No wasted efforts

Its amazing how October has gone so quickly and November is almost gone. As I look back at the past 6-7 weeks, it has been pretty hectic although I am not sure what I have actually accomplished.

Some of the activities that took my time include:
1. volunteered for a Talent ID testing session for Canoeing Victoria (VIS attachment)
2. got a bit involved in a cycling crank angle measurement project (VIS attachment)
3. analysed wheelchair rugby match data (PhD)
4. trying to develop a sensor for a cricket project (PhD related)
5. wheelchair racing testing (PhD)
6. figuring out application of the ANT+ protocol (PhD)
7. part-time work stuff at Catapult (work)
8. write & submit abstract for 2012 ISEA conference (PhD related)

Only one of those things listed above can be considered done and closed (at least for me), and that's the Talent ID testing. The rest of the stuff are either on-going, in progress, or requires follow up or more work.  It sounds like I am saying the same thing but it is actually different.

Firstly, on-going stuff is like my part-time job - as long as the company is still running and has work for me, it is on-going and the scope isn't going to change much.

Secondly, stuff that is in progress would be me analysing wheelchair rugby match data and getting the ANT+ thing to work the way I need it to. They are in progress because I haven't reached any sort of milestone or goal yet and I know more or less how I am going to get there.

Thirdly, stuff that requires follow up would be the cycling project. I have done my part and now the ball is in someone else's court. I may or may not have to do more work on that but that is what I need to follow up and find out. To be honest, I have a feeling that my bit of contribution would not be used in the end, which would be slightly disappointing. [The up side is that I did learn something useful during my involvement that I could apply in the cricket project]

The last category is stuff that requires more work; this includes the cricket project, wheelchair racing testing and the 2012 ISEA conference paper submission. The cricket project was a bit of a bummer initially because I spent a couple of weeks trying to troubleshoot an issue with a micro-controller that turned out to be simply a wrong boot loader burned onto it. But as I mentioned briefly earlier, I transferred what I picked up from the cycling project and ended up with a simpler solution of using a simple data logger board instead of programming a micro-controller. If only I came to that solution earlier (pfft). Anyway there is more work to be done in this project like testing and other stuff. The wheelchair racing testing and the conference paper submission are inter-related. The plan was to run some lab tests (which I had done); from the lab test results, work out a field test protocol, run the field tests and publish all those results in the conference paper (since the abstract I submitted was accepted). Unfortunately, the results from the lab test was not exactly what I had expected and it would take some brainstorming before I could go ahead with the field test. Plus the fact that I am planning to go for a extended holiday beginning of December, this means I would not be able to finish all the work and meet the paper submission deadline which is 21st Dec. Sigh. So actually there is no more work to do for the ISEA conference because I will not make it!

Nevertheless, the work of the wheelchair racing project still has to go on. Hopefully at the end of the day, I get some results or analysis that can give the athlete some insight into how he could improve his performance and win some (more) gold medals!

The racing wheelchair 

So for all the effort that I put into doing stuff the past weeks, some worked out according to plan, some efforts were kinda wasted (submitting the abstract only to realise I can't submit the full paper) and some worked out in an unexpected way.

Going back to the first activity on the list: the Talent ID testing. There was actually something interesting that I learned from that experience. I realised on that day that none of the young people (13 - 22 year olds) who turned up for that testing had any experience in canoeing prior to that. Most of them were either in life-saving or triathlon or some other sport. I had expected them to have a certain level of physical fitness but I was wrong. I guess the whole point of that exercise was to find talent outside of the sport of canoeing; and if it was detected that there was some potential in a particular person, he/she would be put under a canoeing program and monitored for the next year. From there, the VIS would then decide if it was worth training and mentoring that athlete, and also for the athlete to decide if it was worth pursuing the sport of canoeing competitively. Looking at the selected squad, it seems more than half the people who turned up for the testing did not make it through. But I can't say they have wasted their time or effort in going through the testing because they probably found out a bit more about themselves that day, and this might just lead them to understanding where their strengths really lies.

Working intentionally

I do work everyday, whether it is paid work or volunteer work. For me, volunteer work includes doing my PhD (because I chose to do it on my own free will & I am not getting paid to do it), helping out in church stuff and doing housework (if that counts). Paid work is of course just work that pays (monetarily). For a good part of my life, I worked on a reactive kind of mode: something happens and I react to it, or somebody tells me I should do something and I do it. It is probably the way that I was brought up - to follow a certain pattern of doing things, to follow instructions and 'protocol', and take on whatever comes my way. But over the years I have began to feel tired of working that way; and at some point I decided to make some changes - to pursue the things that I have a passion for and try to avoid doing things that doesn't interest me (at all). So I came to Melbourne... and I am still on that journey... trying to work out some way to do the things I like and hopefully get paid (enough) doing it.

Recently I had this meeting with the boss (of my part-time job) to get some review of my performance in the past four months and to find out if I met the expectations of the role. I was given some positive feedback and also some suggestions of areas where I could improve on. Overall it was quite a standard type of review meeting and in my opinion, the outcome was positive. But there was something else that I took out of the meeting.

The boss was explaining to me during one part of the conversation about spending time and resources on a project and how every bit of effort put in could have some outcome. However, some input could have a slightly worse outcome and some could have a much better outcome. But what really counts is when the outcome goes past a threshold and becomes profitable or successful. That could be like: developing a consumer product that goes through a few prototypes and finally becomes mass produced and sold to the customers; or a new software update that has gone through a few rounds of testing, then it is finally published and it benefits the end-users. But then, not all developments become a final product or something deliverable and useful. Some just stop at a certain prototype stage and 'die' off. So the goal is to have as many 'deliverables' as possible with the amount of resources spent. I imagine this would require having some form of vision of the outcome, proper planning, and working intentionally - spending adequate resources (time, effort & money), not getting distracted by other things and making sure that every effort spent is intended to reach the goal.

I am not 100% sure if that was exactly what I heard but that was what stuck in my head. It made sense to me, and I think I could definitely apply that while working on my PhD because I really need to work more intentionally, to have outcomes that count - like doing testing and analyses that will complete certain chapters in my thesis or even publishing journal articles & conference papers from my research. There are many interesting ideas and 'projects' that distract me every now and then, but I really need to start intentionally filtering them and just stay on track to finish this PhD and finish it well.

APCST 2011

The 5th Asia-Pacific Congress on Sports Technology was recently held in Melbourne (for a second time). Almost 100 people from around the world turned up for the congress which took place in the Storey Hall - RMIT's premium exhibition and auditorium facility. The attendees include academics from various universities, scientists and researchers from sport institutes, engineers of various disciplines from organisations of technology and innovations, and representatives of sporting goods companies.

Keynote speakers

The first two days of the congress was packed with keynote speeches and presentations discussing the impact of technology on sports. Sessions were organised either according to the type of sport (winter sports, swimming, ball sports, cycling, track & field), engineering methods (design & analysis, modelling & simulation, aerodynamics), sports wear (garments & footwear) and the most popular topic in this congress which is sensors & measurement methods. Use of inertial sensors and the application of smart phones in various sports covered more than half the presentations under the category of sensors & measurement methods. I too, had the opportunity to present a paper on the use of inertial sensors and smart phones in wheelchair sports. 

Obviously the potential of wearable technologies or wireless technologies in sports is huge, which is why more and more people are getting into the research and development of this area. One of the reasons for this is it's increase in demand. It probably started with the sports institutes where coaches and sports scientists recognised the advantage & benefits of tracking and measuring their athletes' movement and performance not just in the lab, but in the field during training or during actual competitions. It then trickled down to the professional team sports that has the funding to use inertial sensor technologies. Then what more, with smart phones such as iPhones and Android phones that are built with inertial sensors and a-GPS, and SDKs that allow almost anyone (with the interest and programming knowledge) to develop customised Apps for sports applications. There are Apps that simply use location data to track running or cycling routes, giving the user information on their speed, distance and elevation. There is an iPhone App for rowing and there are iPhone Apps that simply gives you access to the accelerometer and gyroscope data (which I used extensively for my research). Anyway, my point is that more people can have access to wearable technologies with the development of smart phones, and thus the growing interest.

I actually came across this blogpost that criticised the conference and the purpose of research in sports technology. The writer had the mindset that research in sports garments for improved performance (reduced drag) or analysing the aerodynamics of balls (golf & soccer) or instrumenting sports equipment for performance analysis is a total waste of time. That seems to be a very narrow-minded view of sports engineering. Objectively speaking, many new technologies that are developed from sports engineering research, whether in universities or research institutes are often adopted later on by other industries either in healthcare, manufacturing, construction and even aerospace engineering; and vice versa. The innovations developed may not have an immediate impact but it often brings people to a new level of understanding of the possibilities of such innovations. Also, who can deny that controversies in sports science and technologies make interesting discussion topics? Here's one for example.

Louise Sauvage showing us one of her racing chairs

But back to the conference itself; other than the many thought provoking discussions related to sports technologies, a highlight of the conference is the social events. On the second night, there was the dinner at the Melbourne Cricket Ground that was combined with a tour of the National Sports Museum. Louise Sauvage was a special guest for the dinner and she gave a special closing speech to mark the end of the conference. She shared about her journey as a disabled athlete, the different struggles she went through and some of the experiences she had that were truly epic. It was the perfect closing speech for a sports technology conference; because not only is she an Australian Paralympic wheelchair racer who has won numerous gold medals (Paralympic games, Olympic games and international athletic championships), she experienced first hand the impact of technology in the improvements of her racing wheelchairs. But even though technology had a bit to play in her success, I would say the major contributing factor is her discipline in training and determination to succeed. A truly charismatic and inspiring person; I am sure she has been a huge inspiration to many Paralympians in Australia and I am pretty sure she inspired many engineers and scientists that night during the dinner.

Industry tours: There were some industry tours on the third day at different locations including the Kookaburra Sport manufacturing facility, Sports Technology International - a sports surface manufacturer, and the Victorian Institute of Sport combined with a sports science presentation from Catapult Sports. There are several more sports technology companies based in Melbourne that I have come to know since I started my post-graduate studies in sports engineering. Then there are at least 2 universities with sports engineering programs (Victoria Uni & RMIT); which really makes Melbourne a sort of hub for sports technology developments, and I am pretty glad to be a part of it. :)

The APCST is a biennial conference, so the next one is going to be in 2013 and if I'm not wrong I think its going to be at Hong Kong. Two years might seem like a gap but there is still the 9th ISEA conference that takes place next year! In the meantime I better get some more work done so that I can publish more ground breaking stuff!!

Empathy

In order to get some extra 'funding' for my PhD, I decided to take up a part-time job. By God's grace, I found one in a sports technology company that manufactures sensors for tracking athletes. Well in fact I interviewed with them once previously but the position required more electronics experience which is beyond me. Anyway, this time they needed someone in a customer support role, preferably someone who had experience using their sensors and study/work in the field of sports science and engineering; and they wanted someone doing it part-time. I fitted all their basic requirements, the job fitted my 'fundings' requirement, plus I was really keen to get some experience in a sports technology company, it was a win-win. So yes, I took the job.

It actually has been over a month since I started this customer support role and it has been quite an interesting experience so far. There are some technical aspects to the job - it requires some basic understanding of how inertial sensors work, a logical troubleshooting mind and mainly how to use the proprietary program to get the relevant data out of the sensors. But knowing the technical stuff is only a minor part of the customer support role. The more important part is connecting with the customer that I am supporting. This means understanding what the customer needs and providing a solution or explanation to their problem. It also goes to the extent of ensuring that the customer is satisfied. This means that even if the customer is wrong, I shouldn't point it out too blatantly, instead I should tactfully highlight that he could be wrong and suggest possible alternative methods to work out his issue.

Unfortunately, I learned that from experiencing it myself. I told a customer the truth, the reality, and that did not sit well with him and his own agenda. To give an analogy of what happened: A customer bought a bicycle and wanted to attach the bicycle to his lawnmower so that he can cycle and mow his lawn. Somehow he got someone to modify his lawnmower and made it to work, but after a while the bicycle stuffed up and he got a replacement from the manufacturer since it was under warranty. He then realised that the replacement bike has some new enhancements because it is a newer model and now it can't work with his lawnmower anymore. He gets annoyed and he calls the bicycle manufacturer demanding that they change the design of the new bicycle so that it can fit onto his lawnmower! Obviously it doesn't make sense for the manufacturer to go back to an older less effective design; moreover the bicycle was designed to be a bicycle and not for fitting onto a lawnmower. If he really wanted to, he should design his own bicycle lawnmower that could look something like this:

http://www.totallyabsurd.com/tricyclelawnmower.htm

But how should the customer support person respond? Well what I learned is that not everyone can handle the truth, and as the customer support person, I should empathise with the customer. Instead of telling him the truth, I should explain in a nice way that the new bicycle design makes it more ergonomic for riding. But if he really wants it to work with the lawnmower I could find him one of the older design bikes in the dumps, oops I mean in the store. Or I could point him to someone who could modify his lawnmower again to fit the new bike design. In essence, the goal of customer support is to please the customer. If customers are unhappy, customer support has to appease them, sugar-coat the truth if necessary so that its easier for them to swallow; although at the end of the day they still may not accept the truth.

Fortunately, there is one truth in this world that I do not have to sugar-coat to tell others. That is: Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). People may or may not like to hear it but it is the truth, and the goal of telling it is not to please the listener but to please God.   

Mentoring support

This is kind of a delayed post. Anyway it's related to the VIS sports science traineeship.

The VIS sports science traineeship began with a three day induction session for all the trainees. That included an orientation of the facilities; an overview of lab and field testings with emphasis on health and safety issues; meeting up with some of the staff; and more importantly, the various sports science staff made sure that we understand what the VIS is all about and what is the purpose of the sports science department. The motto of the VIS (as anyone will see on their website) is: Success in sports and life. There is also a quote from the VIS chairman which says:

Our mission is to provide an environment in which talented Victorian athletes have the opportunity to achieve at the highest level in sport and life.
– Kate Palmer - VIS Chairman

Anyway I gather that the focus of VIS is on the athletes (duh). The athletes are valued because they have the talent and the skills to do well in their sports. So VIS dedicates a whole bunch of people who takes care and keeps track of the athletes to make sure that they are moving forward in their sports career and are on the right track towards the goals that were set for them. Those people can be from sports medicine, nutrition, sports science, psychology, sports coaches and even people who provide guidance and counselling on their career, education, life after sports, time and stress management etc. I will just label them generally as the athlete support group. Then the athletes usually have performance evaluations done on a regular basis and if something is not quite right (maybe their performance is dropping or they are not meeting a target),  a few of the athlete support people will try to find out what went wrong. Could it be the training program is not appropriate? Does the athlete lack motivation or discipline? Is the athlete going through any family or emotional problems? If yes, they will try to rectify the problem and basically, no effort would be spared to give the best support to the elite athletes to ensure that they become the best that they can be.

This leads me to think: what about regular people? I reckon everyone should have some form of support in their life. It could be from school or work or church or family or even friends. Most people will probably talk to people around them and get advise at different points of their lives, especially when they are at crossroads. But I also reckon there are people who don't bother and they simply cruise through life and end up not fulfilling their potential in life, which is kind of sad. I believe God made everyone for a specific purpose and more often than not, we need mentors who we can talk to, consult, pick their brains and from there we learn to identify our strengths and weaknesses,  be inspired, and become more like the person God designed us to be.  

Removing gunk

With a new person in my life now, a huge part of my time is spent feeding him, changing his nappies, changing his clothes, winding him, carrying him and the list goes on. One thing that I can't get used to, is his crying. His crying can be a few short bursts of grunting and wailing or wailing continuously or wailing continuously with bouts of high pitched screams. The third one can bring intense pain to my head especially if his mouth is within half a metre from my ear.

Most of his cries and whimpering are because of hunger, a wet or poopy nappy or wind in his tummy. But sometimes its because of the stuff that I am doing to him. I don't intentionally make him cry, it's just that the things I do bring some discomfort to him. Those things include:

1. Changing his nappy - especially when I am wiping his bottom with a wet wipe after he has had a poop; and because he sometimes has such a big one that there's poop everywhere! So the cleaning takes slightly longer to make sure all the 'cracks and crevices' are poop free. This longer cleaning annoys him and he will either start crying or give me more work by 'spraying' on me.

2. Removing dried milk bits on his face - when I have the opportunity to feed him with the bottle, I will spend at least 30 minutes staring into his little face. During that time, I will notice dried milk bits around his eyes or nose. Usually I will make a mental note to myself that I have to clean his face with a wet towel later or give him a bath if he hasn't had one the day before. But sometimes after 20 minutes of feeding him and noticing those dried milk bits, I can't help but try to pick them off with my fingers. This clearly annoys him and he wails for a couple of seconds till I stop doing it.

3. Trying to pick up his boogers - also happens usually when I am feeding him with the bottle. I can see up his nose and in his nostrils are humongous dried chunks of boogers. If they are close to the edge of his nostril, I will use my pinky nail to pick it out. Again, this usually results in him wailing for a couple of seconds to express his annoyance.

From my point of view, I am cleaning his bottom so that he will not develop a nappy rash; I am cleaning his face so that he will look fresher (and cuter :D); and I am clearing his nostrils so that he can breathe better. For him, its just discomfort that he doesn't like to go through.

This sort of reminded me of a clip that one of my pastors showed during our prayer meeting a while back. It's called God's chisel. God's chisel can often make us feel uncomfortable but it's only when He removes the gunk in our life that we become the masterpiece that He has designed us to be.

 

Exciting times

June 2011 marks the start of an exciting period for me; cos many new things are happening (or happened) at the same time. Even though I did plan for them to happen, I definitely didn't plan for them to happen at the same time, it just... happened that way. It would be nice if each thing happened at least two months apart of the other so that I could ease into things better, but then where would the challenge be??

Early arrival of baby Gideon

His actual due date (as calculated by the doctors) was supposed to be the 24th of June. His grandma even planned to fly in to Melbourne on the 21st so that she could help out here and there prior to his arrival. But baby Gideon (or Prince Gideon as the Missus prefers to call him now) couldn't wait till the 24th and 'decided' he has to pop-out 15 days earlier! What's more exciting is that I actually had my PhD confirmation presentation scheduled on that exact day! By God's grace, I was given a window of opportunity to scoot off from the hospital to Uni to give my presentation, nail it (thank God!), and rush back to the hospital to hold the Missus' hand while she went through her contractions and finally push out the baby 7 hours later. So now we have this little bundle of joy (and cries and pee and poo) keeping us occupied pretty much 24/7.

PhD
So it seems like the PhD didn't have a fantastic start with my first presentation not going well and my second presentation clashing with the birth of Gideon. Still, it has officially started. Now, although I have a rough idea of what I am working towards, it really is murky waters I am swimming into, unexplored grounds I am entering, and new insights I am hoping to gain; and that I guess is the whole point of doing this PhD. But to really put things into perspective, what I might achieve at the end would probably be like contributing a small drop of water into a whole ocean of knowledge in engineering and science. Nevertheless, it will be hard work and it will take up every ounce of brain juice I can muster up. I am hoping to complete this within a year though I have no idea if it is actually possible.

Sports science traineeship
The Victorian Institute of Sport runs a Sports science traineeship program every year that lasts for twelve months and it is usually open to students doing a exercise and sports science degree. However this year they decided to open this traineeship to students from other disciplines such as statistics, nutrition and engineering. Needless to say, I applied for it and with only ten spots available in the traineeship, it is definitely a miracle that I managed to get on it. From a discussion with one of the resident sports scientist, I was told that I would probably be given work on a project basis, to resolve technical or engineering issues pertaining to performance analysis of athletes. However I still put my hand up to be involved in the traditional sports science stuff; so I might have opportunities to do some physiological or field testing of athletes down the road. Interesting stuff I reckon.

Anyway, as I was saying, it's going to be exciting times ahead... exciting times.