CPin’s Blog

  Before the first lesson, I presumed this communication class to be the same as what I have done in polytechnic, where I will just be doing reports and giving presentations without significant improvement in my communication skills. As I used to always think that communication is not something that can be trained or improved in a short time. However, after this class, I realised that that is just one of my many assumptions that I never questioned before, and this class genuinely assisted me in evaluating their validity in relation to my real-life experiences in class.  Throughout the class, I have completed tasks such as writing an introduction letter, technical report, a summary reader response and giving an oral presentation in which all contributed to invalidating my presumption of this class. In terms of writing skills, I have learnt about different frameworks that will aid me in writing. There are many different aspects to consider from grammar to style and tone. Through...

The article  titled “Plastic-eating Enzyme Could Eliminate Billions of Tons of Landfill Waste'', revealed to the readers that researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed an enzyme variant that can accelerate the degradation of environmentally harmful plastics in hours or days instead of centuries. The article also stated that the researchers mainly focused on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a polymer most commonly found in consumer packaging and certain fibers and textiles. This enzyme variant is able to disintegrate the plastic into smaller parts (depolymerization) and then put it back together (repolymerization) which begins the upcycling process. Lavars (2022) mentioned that plastic-eating enzymes were first created in 2016, and among the factors that have hindered the application of this plastic-eating enzyme are its inability to function at low temperatures and different pH ranges, its inability to treat untreated plastic waste directly, and its slow ...

According to “WAPA Porous Asphalt Pavements Design Guide” (2015), it is determined that the design of a porous asphalt mix entails selecting an appropriate aggregate grading and blending it with a target binder content. The stability of its aggregate gradation is dependent on increasing the coarse aggregate matrix's stone-to-stone contact. The coarse aggregates are held together by the asphalt mortar, which is made up of asphalt, fine aggregates, and mineral filler. As a result, asphalt binder, aggregates, and mineral filler are critical components to consider.   The design of porous asphalt pavements (Figure 3), unlike conventional pavements. The Federal Highway Administration (2012) provides a technical brief on the porosity and permeability of porous asphalt pavements, with recommendations for testing and evaluation of these properties. The pavements are typically built over an uncompacted subgrade to maximize infiltration through the soil. Above the uncompacted subgrade is...