portfolio 6: (summarized the article related to 14 grand challenges of engineering)

Today, the availability of water for drinking and other uses is a critical problem in many areas of the world. Lack of clean water is responsible for more deaths in the world than war. In some countries, half the population does not have access to safe drinking water, and hence is afflicted with poor health. By some estimates, each day nearly 5000 children worldwide die from diarrhea-related diseases, a toll that would drop dramatically if sufficient water for sanitation was available.
Indeed, water is available in abundance in the world. It is just not always located where it is needed. For example, Canada has plenty of water, far more than its people need, while the Middle East and northern Africa suffer from perpetual shortages. Otherwise, in some developing countries, water supplies are contaminated not only by the people discharging toxic contaminants, but also by arsenic and other naturally poisonous pollutants found in groundwater aquifers. For the healthy, sustainable future for the planet, developing methods of ensuring adequate water supplies pose engineering challenges of the first magnitude.
In fact, there are two methods used to supply water to regions in need. The first one is diverting the flow of water from regions where it is plentiful to where it is scarce. Such diversion projects provide some short-term relief, but not appear practical as widespread, long-term, ecologically sound solutions, and this method generally will not be able to meet agricultural needs. The second is desalination which is extracting the salt from seawater. However, desalination plants are expensive to build and require lots of energy to operate, making desalination suitable mainly for seaside cities in rich countries. Therefore, new technologies with economical viability will be needed.
T o deal with the problem of providing clean water, many technologies have been developing. For instance, technologies are being developed to improve recycling of wastewater and sewage treatment so that water can be used for nonpersonal uses such as irrigation or industrial purposes. Some current projects are striving to produce inexpensive distillation units that can remove contaminants from any water source. A unit smaller than a dishwasher could provide daily clean water for 100 people.
In general, such approaches will help to address the very real problem of inequitable distribution of water resources. Even within a given country, clean, cheap water may be available to the rich while the poor have to seek out supplies, at higher costs, from intermediary providers or unsafe natural sources. Technological solutions to the world’s water problems must be implemented within systems that recognize and address these inequities.

portifolio 4: how to deal with writing difficulties?

One of the most important ways to present your ideas is writing which can help you disseminate your opinions to others. Hence, I have to be very serious about making an academic writing with a lot of efforts and strict choice of words. Because writing is also a main factor to make readers appreciate your whole work, so your ideas may be degraded by an ambiguous, unimpressive, or unclear writing even if the ideas are utmostly excellent. And for me, I also find some difficulties in writing critically about engineering topics because most of the topics are very academic and they could take me a bulk amount of time to finish.
In fact, writing about an engineering topic is not really easy because I have to comprehend the input information which I read before I start writing. In this circumstance, the main obstacle is about vocabularies. It means that I may face with many strange or new words which I have never seen before when I read engineering information, such MLE textbook or lecture notes. Thus, the first thing I have to do is to take note of them and try to memorize by practicing using those words many times or learning by heart. In addition to writing down new word, I also have to pronounce them correctly and clearly to store the words in my memory for a long time. In my opinion, if someone wants to improve their writing skill, they have to enlarge their word power beforehand.
Moreover, to write an academic subject require not only to choose relevant or correct words but also to use clear sentence structures to help readers understand easily what I want to say. I think it shouldn’t show off one’s expertise by using very complex sentence structures because sometimes they can make readers confused due to misunderstand the content or also make authors dizzy with some their fragment errors. Applying simple sentence structures with smooth linking words and strongly supporting words is quite enough for a completely best writing which everyone find easy to understand, rather than using a lot of confusingly complex sentence structures with difficult words. The important thing is just to write straight forward and smoothly, do not try to make yourself get stuck and confuse your readers.
Basically, writing is also a factor which is resulted by your English level. Therefore, I think the best way to improve my English skill is to practice frequently with others, such as my classmates or tutors. And one more imperative tip is not to avoid talking just because of being shy with your speaking, let always remember that you are practicing to improve yourself. As a result, you will remember new word deeply and know what kind of sentence structure you should apply to a particular case.
In conclusion, writing in engineering class is not an easy task and it require you to have a strong background about what you write and be expert in using words and sentence structures. In addition , you have also to think critically or seriously about your writing scenario, such as how much your readers can understand the writing or how they will feel about it. Generally, it require writer to spend a lot of time and efforts to finish successfully done or perfect writing.

portfolio 3: How serious is our water challenge?

Lack of water is responsible for more deaths in the world than war. It is not that the world does not possess enough water. Globally, water is available in abundance. It is not just located where it is needed. For example, Canada has plenty of water, far more than its people need, while the Middle East and northern Africa- to name just two of many- suffer from perpetual shortages. Moreover, in some developing countries, water supplies are contaminated not only by the people discharging toxic contaminants, but also by arsenic and other naturally occurring poisonous pollutants found in groundwater aquifers. For a healthy, sustainable future for the planet, developing methods of ensuring adequate water supplies pose engineering challenges of the first magnitude. “Overcoming the crisis in water and sanitation is one of the greatest human development challenges of the early 21th century”, a recent U.N. report warns.
From digging wells to building dams, engineers have historically been prime providers of methods for meeting the water supply and quality needs of society. It means that flows of water will be diverted from regions where it is plentiful to where it is scarce. Furthermore, it is just a short-term solution because this method generally will not be able to meet agriculture needs, and sometimes may be an explosive political issue due to the fact that diverting water to some people often means less for others.
Desalination is extracting the salt from seawater. New technologies can require low energy and costs to operate this method. One potentially useful new approach called nano-osmosis would filter out salt with the use of tiny tubes of carbon. Otherwise, other approaches will also be needed.
Recycling of wastewater and sewage treatment is also very important so that water can be used for nonpersonal uses such as irrigation or industrial purposes. In addition, economical distribution of water to rural and low-income areas is also a main issue. Some current projects are striving to produce inexpensive distillation units that can remove contaminants from any water source.
Such approaches will help to address the very real problem of inequitable distribution of water resources. Technological solutions to the world’s water problems must be implemented within systems that recognize and address these inequities.

References:
Gleick, P.H., et al. The world Water 2006-2007: Biennial Report on Freshwater resources. Retrieved September 7, 2008, from Chicago: Island Press.
Website: http://www.sciencealert.com.au/water-recycling-time-to-get-serious.html