This is it. I am done with all my course requirements at MIT with the completion of today's final. There is still the thesis left to do; but, I am feeling really liberated right now. No more cramming for finals, late night greasy Chinese take-out, sleep depravation, rushing from one thing to another, and the constant burden of worrying and catching up with classes.

I have a lot of thoughts and things to reflect on right now; but I am going to wait till the weekend to blog all about it. For now, I just want to have a homemade meal, smell the flowers, and enjoy my well-deserved break!!!

12/21/2006 9:02:52 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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School

With the exception of finals, this semester is pretty much over. This means that I have completed all course work for my program at MIT. I had my final exam for microeconomics last Friday and will the final exam for my political economy class this coming Thursday (yes, my very last one as a student). After next week, the only thing that gets between me and degree is the thesis.

So far I have been dragging my feet with my thesis. Yes, I have the thesis problem statement and hypothesis defined. The scope of the thesis, however, was really beyond what is minimally required by a master student. No, don't get me wrong, I am more than happy to do a PhD-minus or master-plus thesis; but I am constrained by one thing: time. I still want to do a good thesis but I only have till May to complete the thesis. I was originally scheduled to complete everything by February but with the stress and workload that I have this semester this goal has proven unproductive. I simply don't have the time; but even if I did, I found it very distracting to switch between thesis work and coursework.

Fortunately, I found a new direction to completing my thesis without compromising the quality. I am loving this new novel approach. and confident of completing by mid-March while still offering new insights to the problem I am trying to solve. I don't want to divulge the details of my thesis at this point; but let's just say that it has something to do with disruptive technology, management of technology, microeconomics using the seventh generation game consoles (Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii) as a case study. Oh yeah, this new direction in my thesis work will fun.

12/18/2006 12:24:46 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Due to the overwhelming number of students and the workload involved in grading the assignments in System Project Management, a required SDM course, I was offered the position of teaching assistant (or TA) for this course. Actually, Krishna, a fellow classmate, was the sole TA for the class before I joined; but he is simply overwhelmed. Hopefully, my presence will help reduce the workload. My appointment is only for the second half of the semester, which by the way has past the halfway point. I did the paperwork with Jeff yesterday and I am pleased to say that the financial payoff for this position is very good. It certainly makes economic sense.

The first order of business as the new TA was to attend class. I have to say that the view of the class in room in 1-390 from the first row - an area where TAs generally sit - looks very different. For the past year, I have been taking classes Sloan or TPP courses. I haven't attended an SDM core class for about a year. It was quite refreshing to sit through a core SDM class. Since I taking two economic courses at the moment, I tend to break everything down to economic terms these days. It was no surprise that I was thinking with an economist's mindset during project management class yesterday. When the professor asked: What makes a good project manager? The first thought in mind was: resource allocation. It is true, resource allocation is important but that was not the answer I thought of a year ago. It is interesting how certainly courses can really influence one's thinking and perspective. And I like thinking in economic terms. It certainly helps me in developing good analytical skills and a sharp, logical mindset.

11/15/2006 8:15:52 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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School

While talking to first year students at MIT recently, I have noticed that many people are unaware or not taking advantage of the MIT Opencourseware (OCW) project. The OCW is a great resource for finding past assignments and exams as well as their solutions. I have found archived OCW assignment solutions - although not all courses in OCW offer this - to be effective study guides. They help me to cut down study time without compromising my understanding of the course subject. Finally, practicing past exams is an effective way of preparing for exams.

10/14/2006 10:53:34 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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My fellow classmate, Sorin appears on the latest issue of News at MIT, an MIT Sloan student newsletter, to talk about his perspective on living overseas.

10/10/2006 8:32:20 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

Lately, I haven't been motivated to blog at all. I feel like there are things other than blogging that demand my attention. Nonetheless, for the benefit of my friends, here is an outline of what I have done in the past week:

• Sep 18 - I started taking a Microeconomics at Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Being that this is my last semester at MIT, I might as well take advantage of cross registering at Harvard.
• Sep 19 - I gave a presentation of my recent dive trip to Manado and global threats to coral systems to my fellow TPP students. For those who don't know me well, scuba-diving is my favorite pastime and the preservation of reef system is something that is dear to my heart.
• Sep 21
• MIT hosted the annual career fair that day. Once again, management consulting and financial companies seem to have the biggest presence at the career fair.
• These days, every Thursday evening means hanging out with my SDM buddies at the Muddy Charles, a popular MIT hangout. There was a good showing of the usual suspects plus a new newbies; but Sorin and Ilana were conspicuously absent.
• After hanging out at the Muddy, we attended the first C-Function this semester. C-Function, short for "consumption function" or "cultural function," is a weekly social event sponsored by the MIT Sloan School of Management.
• Sep 23 - Due to a shortfall of players, the SDM IM flag football team merged with another team to form 2 Sloan IM flag football teams. We had our first practice on Saturday.
• Sep 24 - I practiced my first volleyball this semester with the Sloan Volleyball Team. Surprisingly, I was hitting and passing really well; but I could not for the life of me serve that day.

Alright, that's all I got. I know, it's a pretty lame post. :-(

9/25/2006 10:49:57 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

The MIT Careers Office offers a rich recruiting program for current students and alumni. There are two major on-campus recruiting schedules that are run throughout the year, one in early fall (from early September to mid Novmenber) and another in late winter (mid February to late March). The fall recruiting season is by far the busiest and biggest with about 200-300 companies that are registered for the MIT recruiting program each fall. In addition, the MIT Careers Office along with other student organizations and certain employers offer services in resume critique, mock interviews, and workshops in resume writing and interviews.

Last week, the MIT recruiting fall season started with several high-profile companies (like Google, Lehman Brothers, and The Boston Consulting Group) coming to campus to make presentations about their company and meeting with prospective students. These company presentations are hard to miss. Everyday I get solicited not by recruiting staff but by my fellow students to attend these presentations. I typically hear: "Hey Sam. You going to the BCG presentation tonight?" And I would respond by saying: "Oh, I didn't know that there's a presentation." For next few weeks, there will be company presentations on every night (except Friday and the weekend). Even better, some of the presentations have receptions or offer free pizzas. Even though I can afford for a decent dinner these days, like any student, I seek free food whenever I can. I still find gratifying for being to find and consume free food at a school event - yes! In fact, last year I was able to get myself fed just by attending these events. This year, however, I actually more motivated to attend a company presenation for learning about a company than solely for food.

The paramount event of the fall recruiting schedule at MIT has to be the MIT Career Fair. According to the student section of the web site, which is accessible to MIT students only, there are currently more than 250 employers who will attend the Career Fair on September 20, 2006 next week. I was at the career fair last year and I was definitely impressed and overwhelmed by the number of companies at the fair. I love talking to representatives from different companies. Even if I am not actively looking for job, it is still a great opportunity for me to learn about a company and network with recruiters - like I always say: "it may come on handy someday."

I look forward to next week's Career Fair and the month long schedule of company presentations. It should be fun.

9/16/2006 1:18:41 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

Some classmates of mine from the SDM program suggested earlier this year that we should all play soccer this summer. So when summer came around, I took the liberty of organizing a soccer match against our sister program, LFM. After weeks of deferment due to conflicting schedule and rainy weather, we finally played last Friday.

We put up a good fight, especially with Nick's and Ankur's drive to their defense line. But we fell short in scoring a goal. The LFM team not only had good defenders but their mid-fielders and strikers were able to pull back quickly to reinforce their defense, making it hard for us to penetrate their defense. Ultimately, the LFM being younger, faster, and more skillful beat us 7-0. We were all exhausted after two 45-minute rounds of game play. Nonetheless, it was fun and a great way to network with the LFM.

Big thanks to those who showed up in the game. Especially to the LFM/SDM staff who sponsored the field and refreshments. Last but not least, special thanks go out to the LFM who volunteered to help me in cleaning up the field and carrying the coolers and drinks back to my car when my SDM classmates have all but deserted me at the end of the game.

8/8/2006 12:21:43 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

I have always been perplexed by Game Theory and know very little about it. That is why I am interested in learning more about it. So when I learned that a course on the subject was being offered at the Harvard Summer School, I decided to go check it out. Yesterday, I attended the first class and learned a few things about Game Theory.

I had always thought that Game Theory is just another form of probability; but it is not. Here's the distinction that I learned yesterday: Game Theory is applied to a game of strategy like chess and poker as Probability Theory is applied to a game of chance like roulette. It makes perfect sense after the professor mentioned it. The professor lectured most of the session before ending the class by playing a modified form of the prisoner's dilenma to illustrate the concept of game equilibria. After the game, I can see why Game Theory is an integral part of a negotiation course - something that I plan to take next semester. After all, negotiation process is a calculated game of choices that can lead to optimal behavior that benefits all negotiating parties. Appropriately, Game Theory can be applied in such situation. However, as the instructor has explicitly stated yesterday that learning Game Theory does make you a better player as it does not tell you how you should play the game but rather it tells you how rational players will behave or real players actually behave.

The lecturer for this class is Robert Neugeboren who is clear and concise in his instruction. Game Theory is an interesting topic; unfortunately, I decided not register for the class since I am seriously tied up with a summer course and a thesis project at MIT already. I really don't have time for another class. I just have to defer learning this subject till the fall semester when I sign up for a negotiation class or a Game Theory class.

6/29/2006 12:44:54 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

Sweet... My thesis advisor finally signed my revised thesis proposal earlier today. This means that I can now officially start working on my thesis. However, the revised thesis is bittersweet. I am thrilled to be working on a thesis that applies System Thinking and Chaos Theory to a management and policy context - a topic befitting for an MIT thesis. On the other hand, the work required to complete this thesis is daunting. There will be substantial literature review, research, analyses, and syntheses in the process.

I have already started reviewing relevant literature for the thesis project. What I really need to do now is to start writing summaries for all the books, articles, and journals that I have read. I think writing abstracts of reviewed literature is a key part of the thesis research process. It will help me tremedously when I start writing my thesis later this Fall. To facilitate the literature abstract writing process, I have ordered the academic version of Endnote earlier today. Unfortunately, the software is backordered for another 2 weeks.

My friend, Yoav, introduced me to the concept of using a wiki to facilitate thesis research and writing. A wiki will enable me to add notes or ideas for my thesis. Even better, a wiki can help solicit valuable feedback from other people who may offer further insights or different viewpoints to my thesis. Alright, I will create a wiki tomorrow.

6/22/2006 3:26:14 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

Last week, I attended MIT's 140th commencement. For me, the last day of classes does not coincide with the last exam but rather the commencement, which truly marks the end of an academic year and to some, the end of an academic career. I was there to catch up with some of my classmates one last time. Moreover, I was also eager to catch a glimpse of what is to come during an MIT commencement when I graduate from the institute next year.

This year, Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve and MIT alumnus, delivered the keynote address. Spoken like a true economist, the speech was rather dry and mechanic at first but became more inspirational as he links technology (something that MIT is good at) and the economy in the second half of his speech. He charged that the class of 2006 shouldn't be afraid to try something different and be innovative in their work. Afterwards, Susan Hockfield, the president of MIT, delivered the graduate charge to the graduates. A far cry from her speeches at MIT during first year of her tenure as president, she made a very moving, inspirational speech charging the graduates to "inspire your own generation and the generations to come with a renewed sense of possibility and optimism for the future."

After the graduation ceremony, I caught up with some of the graduates and reminisce for one last time before we went on our separate ways. From talking to my classmates, I am really amazed how many of them are leaving for bigger, better things with several people taking up leadership positions after graduation. I am envious of them for graduating; but I am also looking forward to mine next year. I just need to finish that thesis and the coming Fall semester.

Congratulations to all MIT graduates last week, you all look smart in those commencement robes. All the best.

6/12/2006 8:45:34 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

Here's an standardized style sheet for use in print and on web pages published at MIT.

http://macfadden.mit.edu:9500/publications/housestyle.html

This blog entry is mostly for my future reference. I know I will find it very useful as I will be writing my thesis very soon.

6/8/2006 9:37:17 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

It seems like almost everyone whom I know prior to MIT and are under 30 years of age are engaged in some sort of graduate program the past years. I don't know if the trend of going back to graduate schools - part-time or full-time - was the result of the excellent academic environment that are available in Boston or that these young professionals are motivated in improving their skill sets to further their careers in today's highly competitive economy. In any case, it seems like 2006 is the year when they are all graduating from their respective programs.

Just this month alone, I have already attended 3 graduation ceremonies. Earlier in May, Eimear, Paul, Joe, Vernon, and Blanche (the Analog Devices crew) graduated from Northeastern University - with the exception of Vernon who obtained a M.Sc in Information Technology, the rest graduated with a M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering. Next in line was Siobhan who graduated from NYU Stern School of Business with an M.B.A. I can't believe that 2 years have passed since she left Boston for bigger and better things in the Big Apple. Steve, another mover and shaker, left Boston to pursue a Law degree at St. John's University Law School in New York City 3 years ago. He, too, graduated from his program 2 days ago. Scarvel will be graduating from Harvard Extension School tomorrow.

Last but not least, there are those whom I know from various departments at MIT (from SDM to TPP to LFM to Course 3). Many of them will be graduating this Friday. In particular, I can't believe that almost half of the SDM cohort whom I started the program with last January will be graduating from the program this Friday. It has been a pleasure work with them and I am little sad to see them leave. I am pleased that many will be leaving for better careers after MIT. Regretfully, I wasn't able to get tickets for the commencement - those tickets are so hard to come by. I hope to join them at the post-graduation reception and see them one last time.

Once again, congratulations and best wishes to all graduates!!!

6/7/2006 11:56:08 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

Since 2001, the MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) initiative has been offering free and open access to the institution's courses on the Internet. The level of access varies considerably among different courses on the MIT OCW website. There are several courses that offer nothing more than just the course syllabus, reading list, and assignments; but there many courses that offer the entire package including streaming video lectures. As a student at MIT, I find the MIT OpenCourseWare extremely useful in helping me to prepare for exams or homework assignments. Today, many fine institutions around the world have adopted the OpenCourseWare initiative in opening their course content to the public. Some notable OCW spin-offs include:

• China Quality OCW - Links to course content from major universities in China
• ParisTech OCW - Links to course content from ParisTech, a consortium of French engineering institution (mostly science and engineering)
• Japan OCW - Links to course content from a consortium of Japanese universities
• Tufts OCW - Links to Tufts University course content (new site with mostly medical and dental courses)
• USU OCW - Links to Utah State University course content
• JHSPH OCW - John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health OpenCourseWare (plenty of health care related content)

While OpenCourseWare may be the pioneer, it is not the only project that publish course materials on the Web. Similar projects like the ones listed below have sprung up in recent years:

• UC Berkeley Podcasts/Webcasts - one of my favorite e-Learning sites offering videocasts and podcasts of UC Berkeley courses. Top-notch!!!
• Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative (OLI) - still very new. Not much content yet
• Rice University Connexions - an open-content library of course materials developed by Rice University
• Duke University Math Dept. Video Archive - covering lectures and seminars from the Math Department of Duke University

One thing to keep in mind is that none of the websites that I have mentioned are part of an online degree-granting program. But still, I often wonder if the willing dissemination of knowledge by universities from North America to France to Japan to people around the world constitutes a threat or an opportunity to the universities that publish them. Surely these universities can start charging a premium for such content and run a business model of distance-learning similar to that of the University of Phoenix or Devry University. Clearly, the expansion of the OpenCourseWare model to other universities has only demonstrated that many world-class universities do not feel threaten by embracing such practice. There must be something more in the educational process than just course content. Personally, I believe that while I can self-taught myself with many of the materials that are available from these fine websites, I don't think I can never replace it with the human factor. For me, there is no substitute for being on campus, learning and interacting with faculty and fellow students. There is something about being physically present in an environment that foster learning. Lastly, there are the trials and tribulations of homework assignments, term projects, and exams - pressure and deadlines do reinforce learning.

I think that OpenCourseWare and other similar projects have allowed universities return back its fundamental mission of providing higher education to the public. To educators (according to Wikipedia), such tools are and should be used to improve the teaching methods and to collaborate with scholars from around the world. To current students or self-learners, the OpenCourseWare is a great way to supplement one's learning. To the general public, the OpenCourseWare model is a great way for people to access the wealth of knowledge that they won't be able to otherwise. In ending, kudos to universities in making their education materials free and accessible.

5/27/2006 5:36:46 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

Finally, a blog entry from me... I have been so busy in school the past month that I simply don't have the time or the motivation to blog. Now that the school semester is over, I will devote more of my time to blog.

Reflecting back on the past semester, it has been a roller-coaster ride. It has been my toughest semester yet. Yep, 3-4 hours of sleep during the week is typical. I never had all-nighters back when I was an undergrad; but last semester I had 3 all-nighters. I still feeling very drained from all the hard work from the last semester but it sure feels good that the burden has been lifted from my shoulders. The feeling of not rushing from one thing to another is a huge relief for my sanity. For the first time this year, last weekend was spent not catching up on things but relaxing without guilt and remorse for not studying and doing homework. Despite the insane workload and schedule, I actually enjoyed the experience as all the courses that I took are the electives that I am really interested. I gained a lot of valuable insights, knowledge, and skills that will be mostly helpful in my career in the future.

So the scorecard now reads: 4 semesters down and 2 more to go. To date, I have taken more than enough classes to graduate. All I have to do now in order to graduate by the end of the year is to produce 1 thesis in the summer and to take 2 courses for TPP in the fall. I might pick up 1 or 2 additional classes in soft skills like negotiation, communication, or even a foreign language this fall to complement the hard, analytical subjects that I have taken so far.

In the last 7 years I have devoted too much of my time pursuing higher-learning and building credentials. It is time to start applying the skills and knowledge that I have acquired in the real world. Therefore, I have decided that won't be going back to school as a student anymore. Appropriately, it is time to relax a little and enjoy my last 6 months as a student (ever) at MIT.

5/24/2006 12:14:01 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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When one thinks of the word "cartoon," one usually associates it with a humorous or satirical depiction, or with a comical icon like Bugs Bunny. At least that was my impression before coming to MIT. But these days, I get to hear the phrase used by professors at MIT in context that is neither cute nor humorous. It seems like diagrams, schematics, and charts are all referred to as cartoons by professors. This week alone, I have heard "cartoon" repeated over a dozen in class. However, I have only heard this word used at the School of Engineering; I haven't heard it at Sloan (at least not yet). I wonder if "cartoon" is part of the colloquialisms of MIT. Or maybe this is a New England speak, similar to the slang "wicked."

4/26/2006 12:48:21 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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I have always been interested in macroeconomics and its application in assessing the economy. This is why I recently registered for 15.012 - Applied Macro- and International Economics, a course that is offered in the second half of the semester at MIT. This class is being taught by Prof. Chris Foote, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and a visiting professor at MIT Sloan. He is patient, friendly, animated, enthusiastic, and best of all, funny. He makes an otherwise dry and mechanical subject like macroeconomics interesting and even entertaining. I like the class so much that I actually taking the extra time to read about this subject outside of class. I also find that the tools that I have learned from this class have enabled me to appreciate the Economist better. This is a pretty intense half-semester course but it is a great class and it is definitely worth taking.

4/12/2006 11:44:56 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

I am sure some of my classmates who are readers of this blog would appreciate this blog entry (and its comments) by the value of an MBA. Thanks to Ian Lamont for the link.

There are many things that were said in the blog that affirm some of my perspectives:

• Getting a job in venture capital after graduating from B-school is very difficult.
• Whether degree reads SM in Management, MS in Management, SM in Management of Technology, or MBA, it really doesn't matter - it's all semantics. Personally, I think that the real substance is what you learn from school. Sadly, like Todd said "these days credentials and degrees are more important than knowledge."
• I couldn't agree with Chris Yeh more, the networking opportunities at top-tier universities (or B-schools) are enormous. Having access to alumni network and building relationships with a group of highly-talented people are some of the perks.

Finally, I have a few more things to add:

• Yes, brand recognition, career opportunities, people, and network are remarkable in top-tier schools. But I think that every school has its fair share of good and bad courses. I can say this because I have taken some the best classes I have ever taken as well as a fair share of horrible classes at MIT.
• Experiential learning does occur in b-schools. Try managing a large team-based term project, I find it more challenging than managing a team of professionals in a regular job (yeah, I am being facetious on this one).
• If you do end up in b-school, don't neglect to experience life beyond the confines of your classrooms. Instead of spending all your time studying or writing that term paper, budget some time to hang out with your cohort, join a club, engage in an activity, and most of all have a life. I have also noticed that most b-schools tend to be exclusive and are isolated from the rest of their campus. Reach out and get to know other students from other parts of college.
• Last but not least, as far as deciding whether to do an MBA or not, I have this to say. I think is more than just $100k and two years of opportunity cost when deciding if an MBA is right for you. Sometimes you just have to follow your gut feeling. If you feel that doing an MBA program gives you an edge and confidence in your career development, do it. If you feel that you have a great idea and wants to start a company, what are you waiting for? Start a new enterprise - Bill Gates and Steve Jobs did and look where they are now.

4/6/2006 3:32:46 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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This semester, I am taking a course entitled 15.655 - Law, Technology, and Policy class (known henceforth as the law class). The course provides an introduction to the rudimentary concepts of the American legal framework and key legal philosophies. It also examines the interface between law, technology, and public policy; especially how law can be used as a competing paradigm besides science and economics to promote social justice, wealth distribution, economic sustainability, and environmental sensibility. This class is turning out slightly better than I had initially expected. A lot of the things that were discussed in class were not only pretty thought-provoking but encourage me to think in a different way that I normally won't.

Like last week, we were introduced on the concept of precautionary principle. The essence of precautionary principle is the idea that if there is reasonable suspicion of harm under an uncertain and irreversible context, then inaction may pose a risk of harm. To advert harm, a precautionary action or a less risky alternative must then be taken. In deciding how to apply precautionary principle, one may use risk assessment or cost-benefit analysis, which factors in both opportunity cost of not acting, and the option value of waiting for further information before acting (wikipedia). So far we have used the precautionary principle on the assessment of technology, policy, and law, all which may have some indication of possible detrimental impact or even harm on society; however, I can't help but to think if precautionary principle can also be applied to war?

3/19/2006 8:02:37 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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School

My thesis is a vehicle for me to make a strong statement of my research results; but before I can present my research, I first have to ask a good question that corresponds to a problem that is worth solving. I am interested in doing a thesis on a subject that straddles between innovation, entrepreneurship, and market dynamics in the private sector with industrial policies and nation competitiveness in the public sector. I am currently in the phase of my thesis proposal that demands deep contemplation and supplementary research. The bottom line is that I need to frame a proper question for my thesis.

As it stands now, I plan to synthesize a framework with guidance from my thesis advisor, Prof. Utterback, to determine how much (or less) government policy intervention is needed to foster innovations in the high-technology industry. I will probably develop a case study on the evolution of the semiconductor industry supplement my thesis research. I know the topic is still very vague and broad, I hope to narrow it down in the next two weeks. While my thesis proposal is not progressing at the pace that I had planned, I do think that this stage of my thesis is perhaps the most important as it defines my thesis.

3/18/2006 11:21:04 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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School

After reading Ian's blog entry on the lack of publication or podcasting of Harvard University courses (surprise, surprise), I became motivated to find more lectures that are delivered through podcasting or video streaming. To my surprise, there are plenty of great lectures (at least those that I am interested in) are already available on the Internet.

First, there is MIT, which publishes some of its course materials through the MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) initiative. Most OCW courses feature lecture notes, assignments, and exams. Some courses are limited to having just assignments and exams available for viewing. I think the OCW courses that have the most value for the self-learning types are the ones that offer video lectures. Here are the links to these video-enabled lectures:

• 5.74 - Introductory Quantum Mechanics II
• 6.002 - Circuits and Electronics, this is the course that all undergradate in electrical engineering take
• 6.641 - Electromagnetic Fields, Forces, and Motion, these are not lectures but video demos. I actually don't find them very insightful
• 7.014 - Introductory Biology
• 8.01 - Physics I (Newtonian Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, and Kinetic Gas Theory)
• 8.02 - Physics II (Electricity and Magnetism)
• 8.03 - Physics III (Vibrations and Waves)
• 18.03 - Differential Equations, I actually found the material quite useful for a review on differential equations a while back
• 18.06 - Linear Alegbra
• 18.085 - Mathematical Methods for Engineers I, another excellent math resource.
• 15.084 - Nonlinear Programming
• 15.35 - How to develop "Breakthrough" Products and Services, the video lectures for this course is limited to 3 but I am always a fan of Prof. von Hippel
• BE.010 - Introduction to Bioengineering, no video lectures here but interviews of faculty from the Biological Engineering Division (I think BE is now officially called Course 20)
• CMS.930 - Media, Education, and the Marketplace, finally a social science course

In the next few days, I plan to search for video lectures beyond OCW. Let me know if you know of any sites where university lectures can be watched or heard.

3/12/2006 12:27:26 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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School

One of the management classes that I am taking at Sloan is Disruptive Technology, taught by my thesis advisor Prof. James Utterback. This class talks about how innovative technologies and ideas can change the dynamics of market. Can new companies create opportunities by exploiting a new idea? How about incumbents? Wang and Digital, the big names of yesteryears, were once the dominant player in their respective markets but where are they now? For the incumbent companies, does the adoption new technologies, designs, or process ensure growth or even survival? These are some of the questions that are tackled in the class. I have to say that Prof. Utterback always has something very insightful to say while still offering students a fair share of thought-provoking questions for them to ponder.

Last Tuesday, as Ilana had already mentioned on her blog, Prof. Utterback delivered a lecture that provided some great insights to an industry that was created by innovative entrepreneurs eventually died because it got displaced by another technology. You would think that Prof. Utterback would draw an example from the high-technology industry given the highly technical oriented environment like MIT. On the contrary, he talked about the ice packing industry of the late 1800's - something that I initially thought was uninteresting. However, by the end of the lecture, I have to say that was perhaps one of the best lectures I have heard at MIT. During the lecture, Prof. Utterback highlighted a lot of observations that we had covered in the framework that we learned earlier in the term about analyzing the market. While it is not as good as listening to the lecture in person, you can still read about the ice industry here.

There's another consequence of this lecture. After dragging my feet on composing a thesis proposal to Prof. Utterback for the last few weeks, I finally had an epiphany on the missing hypothesis for my thesis after last Tuesday's lecture. I hope to think more about it and complete a draft my thesis proposal by this weekend.

3/9/2006 8:09:25 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Long time no blog, I was simply buried the last couple of weeks with school. My material science electives - semiconductor processing and optoelectronics - are sucking up so much of my time. But I am not ranting about these classes. No... I actually enjoy taking these classes and have learned a great deal from the materials we covered in class. Funny, I find that the first month of a semester at MIT is often the most grueling period. After 4 semesters at MIT, I have observed that almost every professor tries to cramp everything in the first 5 weeks of the semester - it's like taking a drink from a fire hose. But relief is in sight, the second half of the semester is typically associated with group projects, guest lecturers, and term papers or design reviews. The pace is more bearable and the workload should lightened up a little. That's good. So 2 more weeks of crazy schedule before it goes downhill.

3/9/2006 12:33:32 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Today marks day 2 of the negotiation workshop that I am taking and it is all about practice - a negotiation class just isn't complete without practices. The students finally got the chance to practice the theories learned yesterday with a case study followed by a mock negotiation (or what the professor call simulation). Since the course was sponsored by the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, the context of the case study and the simulation was specific to real estate development. After today's exercises, I can certainly appreciate the negotiations that take place between grassroots advocates, developers, town selectmen, and of course lawyers. The professor stressed that negotiation is negotiation, it is independent of the context. He said: "What you learn today can be applied to international diplomacy, trade negotiation, labor dispute, and salary negotiation." Indeed, I really enjoyed the class and thought I got a lot out of it. I definitely recommend this class to everyone who is looking for a class to take in next year's IAP.

2/1/2006 8:36:29 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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I have always considered communication and negotiation important skills to have in the business and policy world - there's no escape form interactions and transactions. So to focus my learning on negotiation, I attended a negotiation workshop taught by Prof. Lawrence Susskind today. During our class introduction, I had the misfortune of saying: "I have heard that negotiation a important 'soft' skill to have." This remark was immediately objected by the professor who insisted that negotiation is not a soft skill. He prefer to associate negotiation as a "hard" skill with lots of maneuvering.

We started the class by identifying the determinants of successful negotiation and how they can be applied to give the negotiator the advantage. Interests, efficiency, and relationships are how we measure success in negotiation. It is important to identify the interests of every party involved in the process, especially your interests - some negotiators don't even know what their interests are before going into negotiation. Next, there's efficiency of outcome. Ideally, all negotiators should strive for the goal of being "Pareto efficient," which is defined as "an outcome to a negotiation if there exists no other outcome that is better for at least one party to the negotiation and not worse for any party to the negotiation." In other words, you should always seek for the optimal package for all parties to the negotiation. Last but not least, there are relationships to maintain. Sure, you can go for the hard bargain approach but in this day and age, you still have to deal with the other party after the negotiation process. Therefore good relationships should always be maintained. For this reason, Prof. Susskind advocated the mutual gains approach to negotiation where all parties focus not on what a party will gain but rather what mutual agreement means.

I think if there's one take-away from today's class, this is it: "Dont' be nice. Niceness gets you nowhere. Instead be trustworthy, not trusting. You want the process and outcome to be efficient and that the interests of all parties are met, whether I'm liked or not." I look forward tomorrow's mock negotiations to put today's theories to practice.

1/31/2006 12:28:37 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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School

Funny... Now that I am more engaged with MIT, my life has just become more interesting - and so the incentive to blog more regularly. Today marks day 3 of my IAP at MIT. Sadoway's Electrochemistry class was, once again, exciting. I struggled with my reading on kinetics and mass transfer of electrochemical reactions last 2 days but I think I have a better grasp of the concepts after today's class.

Other than the for-credit class, today's IAP activities are mostly self-discoveries of a great MIT resource - the library. I checked out an iPod containing some 800 sample tracks that were taken from CDs in the Lewis Music Library. I also attended a workshop on EndNote, a powerful software tool allowing writers to create and to manage a database of bibliographic references. It can be integrated to Microsoft Word and Latex to generate citations and bibliographies seamlessly in one's manuscript. Better yet, attendees were taught tricks to download references to published literatures from various journal databases via the MIT library. Great class. What I have learned today will probably save me hours of work in citations and bibliography generation in my future thesis and papers. I urge anyone who is or will work on a thesis to attend this workshop.

1/11/2006 7:28:16 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Day 2 of IAP at MIT. The class, 3.53 - Electrochemical Processing of Materials, has so far exceeded my expectations. Prof. Sadoway has been very engaging at class. This is a very intensive graduate (H-level) class as we try to squeeze 9 units of coursework that is typically done in 14 weeks into 2 weeks. For some reason, I have been treating this course very seriously. I have been doing all the reading before class, going through the problem sets, and reviewing my basic chemistry. I am actually learning something from this class.

I have also been interacting with the new SDM 06's lately as I have spending the last few nights at the LFM-SDM office to study for 3.53. They look like a spirited bunch. Not surprisingly, there is a high level of collaboration among the teams on the DC1 project. Today, I got bombarded by questions on research assistantship, electives, recruitment, and thesis. I enjoyed answering their questions as it shows that I have something positive to contribute to ease their transition to MIT. Enough blogging for the day, time to hit the sack.

1/10/2006 11:32:26 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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I met the new SDM class entering 2006 last night as they partook in Design Challenge 1, a critical exercise of the SDM January "bootcamp" where teams build robots to compete against one another. My reputation has preceded me. Granted that I have met some of the new students in the past, but for those that I have not met, I am quite surprised that most of them recognized me. I heard responses like: "Hey, you look different in person." "Have you lost weight." Anyway, for those whom I have met the first time last night, I can only presume that they have been reading my blog. Many students asked for my advice to DC1 and the January program. I have answered all of them with the same theme of taking things in stride. But let me reiterate the main points of my advice on this blog:

• The January program is first and foremost about cohort building and getting acclimatized at MIT.
• Don't burn yourself out by spending too much time on the Design Challenges.
• DC1 should be fun not punishing. Learn to work smart not hard.
• As far as designing a winning robot, be creative and keep things simple. You will be amazed how effective a simple design can be.
• Work as a team. Don't be a hero trying to do more than your teammates - it is not worth it.
• Sure, there are free loaders, but you will find many more outstanding people during the January program. The relationships that you establish in this initial period will stay with you for the rest of the program. People who are apathetic to networking and team-building are missing an important part of the experience.

1/5/2006 12:27:33 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Starting today I will be actively participating in MIT IAP. I am taking 2 for-credit courses - Electrochemical Processes of Materials and Graduate Writing Workshop. As a TPP student, I have to take the graduate writing exam which was administered to most incoming graduate students at MIT (oddly enough not to MBA and SDM students) at the beginning of each Fall semester. I received a decent grade and was not required to take the writing workshop. Nonetheless, I am going to take it since I will be using this class as a motivation factor to writing my thesis proposal. It is also a good opportunity to have my writing critiqued by a writing instructor.

My motivation for taking Electrochemical process is to understand the fundamentals of electrochemistry and how fuel cell or other new novel electrochemical processes in the industry work. This class should complement my knowledge on material science and nanotechnology that I plan to accumulate while I am at MIT. Besides I have heard that Prof. Sadoway is an accessible and animated professor. I am looking forward to this class. The first class starts next week but being an accelerated course, the students were already given assignments to work on earlier today. We were instructed to invest several hours to reading the textbook in advance of a lecture. The textbook, however, isn't cheap - it costs $120 (shipping included) from Amazon.com. Thinking smart, I checked the MIT library website for that book and found 2 copies available. I scrambled to the library to pick the book up. 15 minutes later, I found that they were all gone from the library. At the self where the 2 books were supposedly placed, I can clearly see an empty space of about 2 books wide in an otherwise untouched section of the self. Darn it, someone beat me to it. I eventually settled for a brand new one from Amazon.com.

1/4/2006 10:30:36 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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For the past year, I have always felt guilty for not being productive. I have to finish an assignment or read something to prepare for a class. Even though the fall semester is officially over, I am actually having difficulty adjusting to the free time. That said, I am glad that I am finally done with this semester as I have finally completed all SDM core courses. From now on, I only have electives left to take, something that I looking forward to.

Last week has been a lot of fun as some of students in my SDM cohort organized several socializing events to celebrate the end of the semester or the end of the program (for the some of us who are done with the program). From basketball to singing I'm Going Be (500 Miles) at Thirsty Ear, I really enjoy the time with my fellow SDMers. Things are going to be different next semester. I will miss some of them.

12/19/2005 11:54:39 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Yesterday we had our last lecture in ESD.10 - Introduction to Technology and Policy. I learned several things from this class but nothing groundbreaking. I have to admit, I did have high expectations coming into this course but at the end the course just fell short of my expectations. I feel that the course is a little introductory for my liking and there are times that I didn't feel super excited about this class. I think the delivery of the course can be improved. Overall, this is an okay course. I hope my feedback to the professors who seem very open and constructive would help them to improve this course next year.

Afterwards, the students stopped by at Building E40 for the TPP Holidays Party. The food was great. Thanks Yoko and Sydney. It was good to meet all fellow TPP students once last time this year before we part ways for the holidays.

I came back home to catch a quick nap before going back to MIT for a game of squash with John, a PhD student from the Mechanical Engineering department. I met John in i-Teams and we have been playing squash for about 3 weeks now. Since I brought a pair of indoor shoes, my lateral feet movements have improved and I have been playing a lot better. John and I played a competitive game today. It was a great way to say goodbye to John before he returns home to Michigan later this week.

12/15/2005 1:00:54 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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MIT recently launched 2 podcast sites to encourage members of the MIT community to contribute podcasts. For podcast submissions from departments, labs, and MIT sponsored events and lectures, visit the IS&T podcast site. For informal podcasts contributed by individuals, go to IS&T Podcast Wiki.

12/7/2005 11:46:28 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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School

Since I started my academic program at MIT, I have not been able to, either deliberately or unintentionally, stay abreast of the latest developments in the software and Internet industries. Still lamenting from the fact that I was barely able to explain Web 2.0, I decided to sit in as a guest listener at Cusumano's Software Business class yesterday to listen to the presentation of student's term projects on various software-related businesses and technologies. Thankfully, Cusumano has graceful enough (albeit a little reluctant) to let me sit in the class, which normally has a policy of no listeners. I was impressed by most of the presentations. The Digital Media Content, Mobile Industry, RFID, and Web 2.0 presentations are my favorites. They were well presented and insightful. Overall, the 3 hours spent in that class was worth the effort as I learned some new business and technological trends and landscape in the IT world - a good summary of what I missed the past year. Even though I am now trying to make inroads to nanotech and management, my strongest technical expertise is still in software. I should really stay on top of the latest developments in the software industry.

12/3/2005 7:30:59 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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School

Today, we had Ricardo Valerdi as guest lecturer in our System & Project Management (SPM) class. He spoke about Constructive System Engineering Cost Model (COSYSMO), a model to estimate cost in complex, large-scale system engineering projects. At first, I consider the model to be some hocus-pocus black magic model that anyone can arbitrarily create. However, towards the end of the lecture, I think I am pretty much sold on the benefits of the COSYSMO model. I think that any concept (complex or simple) has to have a supporting tool to prove its worth. You can download COSYSMO model written in Excel from here. There is also a wealth of information about COSYSMO at Velerdi's website.

11/29/2005 11:54:33 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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School

I am such a loser. I spent all of my time this long Thanksgiving weekend doing homework. Well, it paid off though. I am done with the last opportunity set (an esoteric name for assignment) for System Architecture. It was like writing a mini-thesis for the first question of the assignment. What a relief that I am finally done with the assignment. In hindsight, there is a benefit from working on this assignment. The first question of the assignment was a good learning vehicle for me to sum up everything that I have learned from this class and analyze the concepts critically. I also have a pretty good start on the final write-up on the principles of System Architecture.

I have also met with my team to put the finishing touches on the grand report for our term project for the Introduction to Technology and Policy class. From day 1, I hated the project research subject that was assigned to our team. While the rest of the team is stoic about the subject, overall we were quite efficient and had everything done on time so far. I have to commend my team for the good efforts. Still, I can't wait for this term project to be done and over with.

It's going to be a busy night tonight. I am aiming to get the final assignment for System Project Management (SPM) and final report for Innovation Teams (i-Teams) done before going to bed. I think I can do it. I am working with Kevin and