MEMS During my semester at National Taiwan University I enrolled in Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS). Unfortunately I was not as confident with my Chinese back then. I sat in class writing down and researching the engineering vocabulary I did not know. I had to do a lot of self learning with the book outside of class. Luckily I was able to focus my time on the two main projects that were due in the class.
METHANE GAS SENSOR The first project was to review two scholarly journals about a MEMS sensor. The deliverables were a 4 page paper in Chinese, and an 8 minute presentation about the topic. I hopped on IEEE and right away I was able to find two articles on Methane Gas Sensors. One used Titanium Dioxide to fill its channels, while the other used Lead (II) Sulfide. This was great because they each required their own manufacturing steps and testing requirements. I was able to easily compare and contrast the two and in the end understood how these sensors worked on a whole new level. I initially wrote the paper in English planning to translate it quickly into Chinese, but for over two weeks I stayed up until one in the morning translating paragraph by paragraph. The most difficult part was making sure the essay sounded professional rather than a Chinese Second Language Student.
You can read the essay in the embedded document below.
ΜGC & AIR QUALITY SENSOR The second project was to group up with classmates that reviewed a similar system and then try to solve a real world problem with the device reviewed. Two Taiwanese students 林子傑 and 趙家倫, were who I grouped up with. We met up multiple times trying to figure out what kind of problem we could solve. We finally settled on an sensor that would detect various aspects of the surrounding air. This included dust, methane, humidity, and temperature. Along with the initial programming and sensor testing, we then designed it to fit on another students μGC.
OUTCOMES Working on these projects required me to communicate effectively with engineers in a different language. Through my basic Chinese I was able to discuss complicated engineering concepts to solve a problem. I look forward to projects in the future that require my language skill.