AY12/13 Semester 2
This semester was rather hectic for me, mainly due to the OCIP (Project OceaNUS) that i was involved in. Therefore, I still did not overload in this semester. Below are my comments on the modules.

i) ACC1002- Financial Accounting
This is the first module for me in terms of the business/accountancy side. As the first module with considerable weightage in class participation (20%), it naturally became the focus of the semester for the first 12 weeks, mainly in tutorial preparations and project. Topics covered include fundamentals like debit and credit, inventory (FIFO, LIFO, etc), to analysing and preparing financial statements (balance sheets, cash flows, income statement). The project (20%) took up a sizable amount of time as well, with the need to analyse Li Ning's past year financial statements to answer the questions. To me, this module is interesting as I learnt something new and relevant (as compared to maths/science stuff in engineering). I had a very good lecturer, Dr Winston Kwok, who never failed to make every lecture entertaining (and a refreshing change from the usual boring engineering lectures). I also had a decent tutor, Ms Bernadette Chan, whom I always smile at in an attempt to get more class part, lol. Anyway, this module is manageable in my opinion. Just need to focus on doing well for all components of the assessments (mid terms, class part, project, finals). For me, finals was pretty challenging, with the need to memorise financial statements format, with tricky calculations and I ended up not being able to balance the cash flow (25% of the paper). Nevertheless, I focused on doing well for the rest of the questions, and the results came back good as well.

ii) CM1502- General and Physical Chemistry for Engineers
Besides the three lab reports and finals, this module was a breeze in terms of the mastery of content. There is almost nothing new from JC H2 Chemistry; in fact there is no organic chemistry which makes me feel that it is easier than H2 Chemistry. However, the lab reports were really a pain in the ass. For my first formal lab report in my university life, I did not allocate enough time to complete it and ended up sleeping at like 5am in the morning that day, only to wake up by 8am for the OCIP fundraising car wash (had to be present as most people were not available). In the end, the report had some mistakes that I caught only on hindsight, and I got a B for it. After this lesson, I started on the reports much earlier, and also asked my senior for her lab report. My subsequent lab reports got A- and A+ respectively; and I realised that while senior's reports offer a good point of reference, ultimately how well a report is written depends on insightful points and analysis that are unique for each report (with varying results and how well you substantiate or analyse your results). I did very well for mid-terms; average was around 34, and i got 44/50. As for the finals, it was hard but do-able on hindsight; probably because of time constraints that caused most people to screw up. As for me, I had about 15 minutes for the last 25 marks (supposed to take 30 mins), causing me to rush through and probably lost 20 marks in this question. But as per my usual tactic, ensuring that you get the remaining marks is important. I had expected this module to get an A- at best though, but guess mid terms and the labs helped me a lot.

iii) EG1109- Statics and Mechanics of Materials
This is perhaps the trademark module for engineering students, in that it is very hard (it is said that whoever can do 50% of the paper can get an A already). First half of the module on statics involves solving equilibrium problems (particularly taking moments about certain points and applying rotational equilibrium), statically determinate problems with the drawing of free body diagram, involving rigid bodies, pin-jointed frames and cables (cables have always been and will continue to be the killer part of this half), taught by Ang K. K. He is decent in his teachings, in my opinion. The only bad thing is that we were made to buy his textbook, as there were no lecture notes uploaded. As for the second half, taught by Victor Shim (a good and clear lecturer), it covers the mechanics portion, with topics such as stress and strain, compatibility equations, torsion, as well as bending moments and shear force diagrams (for beams). As for the assessment, it involves two quizzes (10%+10%), imparo (15%), class part (10%), and finals (55%). As finals are usually hard to score, my recommendations are to focus on the CAs and do decently for them. For my year, the finals was not as hard as the past year papers, and I manage to do about 3 out of the 4 questions. In my opinion, this is one of the hardest modules as there is no cheat sheet and there are no avenues to earn points by smoking: you just have to be good enough to analyse and calculate based on the given questions.

iv) MA1506- Mathematics II
Somewhat a continuation of MA1505, this module focuses a lot on Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs), such as first order, second order, homogeneous, etc. There are also other concepts taught, such as matrices, linear algebra, laplace transform that are used to help solve DEs. My opinion of this module is somewhat similar to MA1505- abstract, academically rigorous, but if you understood how to do the tutorials and especially past year papers, you should be able to do well. The assessment is as follows: mid term (10 MCQs, 20%) and finals (8x2 questions, 80%). To get or close to getting an A, you probably need at least 8/10 for mid terms, and probably get above 85/100 for the finals, in my opinion. The cohort is super large (~1600 students), which is good for the bell curve. However, as with mathematics modules, there are not much room for errors. An advice is to conscientiously do or look through/understand the questions from the past year papers and tutorials. Understanding is more important than just mindlessly practising on the questions. And take down useful examples for your cheat sheet.

v) MLE1101- Introductory Materials Science and Engineering
This is somewhat a module that I loved and hated at the same time. I loved it as the assessment is simple and ideal: Just a mid terms (25%, MCQs) and finals (75%), lectures are webcasted. Naturally, this became the "cushioning module' for this semester. The bad thing about this module, beside the supposed chemical engineering bell curve, is that the content is really boring, and it is really a torture listening to the webcast by Prof Xue Jun Min. Whereas attending the actual lecture also is a torture as it is very hard to stay awake, probably due to his hypnotic accent. From memory, content of this module include metals, phase diagrams (can be confusing but this is important), ceremics, polymeric materials (e.g. plastics), as well as some common content from EG1109 such as stress and strain. The mid term was a breeze for me; while finals had a few (~20% of the whole paper) which were more tricky. Do note that the bell curve for this module should be pretty steep, as expected for that involving chemical engineering, but as a general rule for doing well, just do your best and try to ace the paper, rather than being obsessed with comparison with other students or with the bell curve.

I did very well this semester; kind of unexpectedly well since I was busy with OCIP and stuff. Yep, so Y1S2 was completed on a happy note. :)