Here's an interesting question that was asked during dinner with Mike and Isa last night: Where do trees get their body mass from?

If you answered water and carbon dioxide, you are correct. From Wikipedia, here is a generalized equation representing photosynthesis (where starch is the primary product of the reaction):

6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + light energy → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6 O₂

Just think about it, the amount of wood that you see in a tree is the result of many years of pulling carbon dioxide from the air and water from the ground. So one way of looking at this the plant is made of air and water.

Here's another stimulating thought, fossil fuels like coal and oil come from plants that died millions of years ago. Furthermore, the energy that we humans use to do work comes from consumed food. Not surprisingly, all these energy cycles can be traced back one source: plants. Ultimately, plants harness sunlight to produce complex carbon-based products to store energy. If you really think about it, almost all energy that we know comes from sunligt.

2/18/2006 4:22:40 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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The Lemelson-MIT program made a press release yesterday citing that gasoline powered vehicles will become obsolete by 2015. This was mentioned on Tech Policy, a blog maintained by some current and past TPPers, so I am not going to elaborate on the same point again. Sure, the press release contains some forward-looking statements, but without sounding harsh to the teens, I say gasoline is here to stay. I am not here to belittle the teens but rather shed some light on why gasoline is still king since we talked about it in my Electrochemistry class.

Let's consider battery-powered cars since I am now more familiar with battery technology. I really think that battery-powered car is pretty much dead in the water. The current battery technology is impeding a successful debut of electric car in the marketplace. In terms of energy density, gasoline blows lead-acid battery away. Here are some numbers:

Energy density of gasoline = 2600 Wh/kg
Energy density of a lead-acid battery = 35 Wh/kg

Another constraining factor of electric car is the time it takes for it to refuel. When your car is out of gas, you go to the gas station to pump more gasoline to the car - typically a 5 minute endeavor. With lead-acid battery, this takes at least 3 hours to recharge. Then there is the question of price. Battery is very expensive. For example, a lead-acid battery costs about $4,000 and lasts about 2 years. Sure, there are more advanced battery technologies like NiMH and Li-Ion. They last longer, weigh lighter, and recharge faster; but they are also significantly more expensive. The bottom line is this: A 500 kg lead-acid battery costs $4,000 and takes 3 hours to recharge. Now compare to 1 liter of gasoline that cost $0.5 and takes about 3 seconds to transfer from the pump to the car.

There are other alternative fuel cars like fuel cell, bio-diesel; but they have yet to make it out of the lab. Call me a cynic, I highly doubt that any of these technologies will become cost-effective and reliable enough to replace gasoline technology in 9 years.

1/12/2006 8:22:16 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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I had more thoughts on DRM after my last blog entry on Sony...

Based on the same argument on companies asserting their draconian control on what consumers can or can't listen to, other media content providers and software companies are just as bad as Sony. I don't think that consumers should willy nilly copy and distribute music without regards to copyright laws. Digital Rights Management (DRM) is set of technologies to control the use and distribution of digital media and for many businesses a primary technique used to prevent revenue loss due to piracy. I don't necessarily have any problems with DRM technology, my biggest concern is that each company has their own proprietary DRM technology - Apple and Microsoft each has its own DRM technology that are not compatible with each other. Again, what we need is an open-standard DRM that interoperates among different media content providers.

11/19/2005 1:59:37 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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I recently had lunch with my former advisor who is now the dean of the school where I did my undergraduate. Having graduated from the school for so long, I asked my advisor about the current affairs at my alma mater. He said that he is getting really concerned about the quality of high school education in this country. He said that since I left the school, more and more freshmen in the Engineering department are being placed in the pre-calculus class. He continued to explain that these bright students who had obtained good grades from their high schools but they just haven't gone through the same rigor or level of advanced math as their predecessors did.

My advisor echoed many of the same concerns that many people have - that is the current state of education (especially in the science and engineering discipline) in this country. So far, I haven't seen or heard anything that indicates that the state of American is improving. As far as I know, all sources seem to indicate that the American innovation and education is falling behind. I still can't believe that the number 1 country in world in science and engineering can't produce enough students in these fields. What ever happen to the American competitive edge? But the bigger question is: do Americans care? Are we not investing enough in education? Has the education quality has declined in recent years? Maybe this article that I read earlier today may shed some light on those questions. While I think that the spew in this article is a little baseless and sensationalized, there is some truth in it.

10/11/2005 6:52:50 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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I heard the discussion of being in the Billionaire List on NPR earlier tonight. From the radio... The commentator ask: How big is 1 billion? In terms of dollars, that's huge. Imagine having $1 billion as your net worth. But most people are lucky to even retire with $1 million. So, to put it in perspective, that's at least 1,000 lifetimes. I guess I won't be in the same league as Bill Gates anytime soon.

6/30/2005 8:55:26 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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After reading Robbie's recent blog entry on career and passion for life and work, I felt I should write something to reaffirm and reflect on my career direction. It is no secret that I intend to continue working in the high-tech industry after graduation. I see the following technologies to be gain prominence in the next 3 years: Biotech, Renewable Energy, Environment, and Advanced Materials (Nanotech). So my rationale is to expose myself to any of these technologies while I am studying at MIT. Thankfully, with the SDM program, I am allowed to take both engineering and management electives. The SDM program is all about cross disciplinary studies, so why not make forays into other engineering discipline like Nanotechnology while I am at MIT. For my engineering electives, I plan on taking a couple of electives in the Material Science and Engineering department. On the other hand, unlike the MBA students, we, the SDM students, get only the breath of management. With a more limited number of mangement electives, I would like to make finance, the lingua franca of the business world, as part of the mangement electives that I will end up taking.

There are still plenty of opportunities for someone with a degree in System Engineering and Management. In fact, Siobhan who is currently interning with Morgan Stanley said, during an earlier conversation this week, that there is a huge demand of System Engineers in Wall Street to help firms build and integrate complex financial systems. Regardless of what one may ends up doing, I believe that opportunities abound and the future is bright. To Robbie, just remember this: Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

6/23/2005 11:24:46 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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I can't believe that my team, consisting of Kevin, Jeff, and myself, spent over 4 hours working on the last 2 questions in our System Dynamics assignment on Monday. It wasn't our inability to come out with coherent solution in a timely fashion. In hindsight, we began to develop a serious case of tunnel vision, which severely impeded us from thinking clearly, halfway through the assignment. Consequently, our productivity was severely affected. As Matti may attest, this is obviously not a case of lean studying. In the end, the team came to a consensus that we just hand in whatever we have at the time. Being persistent, I continue to pursue for solutions to the 2 questions the following day after a good night of rest. To my surprise, I was able to come out with solutions in less than 30 minutes. The improvement in mental capacity was evident. I have a clearer understanding of the 2 questions than what I was able to the day before.

The moral of the story is to stop working as soon as you develop tunnel vision; it is unproductive and unfulfilling. Sleep, exercise, just do whatever you need to do to clear your mind!!!

6/15/2005 8:39:50 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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I spent the winter looking forward to spring. When it is finally here, I am indoors boudn and simply too busy to enjoy the splendor of spring. Ironic isn't it.

4/16/2005 2:43:24 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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I have just started a new half-semester class called Technology Strategy recently. As I submitted my analyses of the first 2 cases that were due yesterday, I pondered the following. Faculty members and students at management school observe, analyze, and synthesize the processes and strategies of successful or failed enterprises. Grand models were formalized to explain how the processes were observed in the business world while ground-breaking techniques were devised for achieving corporate goals. But the real managers whom we are studying may not had attended business school at all. Take for instance Bill Gates of Microsoft, he seem to have a good grasp of business. His company, Microsoft, seems to be ran in ways that support the precepts of good strategy, as it is defined in our Strategy class. Yet Gates didn't even complete college, let alone attended business school. Was he a genius or are some of the class material just plain or some derivative of common sense? In either case, I strongly believe that while we can write grandiose analyses of our cases, ultimately it is practice and our actual implementation that will get the corporation to where it wants to go.

4/7/2005 11:04:20 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Yoav, Matti, and I mentioned about the incident at Muddy Charles last Friday where Matti was denied admission to. Matti asserted that the bouncer should have used his/her judgment on Mattis obviously mature looks as an indicator of being over 21 years of age. Yoav argued that U.S. is overly litigious and relying on appearance is a risk too much for businesses to bear. I think Yoav has a good point but I cant help but to wonder where do common sense and human judgment have in todays society? Are we so enslaved to rules and so sensitive of mitigating ones liability that common sense and human judgment are merely after-thoughts. Case in point, read the following news where an ambulance was clamped down for parking in an parking spot reserved for emergency use at the Dublin Airport. Even if the ambulance was violating the no-parking rule, a simple phone call could have been made to the ambulances company for verification.

2/19/2005 2:58:36 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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