CHRONICLE - Nanyang Technological University

02 NEWS
News Bites
NTU
NTU DEVELOPS ROBOT FOR
HUMAN AID
A team led by Prof Xie Ming from
the School of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering, has developed
a humanoid robot called NASH, or
NTU Advanced Smart Humanoid.
NASH can perform simple tasks,
and learn and adapt. It is intended
to help people with menial tasks
and assist the elderly.
BLOOD TEST KIT TO PREDICT
HEART ATTACK AND STROKE
RISKS
Researchers are working with
the National University Hospital
(NUH) on a blood test kit that
can predict the chance of a person
having a heart attack in the future.
The team is working on identifying
proteins called biomarkers that
can be used to pinpoint those at
risk of cardiovascular disease.
Lead scientist Professor Newman
Sze said they hope the kit would
produce more accurate readings,
compared with the current tests
based on weight, blood pressure
and cholesterol level.
$3M GIFT TO NANYANG BUSI-
NESS SCHOOL
NTU Pro-Chancellor, Dr Wee Cho
Yaw, gave S$3 million to establish
a new scholarship fund at for
students in the Master of Science
(Finance) programme. It is aimed
at enhancing relations between
Singapore and Chinese institutions,
the Wee Cho Yaw Master
of Science (Finance) Scholarship
Fund will be open to eligible and
qualified Chinese financial sector
regulators.
MASTER’S PROGRAMME FOR
AEROSPACE PROFESSIONALS
NTU partnered The University of
Manchester, UK, to launch a new
masters programme targeted at
aerospace industry professionals.
The degree programme in Project
Management aims to cater to
working professionals, with Rolls-
Royce’s staff and their partners in
Asia among the first to benefit.
The Duke of York Prince Andrew
was present at the signing of the
Memorandum of Understanding
between the two universities.
ELECTRONIC TABLET TO BE
USED IN INDIA
The I-slate, a low-cost electronic
tablet developed by the Institute
of Sustainable and Applied Infodynamics
(ISAID), has undergone
successful trials in India. It will
be used as a substitute for schoolchildren’s
traditional blackboard
slates. The joint institute between
NTU and Rice University is preparing
the solar powered tablet to enter
production.
SINGAPORE
PUB RECOMMENDED TO RE-
LOOK DRAINAGE SYSTEM
A flood panel made its initial
recommendations for the Public
Utilities Board to reexamine the
drainage system. More real-time
information on rainfall should be
collected. Other observations by
the panel were that canals and
drains were no longer enough
to handle rainfall here and other
ways to slow and retain rainwater,
such as ponds or porous roads,
should be added to the drainage
system.
Upcoming Events
MORE DIVERSITY IN UNIVER-
SITY SECTOR
Minister of State for Education
Lawrence Wong called for a more
varied university sector in Singapore.
Speaking at the graduation
ceremony of SIM University,
he said the Ministry of Education
wants to encourage more diversity
in the university sector to meet the
different aspirations of Singaporeans
in higher education. This will
allow each university to develop
niches of excellence based on its
individual strengths and traditions.
INDEPENDENT S-LEAGUE A
POSSIBILITY
The Football Association of Singapore
(FAS) has promised prospective
S-League CEO candidates
full autonomy in the running of
the 16-year-old league next season.
This includes employing a
dedicated management team with
a competitions chief and media
manager. For the first time since
1999, the S-League could become
an independent entity. Currently,
key decisions regarding the competition
have to be approved by
the FAS Council.
ACCOUNTING FIRMS CON-
TINUE HIRING
Accounting firms continue hiring
Leading accounting employers
say they will keep hiring figures
for graduates constant for the
upcoming year. The firms, including
PricewaterhouseCoopers
(PwC), Ernst & Young, Deloitte
and KPMG, have said the uncertain
economic situation means
they will have to be more cautious
in hiring. However, business for
the firms is expected to be relatively
resilient even in a downturn,
and they will also need the
manpower in the longer term.
22ND OCTOBER
NATIONAL SANGUOSHA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Time: From 9am onwards
Venue: Exhibition Hall, Level 3, Nanyang Auditorium
Categories: 3V3 and 8-Player
Registration fee: $2
To register: Email your name, matriculation number,
contact details and category to san_guo_sha@
hotmail.com or join he facebook group National Sanguosha
Championships or the QQ Group: 16508837
For 3V3 category, participants may join individually,
as a pair or in groups of three.
Upon successful registration, participants will receive
further details and instructions.
If you have any exciting events to publicise, please
don’t hesitate to contact us at
chronicle@ntu.edu.sg
WORLD
SWEDISH POET WINS 2011
NOBEL LITERATURE PRIZE
Swedish poet wins 2011 Nobel
Literature prize Swedish poet
Tomas Transtromer has won the
2011 Nobel prize for literature, the
awarding committee said on October
6th. The Swedish Academy
said the poet, 80, had won ‘because,
through his condensed,
translucent images, he gives us
fresh access to reality’. The prize
of 10 million Swedish crowns
(S$1.9 million) was the fourth of
this year’s Nobel prizes. Awards
for medicine, physics and chemistry
were previously given out.
LIBYA MILITIA FINDSD MASS
GRAVES
Two mass graves in Tripoli containing
the bodies of more than
900 people who died during the
rebel assault that ousted Mummar
Gaddafi has been discovered, said
a Libyan military unit on October
5th. An official from the cemetery
said the corpses had been collected
from streets and hospitals
following the rebel assault on the
Libyan capital in late August. Naji
al-Issawi, a commander in a unit
of Tripoli’s military council, said
officials planned to dig up more
of the site and start identifying
the remains.
I AM WEARING...
A short sleeved
men’s cardigan
from with a pair of
baby blue Bermudas
from Taiwan. My
checkered shirt is
from Padini, $60,
paired with my
converse sneakers..
MY PERSONAL
STYLE...
I prefer European
fashion and style
as they are more
mature looking.
MY STYLE ICON
IS...
Edison Chen.
NTU CAMPUS
STYLE IS...
I think it is rather
effortlessly stylish.
I'D NOT BE
CAUGHT DEAD
WEARING...
A singlet paired
with three –quarter
loose pants!
�����������
CHRONICLE
����
18
���
04
AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE ARREST
ALLEGED PEOPLE SMUGGLERS
Australian police arrest alleged
people smugglers Australian police
have disrupted an international
people smuggling ring
by arresting two suspected key
players. Australian Federal Police
officers arrested the pair, who allegedly
helped foreign nationals
to Australia illegally on boats
from Indonesia, following a 10month
undercover sting operation.
Undercover agents contacted
the suspects to arrange for a
fictitious Afghan family to be
brought to Australia by boat from
Indonesia, he said.
TRANSGENDER AUSTRALIANS
WIN RECOGNITION AS MEN
Two transgender people won an
appeal in Australia’s highest court
on Thursday giving them legal
recognition as men despite not
having complete sex change surgeries.
The court ruled that characteristics
that identify a person
as male or female are ‘confined to
external physical characteristics
that are socially recognisable.’
This recognition does not require
knowledge of a person’s sexual
organs, the court said. Transgender
and intersex organisations
said the ruling, as a precedent,
would spare others from having
to undergo medically unnecessary
surgery to have their chosen
gender recognised.
LIM CHONG YEN
YEAR 4 / SCHOOL OF
MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE
ENGINEERING