CS2101 Effective Communication for Computing Professionals
CS2103T Software Engineering
CS3230 Design and Analysis of Algorithms
CS3233R Competitive Programming
IS1103 IS Innovations in Organisations and Society
MA2108S Mathematical Analysis I (S)
ST2131 Probability
ES2660 Communicating in the Information Age
This module is about OOP taught in Java. Since I have taken Java OOP in NUS High before, a lot of this module is just a repeat.
The prof made the use of vim compulsory, which I felt was strange initially, but learning vim turned out to be the most useful thing I had learnt from this module. Very often, I did not have a UI and only had the terminal to work with. Hence, the only way to edit the text file was through vim or nano.
The rest of the module is... a bit messy.
- Lectures were randomly cancelled at the last minute. Once, we were only notified the night before. Another time, we were notified at the start of the lecture.
- Labs took very long to grade. Only Lab 1 was graded and returned to us, the rest (Lab 2 to Lab 8, and 2 practical assessments) were marked and returned just a few days before the final exam.
- The marking of our codes was automated for design. I had a random deduction of marks in the javadocs category, even though I followed the checkstyle guide provided and wrote my javadocs properly.
- Final was open book, but one of the questions was literally the example given in the Java API, which was to implement mergesort with fork join. So, if you printed that specific API, you could literally copy the code.
- The questions from the final were all practical-assessment-like. I feel that they are more suitable as a practical rather than for a written paper. It felt like a normal lab, except it’s now on paper. Imagine having to write "public static void main(String args[])" or “System.out.println” on paper...
Final grade: A+
CS2106 Introduction to Operating Systems
Lecturer: Soo Yuen Jien, aka Uncle Soo
I had previously taken CS2100 under Uncle Soo. After going through 1 module with him, I know how good and interesting of a prof he is, which is why I decided to take CS2106 in year 1. Uncle Soo is very enthusiastic during the lectures and he will add jokes and/or metaphors to make the lectures livelier.
The labs took time to do, but it usually required very little coding (usually about 10-30 lines). Most of the codes were already coded by Uncle Soo, and we just had to read the documentation. The labs were bi-weekly.
Uncle Soo was also my tutorial teacher, and his tutorials were very "interactive". He asked questions in a round robin fashion and gave hints if the student was unable to provide an answer. He also put in effort to memorize all the students’ name. He even remembered my name from 2 years ago!
Uncle Soo was also quite active on the IVLE forum and responded to majority of the queries there.
However, during one of the lectures, Uncle Soo mentioned that he will not be teaching CS2106 anymore :(
Final grade: A
ES1103 English for Academic Purposes
Tutor: Lam Chow Siong
I had to take this module because I did not do very well for both my English modules in NUSH as well as my QET in NUS.
This module teaches formal academic writing. However, English grammar was also taught, which I found it strange coming from a university module, as none of my modules from high school covered grammar.
The workload for this module is quite light, as we were only required to write 1 problem-solution essay about smartphone addiction, split into multiple parts (problem, solution, conclusion), and each part had their own deadline. There were also multiple presentations, but there were guiding questions, and the presentation had a time/slide limit, so I did not have to include much content.
I felt like I did not learn much from this module. The module started by teaching about noun groups and lexical chains. We were tasked to identify noun groups and linking words (eg "and", "but", "however", etc) in class, which again, I found strange for a university level module.
Often, the tutor would ask a question and wait for a reply, but the class remained silent, and there would be an awkward silence.
Final grade: B+ (S/U option exercised)
GES1021 Natural Heritage of Singapore
Lecturers: Ng Ngan Kee , Choong Mei Fun, Amy
All students are required to take a GES module. I took this GES module which was the only one available in Science Faculty and it does not require any essay writing. There are 4 components to the final grade: midterm, finals, poster, and class participation marks. Both the midterm and the final were entirely MCQ.
The poster was a group project. Ample time was given to complete it. We had to take photos of invasive species in Singapore and put them in the poster, together with a short description. As the poster is A3 size, the description did not have to be very long. The hardest part was to find the photos. We were encouraged to take the photos ourselves (penalties were given for using online photos) but taking photos of animals was difficult as they often run away. We ended up taking our own photos for the plants and using online ones for animals. As this is a group project, taking this module with friends might be helpful.
The midterm and final are also open book, meaning you could bring the textbook to the test. Unfortunately, I did not buy the textbook, and did not know any seniors who could lend me the book. The notes were in ppt format and used a lot of slides, which is why I did not print them as well. I highly recommend borrowing the textbook from a senior.
Class participation was graded via the IVLE forum. Because of this, there were a lot of posts on the IVLE forum by people who wanted the marks, and most of them had 0 comments and very little views. I did not bother to post, because I intended to SU the module anyway.
Some of the MCQ questions are a giveaway as they are common sense (eg "The merlion used to be in Singapore but it is extinct now. True or false?"). However, some questions are very troll. For example, the Scientific name of the Aedes mosquito is Aedes aegypti, true or false? The answer is false, because the Scientific name is not formatted properly -- the aegypti is not italicized.
The lecturers are also very enthusiastic about what they teach. They often tell stories about how they caught animals when they were young, and about how important it is to conserve the natural heritage. I attended most of the lectures.
Unfortunately, there was no webcast for this module :(
Because this module really encourages "recycling", a lot of the questions for the midterm and final are recycled too. For example, “the last photo of the tiger in Singapore is taken in Lim Chu Kang in 1930” is often tested.
Final grade: B- (S/U option exercised)
LAJ1201 Japanese 1
Lecturer: Nagami, Masanori
Don’t expect to be able to understand or speak much Japanese after taking this module. It only teaches very basic grammar and very basic sentence structures.
The 4 textbooks for this module are quite expensive, costing $100 for the whole set. By the end of the module, about half of it is used. I believe the remaining half would be used in Japanese 2. Even if you have seniors to borrow the textbooks, you will still need to buy the workbook, as they demand the original copy. They will not allow you to submit a photocopied copy.
There are 2 tutorials for this module, each being 2 hours, and another 2-hour lecture. During the lecture, the lecturer would go through the concepts, and the tutorials were used to practise listening and conversational skills. The lectures were webcasted, but occasionally, there would be listening tests during the lecture, which is compulsory to attend.
There was also a mini vocabulary quiz every week during one of the tutorials, and we had to memorize words from the textbook. As I had some background watching Japanese anime as well as being a Chinese (many words sound similar to Chinese), it was not too difficult for me.
I think that the tutorials are fun, and the tutors are also friendly. The tutorials are quite relaxed and laid back as compared to say Math tutorial where everyone just listened to the TA speak. For example, the tutor would start the lesson by asking us basic questions in Japanese like "what time did you wake up this morning" or "what did you eat for breakfast this morning?" where we would have to respond in Japanese.
Before taking this module, I would highly recommend memorizing the Japanese alphabets (hiragana and katakana). Studying some grammar would be useful too.
Final grade: A-
MA1102R Calculus
Lecturer: Goh Say Song
I needed to take this module because I failed the Calculus AP test. Unless you are very good at math or have mugged a lot, I would recommend not taking the AP test and saving your $50. The AP test for Calculus is usually set much harder than the finals. The first half of the paper consist of questions with difficulty comparable to the last question (which is usually the hardest) of the final, and the second half is even harder. To pass the AP, you need to be able to do most of the last question from the final, which I am unable to.
As I have taken Calculus before in NUSH, a lot of this module is a repeat. Towards the end of the module, I learnt some new techniques.
I attended only 1 out of every 2 lectures, because I would rather stay at home for the second lecture (I had no other lessons on that day).
Prof Goh's notes have blanks that you need to fill in during the lecture, while Prof Wang Fei's notes are pretty much complete. I used Wang Fei's notes to study because my notes had many blanks.
Some questions from this module can be a bit tedious (differentiating something with many terms twice).
Even though I could not do the last question for the final, I still scored an A+.
Tutorials had attendance, but it is not graded, making them optional. Attendance for the labs were not even taken. Hence, I just went for the most convenient lab slot and not the one that was allocated to me.
There are 50 teams from 25 universities and 10 countries taking part in this contest. The list of teams are here.
The 5-hr contest has just started at 0900 hrs Singapore time. You may watch the lives scoreboard here. Lim Li is in the official team 3NationsIOI with team mates Agus Sentosa Hermawan and How Si Wei,
The open contest scoreboard is here. Lim Jeck is in unofficial team Jacob Teo with team mates Jacob and Choong Yin.
~~
Update: Final Results
Top 20:
NUS teams:
3body2: Sidhant Bansal, Bernard Teo, Bay Wei Heng
power harder: Ling Yan Hao, Muhammad Irham, Raynold Ng
3NationsIOI: Agus Sentosa Hermawan, How Si Wei, Lim Li
8 Dec 2018 - Online Elimination Round. None from Singapore team has made it to CodeChef Snackdown 2019 on-site finals to be held in Feb 2019 (top 25 teams only).
Scrubbier - Mister, Li Yao'an
lamejeck - Lim Jeck, David Warn
tinypingu - Teow Hua Jun, Lim An Jun
tomboys - Ngoc Hai, Phan Trinh
mushsum - Chang Si Yuan, Pang Wen Yuen
mushrooms2 - Zhang Guang Xuan, Lim Li
sampletext - Jeffrey Lee
ftuknights_18 - Le Xuan Manh, Duy Khanh Dau
The Simon Marais Mathematics Competition (SMMC) is an undergraduate Mathematics Competition in Asia-Pacific which was held on 13 October. A total of 355 individuals and 268 pairs entered the competition.
Top 3 Individuals
1st place: A$5000
Ang Yan Sheng (National University of Singapore), 43
2nd place (joint): Total A$5000, A$2500 per student
Jiang Ruichen (UNSW Sydney), 40
Shen Jianhao (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), 40
Top 3 Pairs
1st place (joint): Total A$17000, A$4250 per student
Lee Shun Ming Samuel & Kwok Man Yi (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), 48
Lim Li & Ling Yan Hao (National University of Singapore), 48
3rd place (joint): Total A$5000, A$1250 per student
Bay Wei Heng & Cho Ming En (National University of Singapore), 43
Tung Kam Chuen & Wong Chun Shing (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), 43
'2017 Admission Cycle' refers to applications made from September 2016 onwards for admission to courses starting in October 2017 or by deferred entry for courses starting after 2017.
2017 Admission Cycle
Cambridge
Oxford
UCAS Sch ID
Applns
Offers
Acceptances
Applns
Offers
Acceptances
45199
HCI
81
34 (42%)
27 (33%)
74
19 (26%)
17 (23%)
45681
ACSI
76
22 (29%)
22 (29%)
46
3 (7%)
3 (7%)
45765
SJII
6
<3
<3
7
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
45769
NUSH
21
11 (52%)
6 (29%)
14
3 (21%)
2 (14%)
45777
DHS
15
3 (20%)
3 (20%)
10
2 (20%)
2 (20%)
46015
RVHS
5
<3
<3
8
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
46340
SOTA
4
3 (75%)
<3
5
3 (60%)
3 (60%)
47033
UWCSEA Dover
18
3 (17%)
3 (17%)
37
3 (8%)
3 (8%)
48056
RI
90
31 (34%)
24 (27%)
133
32 (24%)
24 (18%)
48057
ACJC
19
6 (32%)
<3
16
2 (13%)
2 (13%)
48058
NJC
15
4 (27%)
3 (20%)
12
3 (25%)
3 (25%)
48091
VJC
29
8 (28%)
7 (24%)
19
6 (32%)
4 (21%)
Note: only schools with 3 or more applicants to Cambridge or Oxford, and with offers, are shown.
The Northwestern Europe Regional Contest (NWERC) is a contest in which teams from universities all over the Northwestern part of Europe are served a series of algorithmic problems. The goal of each team is to solve as many problems as possible within the 5 hour time limit. Potential solutions are submitted and corrected by an automated judging system. The team that solves the most problems at the end of the contest qualify for the ICPC World Finals.
NWERC 2018 is held in Eindhoven, Netherlands, from 23 - 25 November.
Cambridge has sent the following 4 teams to NWERC 2018:
Me[♠]talci
Prime Goal
Treenity (Lim Jeck is in this team!)
Triniceratops
Top 10 results is below. Members of top 4 teams win a Huawei P20 each.
Team Treenity from Cambridge has won the contest! David Wärn, Lim Jeck and Zoltán Molnár Sáska will be going 2019 ICPC World Finals which will be held in Porto, Portugal. Teams will arrive on 31 March 2019 and depart on 5 April 2019 with the World Finals being held on 4 April 2019.
tomboys - Ngoc Hai, Phan Trinh
pandamiao - Gan Wei Liang, Ranald Lam
sampletext - Jeffrey Lee
lamejeck - Lim Jeck, David Warn
Scrubbier - Mister, Li Yao'an
tinypingu - Teow Hua Jun, Lim An Jun
mushrooms2 - Zhang Guang Xuan, Lim Li
ftuknights_18 - Le Xuan Manh, Duy Khanh Dau
mushsum - Chang Si Yuan, Pang Wen Yuen
8 Dec 2018 - Online Elimination. Top 25 global, top 25 Indian + 8 additional teams will be invited for the onsite finale.
2nd Week Feb 2019 - Onsite Finale. Onsite Finalists will be competing for the Ultimate SnackDown 2019 Champion Title!
Teams of Trinity Computer Science and Maths students scooped first, second and third place in the UK/IE Programming Contest out of over 150 teams from across the UK and Ireland.
The annual competition – held at several UK and Irish universities – aims to help universities select teams to attend the Northwestern Europe Programming Contest later this autumn. These competitions are designed to test students’ programming skills, problem solving and team work.
Each team comprises three students who try to solve as many problems as possible from a given problem set, using one computer.
Trinity Fellow, Professor Frank Stajano, said:
This was an amazing result. Out of all the 150+ undergraduate teams that took part, the top four places went to Cambridge and, of these, the best three teams in UK and Ireland are from Trinity!
In first place was the Triniceratops team, with Kacper Walentynowicz, Paweł Burzyński and Mariusz Trela.
In second place, team Treenity, with David Wärn, Jeck Lim and Zoltán Molnár Sáska.
In third place, team Me[♠]talci, with Dimitrije Erdeljan, Dušan Živanović and Vladimir Milenković.
Trinity teams hard at work during the contest
Kacper Walentynowicz, who captained Triniceratops, said it was a ‘one-of-its-kind experience to wake up as UK and Ireland Programming Contest Champion.’
Such competitions are normally very stressful, said Kacper. ‘There are millions of things that can possibly go wrong during the competition and they usually prevent you from just having fun. However, this time everything went so smoothly for us that we didn’t feel uncomfortable at all (maaaybe at the very beginning only).’
Kacper and his peers – the Triniceratops team was Polish – have taken part in programming competitions before and found that it’s not all about winning.
It is not success that motivates you to push yourself but the pleasure of solving interesting challenges and stretching your brain.
That was also true this time – winning is cool, but if it was just about winning, I wouldn’t delve into programming. It’s just fun from the beginning till the end.
Other Trinity computer science students who took part, did well, said Professor Stajano, who founded the Inter-ACE and Cambridge2Cambridge cyber security competitions, the latter in collaboration with MIT.
‘Cambridge has always been a worthy force in competitive programming, but such strong performance from a single College has never been seen before. In particular, Triniceratops should be highly commended for achieving a full score – 12 out of 12 problems solved,’ he said.Trinity PhD student, Petar Veličković, a former competitor-turned-organiser, said that hosting the Cambridge site for the competition this year was challenging but very rewarding.
I am hopeful that our teams will repeat this outstanding performance at the Northwestern Europe regionals, which would qualify an all-Trinity team for the ACM-ICPC World Finals for a second year in a row.’
NUS High (17)
Edden Chew Keyn-Hantz, Y1
Jamie Lim Jia Sin, Y1
Mario Tanijaya, Y1
Oh Zhi Yuan, Y1
Chek Ze Chan, Y2
Dylon Wong Yee Kin, Y2
Lim Jin Tao, Y2
Shen Xing Yang, Y2
Shevonne Chia, Y2
Tan Si Jie, Y2
Tan Yun Hui, Y2
Toh Jing En Daniel, Y2
Wong Yin Leng Angelina, Y2
Krishnan Akash, Y2
Gabriel Tan Jiaxu, Y3
Chieu Le Heng, Y3
Jovan Liau Yi Jun, Y4
RI (12)
Andrew Yar Kwok Wing, Y1
Liu Zihan, Y1
Su Zixuan, Y1
Lai Peng Chong, Y2
Rahul Kumar Singh, Y2
Timothy Foo Qi Wen, Y2
Ye Xintai, Y2
Li Hantao, Y3
Wang Yunrui, Y3
Wang Yuxuan, Y3
Chen Lei Yu, Y4
Han Jiatao Jerry, Y4
HCI (4)
Koh Shao Bing, Y3
Sean Tan Liyu, Y3
Guan Yangchen, Y4
Wang Yuhan, Y4
Simon Marais Mathematics Competition is a competition for undergraduates in the Asia-Pacific region; it is inspired by the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition.
Who was Simon Marais?
Dr Simon Marais was a South African-born physicist who became a prominent contrarian asset manager in South Africa and later Australia. He maintained a life-long passionate interest in mathematics and mathematical problem solving after completing a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics at Cambridge University in 1991. Dr Marais passed away on 26 February 2015, after battling metastatic cancer that had been discovered five months earlier.
Competition Date: 13 October 2018 (Saturday)
The prizes are attractive, with cash about AUD100,000 in total, and additional corporate prizes & internship opportunities available to some entrants.
Individual prizes:
First: A$5,000
Second: A$3,500
Third: A$1,500
Fourth to Tenth: A$1,000 each
Pairs prizes:
First: A$10,000
Second: A$7,000
Third: A$3,000
Fourth to Tenth: A$2,000 each
University prizes:
First: A$20,000
Second: A$15,000
Third: A$10,000
Australia-wide prizes:
Best individual entry: A$1,500
Best pairs entry: A$3,000
Last year, 530+ students from 33 Universities participated in the inaugural Simon Marais Mathematics Competition. Quite a number of top prizes were won by undergraduate students from NUS and NTU. The winners are found here, and the problems and solutions here.
SnackDown is a global programming event hosted by CodeChef that invites teams from all over the world to take part in India’s most prestigious multi round programming competition.
Schedule for SnackDown 2019:
12 - 16 Oct 2018 - Online Qualifier: Teams of two solving at least one problem will advance to online round
19 - 21 Oct 2018 - Online Round-1A. Top 1500 teams will qualify for the pre-elimination round.
28 - 29 Oct 2018 - Online Round-1B. Top 1500 teams will qualify for the pre-elimination round. Teams who qualify in round A can't take part in round B
3 Nov 2018 - Online Pre-Elimination. Top 580 teams will advance to the Elimination round.
8 Dec 2018 - Online Elimination. Top 25 global, top 25 Indian + 8 additional teams will be invited for the onsite finale.
2nd Week Feb 2019 - Onsite Finale. Onsite Finalists will be competing for the Ultimate SnackDown 2019 Champion Title!
