I took the luxury of time that I didn’t actually have. It was like using credit card to buy groceries, while the actual balance in my account nowhere near the safe spending limit even for groceries…
“Meaning what?”
Meaning that my relative conscience to contribute back immediately was on the higher level compared to the relative conscience to finish my homework and assignment, and fueled by the mantra “I am smart I can do things at 150% efficiency”, effectively blindfolded my academic responsibility, but let’s not dramatize this, because this life is all about YOLO.
During our first Google Hangout session under the flag #ProjekInspirasi, there were few questions left unheeded, unnoticed, lying there begging for a speck of attention. Here I am trying to give the minimum viable attention you might have been longing for, because I am Aizan, and I am the new definition of awesome.
Wait.
This is vain.
But let’s continue nonetheless.
Question 1: Assalamualaikum. I applied for JPA-MARA scholarship in engineering and i really wanted to know if it can branch out into computer engineering? (Akmal Amni)
Yes you can. As far as the information that I have is concerned, at some point you’ll get a list, and on that list you’ll see what branch of engineering you can pick, and I am pretty sure there is computer engineering. All the mainstream engineering fields supposed to be there, but I heard there is no civil engineering. You might need to recheck this.
Question 2: boleh tak , nak pm akak yang terangkan biomedical engineering tadi . nak tahu lagi detail and detail haha . nak naikkan interesting about course ni (Abdul Rahman)
Don’t bother to PM her. I can answer here. Nazu will direct any question about bio stuff to me anyway. First, punctuation marks. Write a better question, that’s the first prerequisite to ask a question. Every question demands an answer, but not all questions are equal because some questions are more equal than the others.
Wait what?
Since there’s already an answer for this question, you can check it here: What is the differences between Biotechnology, Biomedical science and Biomedical engineering? My stock answer would be: Google can help you better, and one thing you can do right now is try to get a course outline on Biomedical Engineering, for example this one from University of Michigan Ann-Arbor. Next step would be searching anything you don’t have the slightest idea of the list. For example, go google “introduction to Tissue Engineering” if you don’t know what tissue engineering is.
I just showed you the steps on how to do research. Yes you are welcome.
Question 3: Which is better in the scope of job offerings,computer engineering or computer science? What’s the difference between these two? (Akmal Amni)
Answers are here: Software engineering vs computer science? By the way, this is not the definite, exhaustive answer about what you can do with either software engineering or computer science. What you need to do now is keep asking the same question over and over again. Don’t ask me or Nazran, but ask Google. Pretty sure the debate about software engineering vs computer science is pretty famous on the internet. Quora might be a good place too.
Question 4: Assalamualaikum. Saya masih belum pasti tntng course yg saya ingin ambil di universiti nanti tpi yg pasti saya lebih terarah untuk mengambil course relate dgn medic. Jdi boleh x klau sya ambil dlu foundation @ A-level @ IB then bru decide sya nak ambil apa? (Ainin Sofiya)
Pretty much you can do that, but the faster you can stick to a decision, that’s better in my humble opinion. However, take your time, meet people, ask them about this and that course. Eventually, you’ll find the answer that you need.
But remember…
… you can’t wait till eventually.
Question 5: I am planning to study pure physics. But my parents are worried that it has a limited job scope, and instead are trying to persuade me to study engineering instead. What are your thoughts about it? And to you, is money that important VS your passion? (Kenneth Choong)
My first advice: aim as high as possible. Try to read more about particle physics and Large Hadron Collider, keep telling yourself that one fine day you can be a researcher at Max Planck Institute, Fraunhofer Institute, or at the CERN in Geneva.
By the way, you are not alone. There is a guy with a similar dilemma as yours. Read this thread on Quora: How do I convince my parents that a career in physics is not a bad choice?
Money vs passion?
Both. Align your thought, so now it thinks “passion creates money”.
Question 6: is it microbiology a subject that must be taken by the student who study biology n pure science? or it is a professional field to study? (Tian Jie Lim)
Both. If I am not mistaken, microbiology is among the core subjects for biology students. There should be Introduction to Microbiology, which is the core, and several other variants of microbiology subjects like phage microbiology or something alike. And yes, it can be a professional field, and you will be known as a microbiologist.
Question 7: Does that mean taking pure physics will mostly result you being an academician, instead of working for the technical industry like other technical graduates? (Nurfathiah Shahrani)
As far as I know, not necessarily so. If you are doing physics as an undergraduate, your postgraduate study might determine where your career field would be. Who knows you might end up being a journalist, or science communicator like Michio Kaku or Brian Cox?
Question 8: I’m planning to study things that is not related to Biology at all. Is it a good principle to be hold on? Actually, I’m not really sure of what I’m going to further in my higher education. For the time being, I randomly chose Mechanical Engineering. Any tips? (Haniif Lutfillah)
No it is not. It closes your mind. A closed mind is like a closed box; cats don’t like closed box because they can’t go in. For the sake of cats, give them box that is not closed.
Wait. What?
But seriously, not a good mindset.
You need tips? Here you go.
Pipette tips.
Question 9: I want to ask a question which is, ummm in many types of engineering courses which one is the best for those who really love chemistry but hate addmath? (Haziq Panda)
Straight answer: if you hate addmath, engineering is not for you. Think something else other than engineering.
Question 10: tips from a lecturer : whatever course you take, give 100%. dont be lazy. If you get courses that you dont pick, jgn merajuk and do badly in your studies . when you have good result, semua benda boleh dibincangkan. Kalau result teruk, tak ke mana. and one more thing, good results is not everything.. you need to have good soft skill / communication skills for your to be appealing to future employers. no one wants a 4 pointer students but dont know how to communicate (Hafif Basha)
I like you sir. In a good way. No homo.
I agree with your opinion about the soft skills, especially the communication skill. However, “communication skill” is a broad term, we might need to define it, and this is how I define it:
“communication skill is exercised with an adequate amount of proficiency when you can have a discussion with a completely random stranger for about half an hour or more, and you can keep up with him or her in a discussion that interests both participating parties, i.e. you and that person.”
For example, once I met a random programmer whom an acquaintance of my friend. We discussed a lot of things about his career and internship, and we talked something technical about logic boards and stuff. It was a major win for me. It was a major win because a biology student like me could keep up with him talking about some computer and technical stuff.
Okay that’s all for now. Thanks for asking. See you again soon.