Interplay between Science, Engineering and Buddhism

The key to achieve success as a Researcher, an Administrator, and as a Human being

Shih earned his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Harvard in 1973. After Shih spent seven years leading Fracture Research at the GE Corporate Research Lab, he returned to an Ivy setting, serving as a professor at Brown University for nearly 15 years. In 2000, he returned home, serving as the President of the National University of Singapore. Despite the awesome responsibility of running a new university (KAUST), in his acceptance letter Shih said that he plans to keep his composure by using some lessons from his childhood: “Early on as a child, my greatest pleasure was to explore the longkangs (ditches) of Singapore, looking for fishes and frogs. Curiosity, and the joy when that is fulfilled, has led me to a lifelong quest of pursuing scientific knowledge, the interplay of inquiry and reasoning.” Interplay between Science and Engineering As Theodore von Kármán, Caltech’s Provost, once said: “Scientists discover the world that exists; engineers create the world that never was”. In other words, science is about curiosity driving us to understand the world while engineering is about using science to transform the world through technology. This view is true of 19th and 20th century science and engineering, as bookended by the steam engine and Apollo 7 and the technologies created in between. Also in between were the World Wars and the advent of the atomic age, which were emblems, culturally speaking, of the culpability of science in creating the anxiety and even terrors of the 20th century.

Human kind is now more keenly aware that we live in a flat world, where cultures compete, collide or collaborate for better or worse, and where the environment is at risk because of what modern technology has literally burnt up. Of course, the optimists seek scientific solutions for these new problems, as well they should; but the realists are not wrong to wonder if even more problems will in turn be created.

Thus, von Kármán’s statement needs elaboration – the world that technology has transformed begs to be shaped by values, values which can promote and sustain life in the 21st century.

His beliefs in life:

Kept pushing forward

A drive to succeed where others said success was improbable, or even impossible, has spurred me along through difficult times. I am fundamentally drawn to the challenge of transforming the seemingly impossible into a possible. This has made my life journey rewarding and fun.

Innate Curiosity

A curiosity for how things work and a love of adventure have also driven me to seek out exciting and meaningful pursuits. My fondest childhood memories include taking toys apart to understand how they worked and exploring Singapore’s longkangs (deep monsoon drains) to study the fishes and frogs.

Courage to look at things in different ways

I love looking at things in different ways. It is very much about the joy of discovery and of unraveling a mystery. My friends know me to be an unrelenting optimist, one who sees the cup, not as half empty, but as always offering something to drink.

Buddhism ( non- attachment) as a guide in life

I have had my share of moments when things just didn’t work, but I always tell myself: there is always tomorrow to pick up the pieces. At the same time, always in my heart are the words of my devout Buddhist mother: “You must not be so attached to something that you can’t do without it.” My mother’s enlightened view on non-attachment has often guided me through life’s turning points, freeing me to take risks and embark on adventures. Excessive attachment discourages one from seeing new opportunities and seizing them.

His view about life I think of life more as a never-ending and ever-changing journey of learning and discovery. Being true to your beliefs, values and passions make the journey meaningful and fulfilling. Humility, humanity and humor also make good travelling companions.

Source: http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news-events/publications/qa/shih-choon-fong

PC maker who inspired Microsoft dies

ATLANTA: Dr Henry Edward Roberts, a developer of an early personal computer that inspired Bill Gates to found Microsoft, died on Thursday. He was 68.

Roberts, whose build-it-yourself kit concentrated thousands of dollars worth of computer capability in an affordable package, inspired Bill Gates and his childhood friend Paul Allen to come up with Microsoft in 1975 after they saw an article about the MITS Altair 8800 in Popular Electronics.

Roberts, an ex-military man, later went on to careers as a farmer and a physician, but continued to keep up with computer advances: He recently told Gates he hoped to work with new, nanotechnology-enhanced machines, according to son David Roberts.
“He did think it was pretty neat, some of the stuff they’re doing with the processors,” said David Roberts, who confirmed Gates rushed to Georgia on Friday to be with his mentor.

Roberts died in a Macon hospital after a long bout with pneumonia, according to his family.
“Ed was willing to take a chance on us — two young guys interested in computers long before they were commonplace — and we have always been grateful to him,” Gates and Allen said in a joint statement released on Thursday.
“The day our first untested software worked on his Altair was the start of a lot of great things. We will always have many fond memories of working with Ed.”

Air force

The man often credited with kick starting the modern computer era never intended to lead a revolution. Born in Miami in 1941, Roberts spent time in the US Air Force and earned an electrical engineering degree from Oklahoma State University in 1968, according to information provided by his family.

He later parlayed his interest in technology into a business making calculators; when large firms like Texas Instruments began cornering the business, Roberts soon found himself in debt, David Roberts said.

Meanwhile, he was gaining an interest in computers — at the time, hulking machines available almost exclusively at universities. “He came up with the idea that you could have one of these computers on your own,” said David Roberts, adding his father expected to sell a few units. “Basically, he did it to try to get out of debt.” Roberts himself would later describe the effort as an “almost megalomaniac kind of scheme” that he pursued out of youthful ambition.

“But at that time you know we just lacked the, eh, the benefits of age and experience,” Roberts said on a programme called Triumph of the Nerds that aired on PBS in 1996. “We didn’t know we couldn’t do it.”

His son described his father as a tinkerer who surveyed his friends before building his personal computer. “My assumption was that there were a bunch of nuts out there like me that would like to have a computer,” Roberts told the Atlanta Journal Constitution, in a 1997 interview. “To engineers and electronics people, it’s the ultimate gadget.”

Flashing lights

The Altair was nothing like the ultra slim laptops of today: Operated by switches and with no display screen, it looked like little more than a metal box covered in blinking, red lights.

“In the early days it was pretty useless. People just bought it thinking that it would be neat to build a computer,” Gates said in a video history interview with the Smithsonian Institution.

Roberts founded Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, which sold the kits. A young Gates and Allen would later found their fledgling Microsoft firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where MITS was based, and provide a computer language that helped hobbyists program and operate the Altair.

The men would eventually feud after Gates and Allen began selling versions of Basic — or Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code — created for Altair to competitors, according to the 2003 book, Leaders of the Information Age.

David Roberts said the men had since overcome their differences, and his father had remained an influence in both their lives.

He sold his company in 1977 and retired to a life of vegetable farming in rural Georgia before going to medical school and getting a medical degree from Mercer University, in 1986.

Roberts worked as an internist, seeing as many as 30 patients a day, his son said. But he never lost his interest in modern technology, even asking about Apple’s highly anticipated iPad from his sick bed. “He was interested to see one,” said Roberts, who called his father “a true renaissance man.” — AP


Published: The Star, Friday April 2, 2010 MYT 4:13:00 PM

Science for humankind

Women contribution to Science

THE L'Oreal-Unesco For Women In Science awards ceremony held at the Unesco headquarters in Paris on March 3 was akin to a fashion show as the winners were all decked out in their national costumes. They looked resplendent, and photographers had a field day snapping pictures of these brainy beauties.

The recipients of the international fellowships were:

Asia and the Pacific:
Tan Yifen (Malaysia), Marissa Teo (Singapore) and Antima Gupta (India).

Antima, 29, hails from Lucknow, and is the youngest of three siblings. She is married to a scientist, so her husband is understanding and supportive of her work. Her father was a lecturer in education while her mother was a housewife. Thanks to their guidance, Antima is where she is today, pursuing what she loves.

"Biotechnology and science are for humankind, to meet the needs of society. I want to contribute to meet those needs and thus, improve society," said Antima in an interview.Her research revolves around the development of new models of medicine for fighting tuberculosis.
"Please don't think that illnesses are wiped out just because we have medicines against them. Diseases are always evolving. Incom¬plete, or the misuse of, treatment leads to resistance to antibiotics. "To prevent antibiotic resistance, patients must finish their antibiotics treatment," she emphasized.

Africa:
Marietta Solange Soupi Nkeutcha (of Cameroon), Djoudi Roukia (Comoros), Elisabeth Lendoye (Gabon).

Lendoye, who speaks fluent French, dedicates her award to her mother, "who did everything for me." Her father died when she was just three years old.

"My mother is an impassioned woman who stands up for what she believes in," said Lendoye in an interview. "She is a social/AIDS worker, and studied in France from 1960 to 1965."She always encouraged my siblings (there are 10 in the family; Lendoye is the eighth) and I to do our best in what we were strong in. I've always wanted to do science, and was prompted to pursue bio-chemistry. I'm a medical doctor, too."

Her area of research covers the study of muscle physiology and a new approach to Type 2 diabetes."Through this fellowship, I can network with the other women scientists," said the mother of one.

Arab states:
Hadeer Ibrahim El-Dakhakhni (Egypt), Nawal Bouaynayne (Morocco), Ghalia Boubaker (Tunisia).

Europe and North America:

Irene Margiolaki (Greece), Maria-Teresa Guardiola-Claramonte (Spain), Svitlana Yablonska (Ukraine).

Guardiola-Claramonte, better known as Maite, 34, from Valencia, is interested in waste water recycling and its implications on public health and the environment.

Maite's motivation for her work comes from her desire to improve the lives of the needy. "Since young, I've wanted to work in other – especially poorer – countries, and to help the people there," she said. Her parents were both teachers, and she has two older brothers.

Latin America and the Caribbean:

Diana Marcela Bolaños Rodriguez (Colombia), Maria Gabriela Gei (Costa Rica), Margoth Mitchela Moreno Vigo (Peru).

The 15 fellows presented their scientific work, attended briefings (dealing with topics such as patents and protecting their discoveries, how to get published, funding, media training and multi-disciplinary networking), and were given hair and make-up sessions in preparation for their photo shoots, and rehearsed for the awards ceremonies (separate ceremonies were held for the laureates and the international winners).



Women Scientist honored as Laureates

In addition to the international fellows, five women scientists – one from each of the five continents – were honored as laureates for their outstanding contributions to humankind and the environment, and for being a source of support, motivation and inspiration for other women in science.

They were: Prof Rashika El Ridi (Egypt), Prof Lourdes J. Cruz (the Philippines), Prof Anne Dejean-Assémat (France), Prof Alejandra Bravo (Mexico) and Prof Elaine Fuchs (the United States).

The scientific presentations by the five laureates was held on March 2 at the Academy of Sciences at the Institute of France, facing the River Seine. They elaborated on their findings in the august surroundings of the hall, adorned by several busts and statues of famous scientists, such as Charles Augustin Coulomb, Jacques Delille, Henri Etienne and Michel Montagne. The awards ceremony for the laureates, also held at the Unesco headquarters, took place two days later. During this event, these extraordinary women presented capsule reviews of their scientific discoveries.

New treatment for cancer

Research director Prof Dejean-Assémat of the Pasteur Institute, France, was named laureate for her discovery of the molecular and cellular mechanisms at the origin of certain cancers, such as liver cancer and leukemia, thus paving the way for new treatment procedures. Her father was an engineer and environmental protection activist while her mother was a mathematics professor."They instilled in me their independence, and an inclination to question things and to protest when necessary," said Prof Dejean of her role models.

"Our house was open to all, and evenings were filled with endless discussions. From this open environment, I developed a questioning mind as well as combativeness." The molecular biologist added: "The issue that matters most at this moment is continuing the quest for knowledge, for the good of our planet and its inhabitants. Non-programmed, non-channeled, fundamental research represents a country's future, and its scientists are a resource that must not be wasted."The greatest discovery in cancer came from a researcher doing research on (the totally unrelated subject of) sea urchins!" she said in an interview with StarTwo, emphasizing the need for scientists to be free to carry out their research without the limitations or pressure of getting certain results or working on a certain application.

"The qualities of a great scientist are commitment, passion, creativity, talent, a bit of luck and diligence," said Prof Dejean.Juggling the various facets of a woman – as daughter, spouse, mother, homemaker and scientist – is extremely challenging but she loves each of these facets of womanhood and tries to maintain the fragile equilibrium between them."I'm trying my best to keep each of these facets by being extremely well organized. I do everything myself, and at home, I also do the laundry," said the mother of three grown-up children aged 23, 21 and 18.

Medical hope from marine snails

The beauty of certain marine snails belie their extremely poisonous nature, and their venom can prove fatal. Biochemist Prof Cruz of the University of Philippines has discovered the structure and functioning of conotoxins produced by such snails, and provided the medical world with some powerful tools for researching the nervous system.In medicine, these toxins serve as components for developing drugs to fight pain, epilepsy and other neurological disorders.

Determined to improve the lives of individuals in her community, Prof Cruz plans to use the L'Oreal-Unesco Award money to purchase a piece of land to serve as a new base for the Rural Livelihood Incubator (Rural Linc) programme which she started in 2001, including a site for a fruit-processing facility run by women farmers, where the indigenous tribes can sell fruits from the orchards and forest trees.

"I established the (Rural Linc) programme to try and mobilize science and technology to alleviate poverty," said Prof Cruz. Rural Linc strives to create jobs, and fight poverty and socio-political instability, over the long term in the rural areas of the Philippines.

Working on skin stem cells

Stem cells and the key processes involved in skin development, maintenance and repair are the focus areas for Prof Fuchs of the Rockefeller University in New York.

Her considerable body of work has revolutionized the scientific approach to skin stem cells, which make it possible to reverse hair loss or regenerate the cells of the epidermis. Fascinated by skin and hair, Prof Fuchs is at the leading edge of cutaneous biology and genetic skin disorders, including cancers.

Heading the Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development at the university, her vast body of work has considerably contributed to our knowledge of skin biology and skin stem cells, and associated human diseases.

"In studying the stem cells of the skin, there is tremendous potential not only for regenerative medicine, but also for studying and developing new and improved treatments for poorly understood but devastating genetic disorders, including cancers," she said.

She thinks that, in spite of enormous progress, there are still disparities between men and women in science." This becomes increasingly obvious at the upper end of the achievement ladder, where fewer women are there to ‘remind' their male colleagues of the importance of not ignoring the scientific accomplishments of their female peers," she added.

Her role models were the women in her life: her mother, a housewife, who felt that Fuchs would make a fine chemist; her aunt, a biologist; and her older sister, a neuroscientist.

Environmentally-friendly insecticide

The petite woman that is Prof Bravo, who works at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Cuernavaca, Mexico, was honoured for her understanding of the mechanism of a bacterial toxin that acts as an environmentally-friendly insecticide.

Prof Bravo believes that the rapid progress of technology in science should be harnessed to diagnose and prevent disease and counteract emerging bacteria, viruses and insect pests.
She explained that global warming will lead to the development of new insect pests and epidemic diseases. "We need to improve science to counteract these problems because they affect food production and health."

Vaccine against a tropical disease

Prof Rashika is attached to the Department of Zoology in the Science Faculty at Cairo Univerity in Egypt. She has paved the way for the development of a vaccine against the tropical parasitic disease known as schistosomiasis or bilharzia or "snail fever" which causes about 280,000 deaths a year. "A schistosomiasis vaccine will help the world eradicate the parasite, as we did with the smallpox variola virus and the polio virus.

"We can reasonably expect to see the development of such a vaccine within the next five years," said Prof Rashika, an immunobiologist, in a press release.

By EVELYN LEN,clovetwo.com