12newsMARCH 10, 2008The nanyang chronicleVirtual futures forthe near futureIncreased satisfaction fromeager steamboat loversTertiary students from allover Singapore competein online tradingcompetition hereTa n Th i a m Pe n gTHE FUTURESWORLD C<strong>hall</strong>enge2008 concluded its six-week longcompetition with a prize-givingceremony on February 28th.Jointly organised by theUniversity’s Investment InteractiveClub and Ong First Tradition, alocal futures brokerage firm, theceremony recognised winners fortheir achievements.A cheque <strong>of</strong> $2,000 wasalso presented to The StraitsTimes Pocket Money Fund. Thedonation was converted fromvirtual earnings made from thecompetition, capped at a maximumamount.Open to local university andpolytechnic students, this wasSingapore’s first virtual futuresonline trading competition aimedat promoting financial literacy. Itfeatured real-time updates fromthe Singapore Exchange (SGX) andvirtual trading in market prices.Special Projects Officer <strong>of</strong>the Investment Interactive Club,Hon Jin Ti, 21, said the event letstudents meet up with industryexperts from Ong First Traditionand SGX.Of the 300 participants in theindividual category, 54 progressedinto the Champions’ League. AshishRao Damerla rose above them allto clinch the top prize—an AppleMacBook.The 22-year-old Mastersstudent in Environmental Scienceand Engineering, also won theteam category with fellow Mastersstudents Gourvendu Saxena, 26,and Deepika Lakshminarayanan,22. They each took home an AppleMac Mini and a iPod.“It wasn’t easy,” Deepika said.“But once we got the hang <strong>of</strong> theindex ranges, we invested in avery planned and safe manner, andmade good pr<strong>of</strong>its.”“Winning this competitiongave us the confidence to enter thereal world futures trading. I willdefinitely join again if possible,”said Gourvendu.Ch e n Ji n g t i n gIN MOST steamboats with spicyand non-spicy soups, the spicypart always boils sooner andlonger than the non-spicy section.A group <strong>of</strong> students, however,have developed a new steamboataims to solve that problem.Under the <strong>Nanyang</strong> ResearchProgramme (NRP), AssistantPr<strong>of</strong>essor Yau Che Ming from theNational Institute <strong>of</strong> Education(NIE) and his team <strong>of</strong> threestudents aim to develop a biboilingsteam pot which willensure that spicy and non-spicysoups boil simultaneously andcontinuously for the same period<strong>of</strong> time.The NRP, which is organizedby NTU, encourages juniorcollege (JC) and gifted secondaryfour students to conductacademic research work withthe university’s pr<strong>of</strong>essors.Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Yau and thestudents, two in secondaryfour and one in JC, started theresearch in January last year. Heattheory and material processingresearches were used.Their main focus was t<strong>of</strong>ind the key factor for thedifferences in boiling time <strong>of</strong>the soups. “There are manypossible factors, such as thedesign <strong>of</strong> the pot, ingredientsor amount <strong>of</strong> oil. We had totrial-and-error many timesbefore finding the main one,”said Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Yau.In experiments carriedout in his home kitchen, thestudents varied the ingredientsand amount <strong>of</strong> oil to createspicy and non-spicy soups.They then measured the timetaken for each type <strong>of</strong> soupto boil.They found the key factorto be the heat transfer processthat takes place in the partitionseparating the soups. Heattravels from the non-spicysection to the spicy part,resulting in the spicy soupboiling sooner and longerthan the non-spicy soup.The team’s solution was todesign the steam pot with soupcompartments which are moreisolated and insulated fromeach other.Currently, they are tryingto produce an actual model <strong>of</strong>A BETTER STEAMBOAT EXPERIENCE:<strong>Students</strong> develop an improved pot.PHOTO | TAN ZI JIEthe pot for testing and evaluation.They had failed to do so due tothe high price charged by themanufacturer. Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Yauhopes that he will be able to findanother manufacturer next yearwith more funding from the.Although, it will cost from $1,500to $2,000, he said a redesign <strong>of</strong>the pot will make it marketable.The self-confessed steamboatlover who prefers non-spicysoup said: “This project is morethan an interest. I see it as aneed to enhance the steamboatexperience.”
Petal pushers — a potpourri <strong>of</strong> fashion’s latest trendPetal pushers — a potpourri <strong>of</strong> fashion’s latest trendPage 21SALSAEN MOTIONGARY’S foray intothe sensuous,flirtatious world<strong>of</strong> street salsastarted when heencountered the dance in one<strong>of</strong> the salsa clubs dotting theisland. The catchy music andthe romantic image <strong>of</strong> dailyfiestas and street dancing itconjured up got the 25-year-oldhooked.“What I saw was a socialisedform <strong>of</strong> dancing, a breakawayfrom the normal perception <strong>of</strong>couple dance. It looked cool andvery hip,” Gary says.Seeing how dancers changepartners frequently in salsa,Gary reckons it is a good wayto extend one’s social circle.“You <strong>get</strong> to meet differentpeople. There is so muchtemptation and at first you go‘Wow, so many girls!’” he says.“But I’ve been here so long I’mover that stage.”He lets on though, that dueto the intimate nature <strong>of</strong> thedance, things sometimes doheat up on and <strong>of</strong>f the dancefloor when “guy meets girl andgirl meets guy”.CONTINUED ON PAGE 14DESIGN | IMRAN JALAL, PHOTOS | CHEN WEI LI
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