Yong Jie

Some may find it surprising that Wong Yong Jie is only 21 years old and already in his third year of his Communications and Media and CMU Concurrent Degree programme. He spent his younger years in Subang Jaya, Malaysia, but has been living in Singapore since he was 13. Yong Jie started up his web solutions company on an impulse, played the old man in SoC’s Rag performance last year, and thinks pure algorithms are “ugh!”.

Watch out Taiwan! Don't get in the way of this man and his noodles!

Describe your experience as an SoC student.

Beyond its academic merits, I think the best thing about SoC is that it's like a tightly knit family. In every class I take in SoC, I'm quite certain to find some friends who can take away the potential boredom of weekly lectures/tutorials. I have very nice close friends whom I enjoy spending time with every day. 

Currently, I'm the de facto advisor to the current Management Committee after retiring as President in the last academic year. As I intend to spend the year focusing on my academic studies, my involvement is currently minimal. I'm also currently in the Alumni Relations Cell of Computing Club. I stay over in school more often than most people. Sometimes I walk to school at 2 am just to get some things done (I stay on campus, though). I do feel more sense of attachment to the school, I guess. 

[The thing I find most challenging is] Mathematics (in any form). I'm well aware that math is the foundation of CS, but I seem to take double the effort to learn as compared to some others. So far, the most useful module I have done is CS3246 Multimedia Content Analysis and Search. We were made to build 3 search engines in just a single semester! Despite the heavy workload, everything we learnt had close to real-world applications - especially with the renewed focus on data mining and information retrieval. [If there is one thing I could change about SoC,] I'd wish for higher project weightage rather than examinations. I tend to do very poorly in examinations, unfortunately. 

In general, I do think that faculty members are really friendly people in almost all occasions, and are very enthusiastic and dedicated as teaching staff. Among those who have taught me in many ways are (in no particular order): Associate Professor Irene Woon (IS1103/1105), Mr. Aaron Tan (CS1010), Associate Professor Khoo Siau Cheng, Dr. Colin Tan, Dr. Soo Yuen Jien (CS2100), Dr. Damith Rajapakse (CS2103), Dr. Bimlesh Wadhwa (CS3240), Associate Professor Leong Hon Wai, Associate Professor Lee Wee Sun and Professor Chua Tat Seng (CS3246).

I hear you have a web solutions company. Tell me a bit about that.

I actually started out as a freelancer for web development. Over the years, the freelance market became flooded with extremely cheap services with no guarantees of quality or support. Formulating my services as part of a company gives more confidence to customers and allows more flexibility in marketing.  

Being in this industry requires a blend of skills - one has to first learn the technical aspects of web development. [Then] there needs to be some artistic flair to ensure visual appeal. One also needs communication skills to communicate effectively with clients, and some marketing skills to promote solutions in a crowded market. 

My company is currently largely dormant (beyond some maintenance tasks for older clients), as I lack the time to stay focused on it. Riding the wave of the Web is a challenging one - new technologies appear and existing technologies are deprecated all the time. Now, one has to design web solutions in the context of "many screens" - from mobiles to tablets, laptops to full-sized PCs, or even the big screen (TVs), and take advantage of relatively new things such as WebRTC to enrich user experiences. While challenging, the Web is an exciting place to be in.

Ah Pek Jie dispensing advice

What advice would you give a prospective SoC student?

Discover your passion - it will make your life much easier. Make more friends and join more Computing Club activities - it will expand your reach and give you opportunities to build your network.

What are your future plans?

My immediate plan is to work on my 3rd year project (CS3283/84 Media Technology Project) and my Final Year Project. I'm still not certain about what I am going to do after graduation (may be a bad sign...), as I still have a wide range of interests. I may find stability in being a full-stack developer for a company, but I find thrill[s] in setting up a start-up.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not studying?

Spending some time with my girlfriend, lazing around with my family (haven't been enjoying the comfort of my home for months!), playing badminton or cycling. I like music and dance too. [For dance,] I like hip hop the most. I'd have to put up a huge disclaimer here though – I don't think I'm good at it. I'm not trained in dance whatsoever, but I just enjoy moving along with music with good beats :P

Quick‐Fire time. Best place you’ve been to?

Since I just got back from Taiwan, I think Taiwan is an awesome place with awesome food! :D

Pet peeve?

Imperfect pixels on screen.

Guilty pleasure?

Sleeping too much.

Got ideas about questions we should be asking or people we should be chatting with? Email tien@nus.edu.sg

Merry Jerry

Jerry Ye is an Information Science major and Internet aficionado who will be graduating this year. During his time here in SoC, Jerry has created four start-ups, convinced a girl to be his girlfriend 24 hours after they met and had a dream to change the world. He hails from Anqing, Anhui, China and is apparently struggling to play the classic Tang Dynasty song ‘River on a Spring Night’ on his poor guitar. 

What do you do now?

I am the CEO of StreetGAGA. I am working on social commerce in women’s fashion. I am not particularly passionate about women’s fashion - I just like the Internet. [The] Internet is just a baby now. In the next decade, our assets will be programmable. 

Briefly describe your experience as an SoC student.

I made many good friends in SoC. Students and professors here are hard-working, providing a very good studying environment. The education [I receive at] SoC inspires me and teaches me how to think.  I also learn how to create and innovate here. I enjoy [doing] new [things] that my prof and friends [have] never heard or thought of before. [If there was one thing I would change about SoC, it would be to have more] emphasis on innovation.

Which faculty members made impressions on you?

Prof. Ben Leong from Computer Science is impressive. Unlike other professors, he directly objects my opinions. And the communication with him is a shortcut for my self-development. Thus, I always remember him.

What is something most people would find surprising about you?

[My] narcissism.

What are your future plans?

To build something new for O2O first. [Then] later build a new virtual currency. 

Quick-Fire! Pet peeve?

Socialism.

Guilty pleasure?

Destroy[ing] others’ world view[s].

Three ultimate dinner party guests?

My grandpa - I never [met] him

[A] little girl from my childhood - I never [met her again] 

Picasso - maybe I need to talk to him

Got ideas about questions we should be asking or people we should be chatting with? Email tien@nus.edu.sg

This Sharmili Ain't Shy

Sharmili Roy’s favourite local foods are Yong Tau Foo and Kaya Toast. The fourth year CS PhD student doesn’t think she’s made for routine, repetitive jobs, having previously worked in MNCs and government bodies, and instead prefers to work independently and on new problems (which research and academia will allow). Sharmili already has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Engineering and won The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship in July last year. Also, ‘Sharmili’ means ‘someone who is shy’ in Hindi, but she assures us that she is not.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up all across India. I was born in the eastern part of India, in the oldest metro city, Calcutta. After living in Calcutta for about 3 years we moved south for a brief stint in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam (nick‐named, Vizag). My next home after Vizag was up in the north, the hilly and then laid back small town of Dehradun. My school was next door to my house and we could see the Garhwal Himalayas from our back yard. While still in primary school my father's job took us back to our home town Calcutta where I finished my primary school. I finished high school and college in the capital of India, New Delhi.

Describe your experience as an SoC student:

Working with my academic supervisor (Associate Professor Michael Brown) is the best thing about doing a PhD in SoC. I thing he is the best supervisor I have ever had. Apart from being very supportive academically, he has always been there for his students. He is very understanding and there has never been any communication gap with him, which I think is the most important part of a student-supervisor relationship. I don't think my research would have been as enjoyable had I been working with someone else. 

I have done a number of internships during my PhD and hence I have been exposed to a lot of new problems and new people in my field. Also, my supervisor has always been keen on sending his students to conferences and summer schools so that we are aware of what is happening in our field and what other people are working on. This gives us a chance to network with like-minded people. I think not all students in SoC and in NUS in general get this opportunity. I feel special to have had so many opportunities to interact with experts in my field. 

I think the biggest challenge I face is to convince people that simple practical problems are important and deserve equal and sometimes more time and effort as complex technical problems that may or may not end up being used in practice. Research is not always about solving technically involved problems using complex algorithms. If we can find solutions to simple day to day problems that can be used in daily practice, research can be more fruitful.

I am working on developing next generation reporting and diagnostic tools for healthcare and biomedical applications. The problems that I work on are faced by radiologists, doctors and biomedical experts in their day to day work life. My goal is to design computational assistants to make their life easier and more efficient. As an example, the aim of one of my project is to address the limitations in the current radiological imaging and reporting workflow, in particular the out-dated reliance of physicians on text-only radiological reports. To this end, we have designed a reporting framework that enables radiologists to augment their text reports with an autogenerated visual summary of the clinical findings. The visual summary is computed as an animated 3D volume where the radiologists’ annotations are clearly highlighted as the volume spins to provide a comprehensive summary of the important clinical content. We have proved that our 3D visual summaries enhance communication between radiologists, physicians and their patients as opposed to the text-based reports currently used in radiology via a user satisfaction study with physicians in Singapore.  

We have exhibited our visual summary framework, called VITA, to senior radiologists in Cornell University and also at the Annual meetings of the Radiological Society of North America. VITA has been appreciated by senior members of the radiology community and has even been predicted as the system that may completely replace radiological text reporting. We believe that our VITA system can have immediate impact on clinical reporting practices and will empower patients with a deeper understanding of their report results

Which faculty members made impressions on you?

Dr. Michael S. Brown and Dr. Mohan Kankanhalli have been very supportive throughout my PhD. Though Dr. Mohan is not my supervisor but he has always lent a patient ear to my concerns and guided me throughout my stay in SoC.

What is the craziest thing that you did here? 

The craziest thing that I can think of is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with the Mountaineering Club of NUS last year. We, a group of 20 people led by members of the NUS Mountaineering club successfully reached the summit of the highest peak of Africa, Kilimanjaro, after a long and tedious climb of 7 days through the tropical forests, moorland, desert and snow. It will remain as one of the most exciting experiences of my life.

If there is one thing you would change about SoC, what would it be?

I feel that social interaction between SoC students is very limited. Probably because we all are always under pressure to perform better. We hardly know what students in other labs are working on. I think I would have preferred more informal activities being organized in SoC for a socially healthier work environment.

Best song on air now?

I love Bollywood music (and dancing!) - current favourites are songs from the movie "Ramleela"

Pet peeve?

Cupboards with doors left open

Guilty pleasure?

Creme Brulee Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream

Got ideas about questions we should be asking or people we should be chatting with? Email tien@nus.edu.sg

Natural Natalie

Natalie Goh is a second year Information Systems student, who would like to eventually work in the healthcare industry. At a recent Freshman Social Camp, she walked around with a giant soft toy slipper (that a friend brought as a pillow) perched on her head, thinking it was a legitimate, albeit outrageous, hat. Incidentally, her worst fear is ‘embarrassing herself’ - she has an image to maintain!

Real Natalie

Besides academic work, what do you do at SoC?

I'm currently the Vice President (Operations and Projects) of Computing Club, and I am in charge of making sure everything around school runs smoothly for the students as well as overseeing the major projects Computing Club organises every year (including Freshmen Orientation Projects as well as the Cyber Gaming Festival) My job scope is not just limited to those, so feel free to approach me if you have any comments/suggestions for Computing Club! 

I'm always busy with the different events which Computing Club is organising. I guess the reason why I am still here is to return to the Computing community. I want to make sure that this warm culture exists not only among those active members of Computing Club, but among the general student population too.  

Many people think that the active Computing Club members are exclusive, and are not open to any newcomers and such, so I am working hard to tell every SoC student that we are always open to everyone, and that none of us bite! It is indeed hard for people to approach us since we always look like we are exclusive and stuff, so I am looking at approaching people instead :) Hopefully we can build a close knitted Computing community and not just a Computing Club community!

Slipper-headed Natalie - proof that Computing Clubbers don't bite and are definitely not exclusive.

Describe your experience as an SoC student.

[The thing I enjoy the most about SoC is] the students. I came into Computing without any prior experience in anything related to computing. I wasn't sure if I was going to regret my choice since I was told that it will be hard for me to cope with the steep learning curve. However I am able to cope with my studies due to the students in Computing. The freshmen camps has allowed me to get to know a lot of seniors as well as peers, who are more than willing to help me out with the different problems I have.  

It might seem unbelievable, but the computing students I have met were usually more than willing to sacrifice their time to help each other out, even if that means they might not have time to finish their own work. I guess this is the very reason why I decided to be more active around computing and help pass the love! :) 

I find memorising the most challenging thing I face in computing, which is evident and common in IS modules. I don't like to memorise facts, and I cannot seem to get those minute details into my head.. (More open book examinations pretty please? XD) 

On the other hand, I found programming really useful! As much as I am not proficient in any language, I found out that knowing some programming languages has allowed me to better understand some stuff the computer browsers display when there is some sort of error. Indeed, having a computing degree has made me feel better about myself (since I know more practical stuff!) 

I remember crashing lectures back in year 1, when I had a very empty timetable. One of the lectures which I crashed, was CG1101 (the CEG version of CS1010). I remembered Dr. Zhou Lifeng asking me if I was his student, and it was embarrassing for me to admit I wasn't his student. I thought he would ignore me since I wasn't his student, but I was surprised he still tried his best to teach me C programming! He even took time out for personal consultation with a few crashers (including me). This was when I realised professors do not actually segregate students, and that they would teach any student who comes their way!  

[If there was one thing I would change about SoC, it would be] to change the learning mindsets of the students. I wish that students in SoC are not that results-oriented, as we all know that results merely determine our first job after graduation. What is important and will bring us far in life, is the different life experiences and other qualities, not academics. I hope that students will realise that stepping out of the books can allow us to learn more than just knowledge. And that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!

What is something most people would be surprised to learn about you?

Everyone thinks I'm a social butterfly since I just seem to be able to talk to people comfortably. But actually I take a very long time to warm up to people in general. I am socially awkward sometimes, and I hate approaching strangers! 

What advice would you give a prospective SoC undergraduate student?

Do get to know more seniors or friends, as fellow students' advice are definitely more close to your hearts than professors or non-SOC students! Do not think you can survive alone in SOC because the modules are challenging and getting a second opinion is definitely more helpful! Of course, do join more activities (be it orientation or just random Computing Club activities) to get to know more SOC students! I did not regret joining these activities, and I do think you will not regret too!

What do you enjoy doing when you are not studying/working?

I like to look out for new music, and try to play it on my guitar (and sing to it). I barely make progress since I'm still a novice, but practice makes perfect! :) 

Quick-fire! If you had to eat only one item from one of the NUS canteen stalls for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Korean BBQ pork from Hwang's!  

Pet peeve?

Any artificial stuff worn to "make you look better" (like coloured contacts, false eyelashes etc.) I don't think it enhances looks :/ 

New Year’s resolution?

Stop being everywhere (because I'm always around Computing!) and focus more on my work! :X 

Got ideas about questions we should be asking or people we should be chatting with? Email tien@nus.edu.sg

Grinning Eugene

Most people will not be surprised to learn that Eugene Chiong is distantly related to the Cheshire Cat - explains the easy, ear-to-ear grin that he always seems to sport. Most people will, however, be surprised to learn that flunked his primary school streaming and secondary school exams. He has obviously come a long way since then and intends to venture into a special effects role in a visual effects company after he completes his studies. Like many of us, all this Bishan-boy wants for Christmas is ‘a longer holiday!’.

Describe your experience as an SoC student.

[I’m studying] Computer Science! I'm halfway through my 3rd year now, and going to finish it in one more year before I pursue my Masters in the US (in a Concurrent Degree Programme with CMU-ETC). My specialization is Interactive Digital Media, a clear choice for me, as my passion lies in visual effects and all things related. [My experience as a SoC student has been] pretty fun and challenging. I've always been one who loves going down the path less traveled, and I'm glad SoC offers courses that really pushes my limits and allow me to learn as fast as I would like to. 

[The thing I enjoy the most about studying at SoC is the fact that] some courses are very flexible, and let me get creative with the assignments and projects as long as I meet the basic requirements. One such example is Computer Graphics, where you can just make whatever you want in the assignments, it's entirely up to your creativity. And that you're welcome to try out all sorts of modules as you can SU them (not anymore though :/) 

[If find] anything that I cannot visualize [challenging]. I'm a very visual person, so things that exist beyond three dimensions can get exceedingly frustrating for me. Naturally, math (especially linear algebra) falls in that category. Beyond that, the more interesting things are basically just anything that has to do with visuals, such as computer graphics, special effects, etc.  

I used to be actively involved in Computing Club's activities as the Vice President, but now I have stepped down and am focusing more on my studies. I still help out with Computing Club's activities as a photographer, and a first aider if needed for their camps. Much of my time is still spent on activities outside of SoC though. 

I spend a considerable amount of time doing part time work (15 - 27 hours a week giving private tuition) while overloading on my modules as I have to graduate early, so I have little time to socialize with others, join hall activities, etc. 

Most of the faculty members have made some sort of impression on me, but I think the most unique one is Prof Colin Tan, due to his obsession with cats and how 99.99% of his Facebook posts has some relation to felines. 

One of the craziest things I did here was to cycle and take photographs during the night cycling event every year during sports camp. During night cycling, everyone is mostly on the move, so it is difficult to get pictures of them cycling as it requires photographers to stop to take snapshots along the way - that can be pretty tiring. So being the lazy person I am, I've been taking photos with my DSLR while cycling along with the different groups.

[If I could change one thing about SoC, it would be to have] better computers and network connection. I think a hardware upgrade to most of the computers are way overdue, and I think a computing based faculty should boast network connection that is faster than the others (which is not the case).

What are you working on and why are you passionate about it?

I'm working on an online tool for NUS students to help plan their future modules easily so they know what modules to take in which semester. I did that because many of my friends and I needed to plan future modules and there was no tool readily available for use. Right now, I have an offline version available in an excel file at http://eugenecys.github.io/NUS-Module-Planner/ 

I like doing stuff that helps solve real life problems, rather than random software that does not actually have any significant impact on the community.

What advice would you give a prospective SoC undergraduate student?

If you're here to learn as much as you can, and want to achieve as much as you want, plan your classes early (like, have your full 4 year plan done by the end of your first year!). I say this is because there's many classes that are only offered in alternate semesters, and you may run out of time clearing prerequisites before you get to the classes you want.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not studying?

Playing games! I believe in working hard and playing hard, so I spend a considerable amount of time after a day's work on playing popular game titles, such as Starcraft, Tomb Raider, etc. On top of that, I love cycling - it's my primary pastime outside of the house - and I cycle to pretty much anywhere in Singapore. Sometimes, I play around with some special effects software such as Adobe After Effects to make fun animations as well.

Quick-Fire! Favourite sport?

Cycling. I just love cycling. Been cycling since I was 5 and I have never stopped :D

Pet peeve?

Inconsiderate behavior. Things like people sitting on the outer seat on the bus, or not moving in inside a bus/train, and parents not controlling their extremely rowdy kids. They irk me to no end. 

Guilty pleasure?

KFC. It's so unhealthy but their fried chicken is just so tasty =D

Three food items you’d have with you if you were stranded on an island for eternity?

KFC. Haha! Ok, seriously, eggs, chicken, and potatoes. I think you can get pretty creative with those three food items. 

Got ideas about questions we should be asking or people we should be chatting with? Email tien@nus.edu.sg

Doco Buff - Abhijeet

Abhijeet Banerjee is in the third year of his PhD. According to one of my informants, he “tells awesome stories about his undergrad days and has probably seen every documentary on this planet.” Unfortunately, I have failed to draw any of those stories out of him - perhaps they were a bit too saucy for our little blog. At any rate, his love for story telling is evident in his prose.

Where did you grow up?

I spent a substantial part of my childhood in the North Indian city of Varanasi. It is situated on the banks of river Ganga and is considered to be one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. It is a spiritual city full of old temples and monasteries. However, for me the most memorable feature of the city remains the river ghats (stone paved river banks). If you go there in the early morning hours, you would see the sun rising over the mist on one side. On the other side you would see a seemingly endless series of stone steps leading up to numerous pavilions and terraces. Occasionally, you would find a temple or a shrine. At far you could see a railway bridge, over which sometimes you could see a train pass by. 

Living in a city right next to a big river has its own advantages, such as you could go for a swim or a boat ride every now and then. Apart from the river activities, I remember spending a huge amount of time on our roof-top flying kites. Yes, in my city kites are usually flown from the rooftop and in the festival of kites the entire sky is full of kites. The festival of kites (Makar Sankranti) was just one of my favourites, we had the festival of colours (Holi), the festival of lights (Deepavali) and the list goes on. As a child I had a whole list of festivals to look forward to throughout the year and in each festival the city looked different. Even in non-festive seasons the city is a colourful place, quite full of life. A distinct feature of the city is its network of labyrinth like by-lanes, navigating which can be a daunting task for an unfamiliar person. I have had quite a few adventures exploring them!

Why are you doing a PhD?

The answer to this question probably lies in my undergraduate years. During undergraduate years I had a lot of fun while remembering to study a little bit of everything. However, sometimes during the lectures, when the professor would be explaining a new concept, I would have a crazy “what-if” idea (i.e. what if I did this instead of that, idea). Usually, I didn’t bother to bother anyone with those “what-if” ideas. Undergraduate is too much fun to bother about “what-if” ideas. However, eventually graduation drew near and I realized that only way to explore some “what-if” ideas was to join a PhD program (because at that time none of job offers I had were research oriented) and that’s when I made the choice of enrolling for a PhD. During PhD, one has the time and resources to check out all “what-if” ideas one has. Most of the time they turn out to be crazy but sometimes they do work out.

Briefly describe your research and its significance.

My research is primarily focused towards testing and analysis of non-functional properties (such as execution time and energy consumption), for real-time, embedded systems. Embedded systems are specialized computer systems designed and used for a specific task. They are everywhere, watches, smartphones, automobiles, space shuttles all use embedded systems. A real-time constraint dictates that the system (in our case, embedded system) must respond in real time. For example, an anti-lock breaking system in an automobile must react as soon as the brake pedal is pressed and not a few minutes later. Failure to meet a constraint, for such systems, might lead to serious (even fatal) consequences. Therefore, to ensure the reliability of such systems, the software executing on such platforms must be tested for functional (e.g. absence of buffer overflows), as well as non-functional properties (e.g. execution time, energy consumption).  

Every year exciting new ideas are presented in this field through leading journals and conferences. However, still a lot remains to be done in this field. Let me give you an example, if you are a smartphone user you must have faced the irritating “low-battery” signal while you were doing something interesting. If you had a similar experience, I can sympathise with you and so will the millions of smartphone users around the world. Every year we have new and improved smartphones coming in to the market, each with a bigger screen, a better camera or a faster processor etc. These trends are not surprising as integrated circuit technology is approximately doubling every two years, as correctly predicted by Gordon E. Moore in 1965. However, the same cannot be said about the battery technology. The improvements in the battery capacity over past couple of decades have been very small. Such problems give rise to a host of research opportunities. Presently, applications for smartphone and mobile devices are developed in an energy oblivious way, the implication of which are wasted battery power and/or reduced battery life.  

In our current research we are trying to develop tools and techniques for energy aware programming for mobile device such as smartphones. Such techniques when developed would enable the application developers to develop energy-efficient applications and enable the contemporary devices with limited battery capacity to function much better. Not only that, energy-aware programming tools (and techniques) would be useful even when better battery technologies arrives, as energy-efficient applications are good at saving energy and therefore contributes towards a greener planet.

Briefly describe your experience as an SoC student. 

Being enrolled in a highly ranked educational institution is a privilege by itself. There are other perks too. Grad students in SoC have plenty of opportunities in terms of educational resources, the chances to interact with other highly skilled people in their research domains, attend interesting workshops and seminar that are regularly held in the department, etc 

The most important [faculty member, to me,] would be my advisor Dr Abhik Roychoudhury, who has been there for me ever since I joined the department. SoC has so many good faculty members that it is hard to name a few. However, the two faculty members who have made the biggest impressions on me were Dr Liang Zhenkai and Dr Y. C. Tay. 

I took a module on systems security during which I had the chance to interact with Dr Liang Zhenkai. I felt that he is one of the most hands-on professors I have met in the department. Thanks to him, I actually learnt how to do cool stuff such as buffer overflow attacks and XSS attacks. Earlier I just knew that these things existed and never tried them on my own.  

I was also very impressed by the teaching style of Dr Y. C. Tay. He is the only professor I know who still uses overhead projectors to teach! Not only that he would haul two overhead projectors for every lecture along with various props to make us understand the complex concepts of analytical performance modelling. I really admire the enthusiasm with which he taught us in every single one of his lectures.

What is something most people would be surprised to learn about you?

I enrolled in a school when I was less than 3 Years of age and I have been in school (figuratively speaking) ever since.

Why are you drawn to documentaries?

I think that our world is an awesome place. It is full of information, lots and lots of it. However, in the rush of our day to day lives we often overlook the details of the world around us. If we look closely, every person, every single object has a different story to tell. As a person who is fond of listening to (and telling) stories, documentaries are an excellent medium for me to know new things. 

Over the years I have watched a number of documentaries, some of which were very elaborate, such as “Planet Earth” (released 2006, made by BBC) whereas others were very simple, such as the “Life in a Day” (released 2011, made by people from all over the world). Varied as they might be in their theme and design, yet they have one thing in common, they are all made with the intention of conveying a message. So I guess in that sense (conveying a message), I would say the most influential and memorable documentary I remember watching would be a documentary named “An inconvenient truth”. A good documentary is a mix of a good (untold) story composed of clear and concise information and accompanied by a captivating narration. In the documentary “An inconvenient truth”, Al Gore presents the general ideas about global warming in such a manner that even the uninitiated would have little trouble following it. This documentary was crucial in changing my (and many other people’s) views about Global Warming and the dangers it poses to us.

Quick-fire! Best film ever? 

Wall-E

Most annoying word? 

Segmentation Fault

Three items you would want with you if you were stranded on a deserted island? 

An axe, a lighter and a shipping container full of books, preferably novels ;-D

Got ideas about questions we should be asking or people we should be chatting with? Email tien@nus.edu.sg

Vinova's Mike Nguyen

Mike Nguyen, Founder and Director of VINOVA, grew up in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He came to Singapore for university, graduated with a degree in Computer Science in 2006, stayed on at SoC for a Master’s programme which he completed in 2009, and has been living in here ever since. His co-founder, Alex Nguyen, also happens to be a SoC alumnus and is busy establishing their business in Vietnam.

Alex and Mike (right)

What do you do now? 

I, together with my business partner Alex Nguyen, founded Vinova. Vinova provides and develops IT services and products. I have worked as multiple roles, from Sales to Delivery, such as a developer, cum project manager, cum sales person. After 3 years of operation, the company has grown bigger and more stable. I am now more focussed on the Customer. I am taking care of company revenue to ensure business continuity and support team growth. I also ‘quality check’ projects before they are delivered to customers. The training of the support team is part of the routine as well - this is to ensure that the number of projects on hand does not compromise the quality of support provided. 

I met Alex during one of our Master’s courses. He is technically strong. We share a passion for programming.  He is now more focused on Delivery. He has been training the development team and is in charge of product development. Together, we make a great team.

I am working on multiple web and mobile projects for customers, as well as for our own company. I am getting the chance to deal with customers from different sectors and employees from different backgrounds. I can help my customers solve their problems, create jobs for employees, and watch my company grow. I feel like I’m doing something meaningful and helpful. I always want to contribute my best, in whatever I am doing. Hence, looking at the company’s growth, the competent employees we’ve trained and the happy customers we’ve served, it drives my passion and I want to continue to work harder to achieve more and do even better.  

I’d like to build up Vinova, both in size and in quality. My plan for the company is to focus more on IT services to gain capital to continue development of company products. I also want to maintain good company culture and welfare of employees. This is quite important. 

I also have plans for my family. I know it is not easy to achieve work life balance, but it is important for me to plan so that I can achieve it. 

Briefly describe your experience as an SoC student.

Being a SoCian is cool. I was taught with technical and non-technical stuff. I enjoyed the good facilities, teachers, and environment that is encouraging of entrepreneurship that we have in SoC. Mr. Aaron Tan [was probably the faculty member who made the biggest impression on me]. He is very dedicated to teaching. His lectures were always crowded with many students.

The ‘craziest’ thing that I did was walk from PGP to NUH for supper and ‘sweet-soup’ at 2am with a group of around 10 friends. I don't think we’ll ever get to do that again. [My favourite thing about my time at SoC was] playing games with friends. We played AOK nightly at that time. [I also really enjoyed] my first year’s Rag Day. [However, the thing I found most challenging and interesting was] my final year project. [If there is one thing I would have done differently during my time here, it would have been to] make better use of the Entrepreneur scheme. There was plenty of support available at SoC that I didn’t know of so could not make use of.

What do you count as your most significant achievements since graduating from SoC? 

Getting married. Hahaha. [Actually,] establishing an IT company that has been up and running for more than 3 years, with 25 staff. It's hard to tell why [I pursued it]. I just felt it was a right time for me to move on that way.  

It's all about hard work from morning to midnight. At first, it was very difficult to find customers. We were very young and inexperienced at the time. We didn't know how to sell our services. Because of that, we had to do everything we could at the cheapest rate as possible in order to get projects to sustain the company. Then we slowly built up our reputation, portfolio, and partner network. After 2 years, customers just started coming to us naturally.

What is something most people would be surprised to learn about you?

Probably that I always spend time helping my wife clean the house during weekends, and that I wash the dishes after we finish our dinners. 

What advice would you give a prospective SoC student?

Study hard and Play hard. Make full use of the support you available in SoC. Get as much hands on experience as you can. Keep an eye out on what’s going on in the IT industry. 

What do you enjoy doing when you are not working? 

Reading books about leadership and management. They really open my mind.

Is there anything else you would like to share? 

If you like anything, just do it. Life is short, don't think too much.

Quick-fire: Song you have repeated the most this month? 

I find myself listening to Richard Clayderman every time I am seated at my work desk. 

Got ideas about questions we should be asking or people we should be chatting with? Email tien@nus.edu.sg