stuff

seems like people don't like to read articles in english, there are so few comments...

anyways, things've been well these days. the human subjects approval for my thesis experiment has arrived, i can officially get the money and start my experiment now. but there are still some technical difficulties that need to be fixed.

machine shop work has been fun, though i cut myself a couple times besides cutting aluminum. our rock crusher is expected to exert 25000N force when a person weighs 60kg steps on it. and we think this will break the all time record of rock crusher projects, haha

i've finished the conceptual design of my knitting chair, looks pretty good in drawings. need to make a 3d model of it to see if it actually works. i have 6 weeks after spring break to actually fabricate the whole chair, hopefully it's enough time.

squash is really fun, tough tiring. can't get enough power on forehand shots, which really bothers me. should practice more.

Leader

Leadership is not rank, privileges, titles, or money. It is responsibility.

A Leader Has A Mission That Matters
A Leader Is A Big Thinker
A Leader Has High Ethics
A Leader Is A Change Master
A Leader Is Sensitive
A Leader Is A Risk Taker
A Leader Is A Decision Maker
A Leader Uses Power Wisely
A Leader Communicates Effectively
A Leader Is A Team Builder
A Leader Is Courageous
A Leader Is Committed

future

some more information about the job that i am applying in Motorola. the group is formerly known as Symbol Tech, which was recently acquired by Motorola. the position i am applying for is a position somewhere between industrial designer, industrial engineer and ergonomics researcher, which is exactly what i would like to do. and the fact that they came to me at the first place, and that they would like someone who can speak chinese, makes the chance of me getting hired much higher. so i'm really excited about it! but in the meantime, quite a bit nervous too! hope everything goes well.

"A bit about the group: we have two UI designers, two design researchers (including me), two ergonomists, and one market/innovation researcher. There is a fair amount of cross over, as I've designed a number of keyboards and conducted human factors studies and the UI designers and ergonomists have done design research. Our larger group is the former Symbol Technologies industrial design group that also includes industrial designers and a team of engineers working on advanced concepts. We are currently working through details of how we will work with the team that already existed at Motorola in our division. Motorola is divided into three divisions, Mobile Devices (cell-phones), Networks & Enterprise (us), & Connected Home (cable-boxes and similar home network/entertainment equipment). The ID group that already existed in the N&E division mostly did work designing walkie-talkie-type devices and police & fire communications equipment. They also did a few products that competed against us.

The main products that our group has worked on are mobile computers, bar-code scanners, and RFID equipment. Symbol also makes wireless (Wifi) equipment, but the design group has been less involved in its development. We might also start covering the walkie-talkies and police & fire equipment. The main things tying all of this together is that it is equipment used for people's jobs and allows these jobs to be done better through providing mobile access to communications, computing, and data capture. Our stuff gets used by a large number of industries, but the major settings include: stores, warehouses, factories, transportation hubs, hospitals, and in mobile field applications (think guys repairing telephone equipment or the guys delivering a package to your house and taking your signature)."

starwars

starwars is soooo cool! natalie portman is so pretty~~



may the FORCE be with you!

forza manchester united

manchester united and liverpool derby, THE most fierce and eye attracting english premiership derby, ended with a 91 minute goal, the only goal of the game, from john o'shea.

i got up at 7:30am to watch the exciting game, and my team didn't disappoint me!! but i have to admit, liverpool was the better side. bellamy caused a lot of trouble for our defense, vidic didn't really have the agility to do a great defense on him. and because we were the away team at anfield, sir alex furguson must think that he would be satisfied with a draw. our team played a little bit conservatively, leaving most of the court for liverpool to attack and trying to steal a winning goal by counter attack. van der sar was definitely the key to the clean sheet, his several brilliant world class saves made the reds leave the stadium empty-handed.

after rooney was forced to be substituted by o'shea and scholes was sent off for a furious fist swing, everyone thought that the game was going to end with a boring draw. but luck stood by us again today, at 1 minute into overtime, ronaldo's furious freekick went pass the wall and reina couldn't hold on to the ball, o'shea scored a close range shot which helped us bring home 3 points!

so we have a 9-point lead and only 9 games left. beating chelsea at stamford bridge would be the best way to win the premiership. forza manchester united, we are the champions!

wet shoes

have you ever have this experience, that you are walking on a rainy day, rain drops on your umbrella, the ground is wet, water running under you and by your side. all of a sudden, you find that your toes are feeling cold! so you look down, and find the heads of your sneaker all wet!

so this is an example of common design problems that everyone of us must have experienced. from the human walking motion, a flick at the head of our foot towards upright will happen when we are moving our foot in front of us, before stepping down. so if there is water under our shoes, inertia of the water makes it keep going up and land on the heads of our shoes.

no one wants to walk around in a pair of wet shoes all day long, so even though this is a tiny problem, it is annoying! a simple solution to the problem might be adding some grain at the front of the sneaker so that when water goes up along the heads of our shoes due to inertia, there is resistance making it stop before it reaches to the top of our shoes. also, add a small part of water proof material at the head top of our shoes.

let's walk with a pair of DRY shoes!

nervous

Subject: RE: Resume
From: "Marshall, Graham", graham.marshall@motorola.com
Date: Thu, March 1, 2007 9:18 am
To: "Vincent, Xin Wang"

Xin, thank you for your resume. We are interested in setting up interviews for early March. I will be in touch soon.

Thank-you
Graham