had a chance to get their hands wet and soapy! The participants have to form a word from letters that were all in pails of soapy water. It sure was a fun way to get cooled off after the running here and there.

The event ended with a Prize presentation with the winning team winning funky titbits! All of those present there were in for a surprise as the OIC presented everyone with home-made cookies specially made for them! Who knows next year’s SEGeTogether will have more of these?

Welcome Tea for Freshmen 2010

It was the first Club meeting for everyone including the freshmen who become members to the club. Faces of shyness and eagerness can be seen from all around the room. Familiar faces can be found as some of them were from the Freshmen Orientation Camp 2010. The room was buzzing with chatters and laughter as everyone tried their best to be in their comfort zone.

Soon after, everyone was introducing themselves. It was amusing as all of us tries to remember everyone’s names without fail.

Time flies as we have our first meeting with the freshmen. New agendas and events were brought up and expectations were told. Introduction to the Cyriva Club departments made the freshmen ponder on what position they want to be in.

Without them knowing, the Year 2s have actually prepared a surprise welcoming tea for the freshmen! Boy, were they taken in by the surprise! Chocolate éclairs and fried chicken balls were served for them! It was a pleasant moment for them all. We made them feel welcomed into this wonderful club!

SEG Graduates BBQ 2010

Time Flies, it is time for massive shopping for the upcoming graduation BB-Q!!! That is what all of us have been waiting for. What beats being able to have a good gathering with our graduates just before school reopens for the semester.

The day before the BBQ, our club members came down happily to the big Tampines Giant to buy some fresh food for the BBQ. To our amazement, even though it is a weekday, Giant was still filled with chats and laughers which also grew louder as we march in to the Giant with 2 trolleys.

But on the day itself, the laughter and chats grew even more as all of us were very excited about the BBQ! As we waited for the arrival of the graduates, we helped ourselves with the food first. Some of us were bored and started to play games like 'Twister' and 'Honey, do you love me?' It was so much fun as this was also the first event for the freshmen!

In the first pit we had our OIC cooking for our year ones. There were chicken wings and other types of finger food. Some of us had to admit shamefully that it was their first time barbecuing the food. It was funny as they tried their best to barbecue the food without getting the food burnt!

In the Second pit we had our chef cum mentor, Fabian returning to cook for the year twos!! And look at how professional he is! Of course he is, as barbecuing is his forte!

After all the fun and games, guess what’s next? More food!

Well after dinner we have a nice game of dog and bone!! It was the highlight of the day as most of them were very engaged in the game. Things ended around 8pm and everyone started to clean the area. Everyone cooperated in cleaning the area and it was also fun as some of us messed around with each other during the clean-up.

All of us sure can't wait for the next year's SEG Graduates BBQ!!! I'm sure it will be a blast.

LSCMS IG Research Project

Rather than looking for part-time jobs or idling their time away during the 2 weeks term break in June, seven members from the Logistics & Supply Chain Management Society IG (LSCMS IG) were involved in a Research project initiated by Supply Chain Asia, an external organization that helps to promote the supply chain industry.

These 7 members were tasked to profile the distribution of trucks delivering to 11 shopping malls island-wide, namely Causeway Point, Suntec City, Vivocity, Plaza Singapura, Parkway Parade, Ngee Ann city, Funan Digital Mall, Northpoint, Jurong Point, Junction 8 and Tampines Mall, and also to find out about the unloading facilities at each of this mall, such as the number of loading docks, cargo lifts and staging areas.

They had to interview truck drivers to find out about their delivery profiles and to ask them about recommendations about the unloading facility and timing at those malls, but some of them were too busy to revert to them, while there were also some who could not be bothered to respond. Besides tackling the drivers, the students had to exercise caution not to incur the wrath of the security personnel at the unloading bays, who deemed the students as interfering. Some of the students were warned or chased, but most of them are able to achieve their objectives to profile the unloading area and interview the drivers, such as by tactically hiding behind or in between trucks while interviewing.

The students also had to bear the weather conditions to time the turnaround time for each truck as well as the stuffy and sometimes dirty conditions at some of the unloading areas, which had a foul smell or even cockroaches running around the place. But, it wasn’t all hard work for the students. Through this study, it really opened up the minds of the students about some of the difficulties which the products had to undergo before it could reach the retail store. None of them actually realized that the queue formed at the unloading area could sometimes take an hour to clear before this study. It helped them to understand better why they were learning certain modules such as Distribution & Transportation, where certain theories could be exercised to improve the conditions.

At the end of the study, the students produced a report that was submitted to Supply Chain Asia, consisting of the information gathered at each of the malls, as well as an analysis of the trend at the urban and suburban malls. For their hard work, they were awarded between 6 to 9 CE points each, and also received $300 each from Supply Chain Asia. It was definitely well worth the time and effort for them!