BEST WORKS

On this page you will find some of my best work crafted throughout the entire ENGL 301 course.

problem-clipart-magnify-question-mark-1Three Definitions of a technical term

Using varying levels of detail to help non-technical readers understand a complex term.

 

downloadFormal Report Proposal

Recommending an action on a problem of which I have been recently been a part.

 

 

aiga_mail_bg-512Two Letters: Complain and Bad News

Demonstrating professionalism under negative circumstances in the form of two formal letters.

 

 

 

app iconPeer review

A peer review of my colleague’s LinkedIn page. Review highlights strengths and challenges of the profile while providing constructive feedback.

 

Doozy+Labs+Brand+Strategy+IconSocial networking strategy

Ten best practices in maintaining and growing a professional network.

 

 

 

 

Decision Points

Journey with me to discover how I arrive at crucial decisions throughout the entire term.

 

Unit 1 – Expectation vs. Reality unit1

Reflecting on Unit 1 – Introductions, Definitions & Peer Reviews. Unit one was an introduction into the methodology and ethics in professional communication.

 

 

 

unit2

Unit 2 – Development

Reflecting on Unit 2 – Development of a LinkedIn Profile, Formal Report Proposal and Outline, Progress on the Formal Report and Peer Review. Unit two introduces strategies and techniques to craft documents suitable for business, professional and technical context.

 

 

unit3

Unit 3 – Purpose

Reflecting on Unit 3 –  Formal Report Draft and Peer Review. Unit three allows for the integration of creativity and clarity into crafting professional documents.

 

 

unit4

Unit 4 – Web Design 101

Reflecting on Unit 4 –  Process of creating the Web Folio. Unit four focuses on the compilation, creation and design of a personal web folio

 

 

Finale

Finale – Reflective

Reflecting on ENGL 301 – The entire journey. This final entry in the blog will be reflecting on both my strengths and weaknesses in the learning processes and the assignment components of the English 301 course.

 

 

Finale: Reflective

inquiry-clipart

Reflecting on ENGL 301 – The entire journey 

Looking back at everything I have done this semester for ENGL 301, one phrase sums it all up – ‘WOW, that’s a lot of writing’. This final entry in my blog will be reflecting on both my strengths and weaknesses in the learning processes and the assignment components of the English 301 course.

Strengths in My Learning Process

Signing up for my first online course, I was unsure if I was capable of staying on top of task as this course contains a huge amount of self-directed learning. This course requires one to have some self-discipline and to be meticulous with the due dates and the various assignment requirements. With more than 3 months into this course, I am happy to say that I made it till the end. I have thus proven my level of self-discipline and self-motivation and demonstrated to future employers that I do not need to be micromanaged. Despite not having a normal classroom setting and a regular teacher-student communication network, given the right tools, I was able to self-teach and persevere through all the unique challenges.

Strengths with My Assignments

Coming from a pure scientific background with little knowledge of technical writing, I have learned a lot in terms of business and professional writing. I find that through the various assignments of this term, I started to pick up some of the techniques and ethics of written and online communication that are vital to business and professional communication. The assignment on “you-attitude” was especially important in showing what to avoid in professional communication. Furthermore, the peer review component of this course allows for collaborative feedback and provided the opportunity for me to practice and perfect the skills required for effective and efficient communication. Together, if there is one single strength that I have developed through this course, it would be meticulous – details like needing to initial beside your name on a memo would cost you a few marks.

Weaknesses in My Learning Process

Not having traditional classroom environment does give you freedom but it comes at a cost. It was unfortunate that I have to learn it the hard way. For the first few assignments, I waited until the very last minute before sitting down in front of the computer during the wee morning hours trying to finish the assignments. Aside from technical writing, this course allowed me to learn how to better manage my time. Time management is vital not only in the academic realms but also in the professional world. Able to efficiently and effectively allocate time for all the assignments is a skill that I have gained through this course.

Weaknesses in My Assignments  

Looking at the feedback that I received, I realize a lacking in my grammatical skills. Generally, I found three main issues that was constantly mentioned in the feedbacks:

  • Subject-verb agreement
  • Sentences structure
  • Wordy sentences

Moving forward, further editing of my work would help me focus on solving these issues. As mentioned, I tend to procrastinate my work which results in less than optimal quality of writing. I believe that improvement in my time management skills would undoubtedly lead to a rise in my grammatical skills as I would be able to factor in more time to edit and polish my work before submission.

The future

Due to the subjective nature of writing, it is impossible to reach the ultimate level of perfection especially just within three short months. For now, I look to the future, brimming with hope and doubt, knowing that whatever challenges I face ahead, ENGL 301 has equipped me with tools and knowledge that transcends this course.

Keep in touch. We never know when our paths may cross again!

Timothy E. Goh

Web Design 101

Creating-a-Personal-Brand

Reflecting on Unit 4 –  Process of creating the Web Folio 

The creation of the Web Folio for the English 301 course has been by far my favourite assignment. I have always wanted to learn how to blog and talk about my various vacation and food adventures but had to put it off due to time constrain. This assignment provided me with an opportunity to lay my hands on some simple blogging techniques. Overall, I envisioned my blog to be classy and timeless, something that could withstand the fast and ever changing dynamics of technology. Here, I will be reflecting on the choices I made in the overall design of the Web Folio and the documents I have included for the final presentation.

Design and Visuals

With the increasingly data-bloated world, to stand out, one has to push just a little harder or add that little, extra touch. Personal experience has taught me that it really doesn’t matter how good the content of the blog is if the blog itself is not visually appealing. With that in mind, I wanted my web folio to be classy yet energetic, quirky yet professional, modern yet timeless. I included various photos from my vacation and food adventures to personalize my web folio and selected suits-theme from WordPress as the foundation of my blog. Personally I find both my photos and the theme I selected complemented each other perfectly and embodied the feel that I was going for. 

Documents

After editing my documents according to the recommendations from the peer review assignments, I re-read the entire set of documents for spelling and grammatical errors. Benefitting from the tools I have gained throughout the term, I was impress with my ability to detect awkward sentence structure and touch-up some of the documents to reflect business-like communication. These documents can now be found in a drop-down menu under the best works tab. As for social media, I decided to link my Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts to the web folio because it provides snap shot moments of my life. Personally, I find it adds that personal touch to my web folio giving potential readers a friendly feel. Many would question my decision to include a link to my Instagram profile, but I personally value authenticity and feel that others should be given the chance to see my authentic self.

Final thoughts

I am proud to call this my own Web Folio after all the countless hour of hard work and dedication I have invested into the making of this blog. Having no previous knowledge on blogging to creating my very own Web Folio made me realized that nothing is impossible if you are willing to invest your time and energy. If there is absolutely nothing that I take away from this course, the skills that I have gained from creating this Web Folio will definitely serve me well in the near future when I start blogging about my various vacation and food adventures.

Timothy E. Goh

Social Networking Strategy

Introduction

Social networking is the practice of expanding the number of one’s social contact by making connections through individuals (Johnson, 2015).  It is instrumental for individuals and companies alike to increase their exposure, grow business partnership and reduce overall marketing cost (Bendror, 2014). Not every social networking strategy is the same and each has to be specifically tailored to the needs of the individual.

Purpose

This report aims to develop ways to maintain and grow a professional social network

Significance

To create dialogue and connection between the ‘Biohazard’ team on the importance of good social networking skills for future professional relationships.

Scope of this report

Below are 10 strategies for developing, maintaining and growing a professional social network.

  1. Decide on a suitable social media platform

There are literally hundreds of social media platform but select one that would serve you best. Keep in mind your targeted audience when making a decision. Pinterest would be good to connect with high school kids but might not be good for a professional environment. Social media platform such as Facebook and LinkedIn are suitable choices for my application to the Masters of Biotechnology program. Studies have found that 95% of potential employers or universities utilizes Facebook to screen for suitable candidates (Cattelan, 2015).

  1. Construct a base of contacts

Get to know and connect with people that are working in your area of focus. A great place to start connecting with them is through social media platform like LinkedIn, Facebook or Pinterest. Look through individuals that they may know and connect with them as well.

  1. Utilize Twitter

Twitter allows users to get instantaneous feedback. Twitter provides live updates allowing you to connect with companies or even universities. Twitter would notify me on upcoming biotechnological events happening around campus and also potential interview dates. It is a rapid way to efficiently obtain reliable information.

  1. Make sure that your profile is always up-to-date

Make sure that there are no discrepancies between your digital profile and your application package. Derogatory comments, images are all red flags. Remove them from your profile because they may hurt your application.

  1. Branding

Think of your social media platform as a brand. Be authentic, original and creative but beware of the boundaries. Use this platform to paint a more complete picture of yourself. Allow your personality to shine through this platform. Your profile should stand out amongst the thousands of applications that recruiters review.

  1. Voice/Tone

Be polite and courteous with your postings or replies. Misunderstandings happen more frequently on social media because people aren’t able to see your expressions. Remember to review each statement before posting onto social media. Things spread quickly with just a click.

  1. Monitor who is viewing your profile

Knowing who is viewing your profile allows you to adjust the content and cater towards their search for the ideal candidate. Look for ways to increase traffic to your profile. The more they look at your profile, the higher the chances of getting an offer.

  1. Ensure perfect spelling and grammar

Spelling errors or grammatical mistakes immediately removes credibility from your profile. Proof read or ask your peers to review before posting something onto the social media.

  1. Be involved

Find means of staying in touch with individuals that may share similar interest or passion as you. Join groups with similar interest to your own. Start dialogues with people in those groups to stimulate activity on your public space.

  1. Reach out

Don’t forget to connect with people outside your field of profession. A broader social circle allows you to enrich your personal and professional life.

Conclusions

Together, these strategies would help develop, maintain and grow a professional social network. I believe these strategies would help me in my application for the Master of Biotechnology. Hopefully you might find it helpful for your respective goals. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at gohtim@gmail.com.

 

Works cited

Bendror, Y. “Why Social Media Is So Important for Your Business in 2014.” Business 2 Community. 10 Feb. 2014. Web.

Cattelan, L. “10 Essential Networking Strategies.” HumanResourcescom RSS. 13 Nov. 2015. Web.

Johnson, Phil. “Your Stack Overflow Reputation Can Help Get You Hired … by Stack Overflow.” Itworld. 13 Nov. 2015. Web.

 

Link: 301-Timothy Goh-Social networking strategies

Peer Review

LinkedIn Peer Review  

TO:                  Jen-Ai, Lai

FROM:             Timothy Goh

DATE:              February 10, 2016

SUBJECT:         Review of Your LinkedIn Profile

Jen Ai’s LinkedIn URL: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/jenailai

Initial impression:

You presented yourself as both personal and professional on your LinkedIn profile.  You have done a good job listing your skills and background in a clear and logical manner. Below are some comments which you may want to consider:

Profile photo:

An excellent pick for your LinkedIn profile. The background was free of distractions and you were the focus of the photo. The profile photo looks professional and seems to be taken quite recently.

Summary:

I believe that summary should be short and concise. It should take no more than a minute to read and capture the reader’s attention. I find that your summary can be quite long. You might want to consider trimming bits of your summary. You should also add the word ‘to’ in your sentence “…the ability (to) meet deadlines” for a smoother flow.

You should also consider breaking down this sentence into smaller chunks: “I have gained valuable skills in qualitative research methodology and interview ethics through firsthand experience designing and conducting interviews to examine social and cultural influences on patient-care provider relationships and treatment efficacy.”

Experience:

You did a great job describing what each experience entails by listing them down in a concise manner. The writing quality here is solid and requires no major revisions.

Education:

This section contains all the required information. No major revision needed.

Volunteer Experience:

You included two volunteer experiences. Each volunteer experience is followed by a description of activities that were carried out. You did a good job including the duration (number of years) that you volunteered for. This is particularly important because it shows your level of commitment.

Organization:

Formatting for each section looks professional. You included an appropriate amount of information. Any extra information would have been too much and any less would have made it harder for readers to understand.

Conclusion:

Overall, your profile was well constructed with few to no spelling error. I hope that my recommendations would help you bring your LinkedIn profile to the next level. Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

Link: 301-Timothy Goh-peer review of Jen-Ai’s LinkedIn profile.

 

 

Complain & Bad News Business Letters

Complaint letter

 

Timothy Goh
24-11511 Williams Road
Richmond, BC V7A 1N8
February 27, 2016

Fido Customer Service
815 West Hastings Street, Suite 540
Vancouver, BC V6C 1B4

Attention: Customer Service Department

Subject: Billing Issues

After reviewing my bill for the month of January, I noticed that there was an extra CAD30 charge under my cellular data section. According to the billing statement, I went pass my allocated 2 gigabyte data.

Based on the contract that I signed, it was agreed that your company was suppose to send me an email and a text message if I was approaching the limit. I did not receive any emails or text messages and therefore assume that I was still well under my 2 gigabyte limit.

I understand that I should pay for services that I used but this was an honest mistake on both our parts. As a student, I do not have a lot of disposable income and would appreciate if your company could remove the extra CAD30 from my bill.

I have been a loyal customer with your company for a number of years and have always appreciated the extraordinary services that I get. I hope that you would take the time to look into this matter and my past record as an excellent customer. I trust that we will be able to workout a mutually agreed solution.

 

Yours truly,

Screen Shot 2016-02-28 at 10.47.09 PM

Timothy E. Goh

Bad News Letter

 

Fido Customer Service
815 West Hastings Street, Suite 540
Vancouver, BC V6C 1B4

February 28, 2016
Mr. Timothy Goh
24-11511 Williams Road
Richmond, BC V7A 1N8

Dear Mr. Goh:

Thank you for your letter. I am sorry that you had some issues with last month’s (January) billing.

Unfortunately, it is clearly written in the agreement that should you exceed the monthly allocation, customers are required to pay for all the extra charges. It is a common courtesy but not a requirement for us to inform our customers that they have exceeded their monthly limit. The easiest way to track your data usage is by downloading the Fido application onto your phone. The app will keep you up-to-date with your data usage.

However, because you have been our loyal customer for many years, we have decided to credit CAD 20 back into your account. Changes will be reflected in your next billing cycle. We hope that this will help ease some of your financial burden.

It is our responsibility at Fido to deliver the highest quality of service to our valued customer. Thank you for choosing Fido.

 

Sincerely,

darren

Darren Petersen

 

Link: 301-Timothy Goh-Complaint and Bad News Letters

Formal Report Proposal

Formal Report Proposal

To:                   Erika Paterson

From:               Timothy Goh

Date:                January 28, 2016

Subject:           Determining the Feasibility of Implementing Hand Dryers at UBC washrooms

Introduction

With 80 percent of infectious diseases spread by hand-to-hand contact, it is clear that hand-washing is an important practice. Drying of hands is equally if not more important as washing them to prevent the spread of contagious diseases. Wet hands have been known to pick up contaminants more easily and could potentially cause skin irritation. There are a few methods of hand drying that is suitable for modern day life. The use of paper towels and hand dryers are among the most common methods.

Statement of problem

The importance of washing hands is obvious; the benefits may be easily undone if not done properly.  Paper towels have been overwhelmingly chosen as the preferred choice in most UBC’s washroom, as is evident from the lack of hand dryers. As part of UBC’s initiative to make the campus a little greener and more sustainable, there is a clear advantage of using hand dryers in terms of environmental sustainability.  Hand dryers have shown to emit lower greenhouse gases and is more energy-efficient than paper towels. Aside from the environmental impacts, hand dryers make the process of cleaning the washroom easier. Many places that utilize paper towels complaint about the mess that paper towels create.

Proposed solution

One proposed solution is to switch from using paper towels to hand dryers at UBC washrooms. UBC would be able to operate more energy-efficiently and would help make the maintenance of the washroom easier. Students just want to dry their hands quickly and completely without damaging the environment. Currently, technological advancements have created efficient and effective hand dryers that are available for purchase. The simplest solution is to replace paper towels with those hand dryers.

Scope

To assess the feasibility of switching from using paper towels to hand dryers, I plan to pursue five areas of inquiry:

  1. How much does it cost to operate a hand dryer versus paper towel?
  2. How effective is hand drying by using a hand dryer compared to paper towels in terms of cleanliness?
  3. What are the environmental impacts of switching from paper towels to hand dryers?
  4. How difficult would it be to switch from paper towels to hand dryers? What are the major hurdles?
  5. How would students react to this change?

Methods

My primary data sources will include consultation with the UBC’s electric power and energy systems group alongside the UBC Alma Mater Society (AMS). The UBC AMS is in charge of developing and designing innovative projects that meets students’ sustainability goals. I will also be in contact with representatives from Dyson AirBlades to discuss the feasibility and cost of implementing my plan across the entire UBC campus. I also hope to conduct a survey among UBC students to see how students would react to this change.

My secondary sources will include publications on the uses of hand dryers and any reviewed journals on this topic.

My Qualifications

I have been utilizing both a hand dryer and paper towels on a regular basis for many years. In May of this year, I will receive my B.S. in Biology. I am familiar with technical jargon and the many reasons behind most objections to the use of hand dryers which are mainly due to hygienic concern.

Conclusion

Clearly, action is needed to move UBC towards a greener and more sustainable future. By addressing the five areas of inquiry mentioned earlier, I can determine the feasibility of implementing hand dryers in UBC washrooms. With your approval I will begin research at once.

Link: 301- Timothy Goh – Formal Report Proposal

Three Definitions of a technical term

Definitions of Titanium

By: Timothy Goh
January 20, 2016

Introduction:

 The following assignment defines the word “titanium” in varying levels of details through the use of parenthetical, sentence and expanded definition. This assignment is intended to help non-technical readers with little to no scientific background understand the word “titanium”.

(A) Parenthetical Definition:

Titanium (a strong, light-weight, greyish metallic element) is frequently used in medicine to repair fractures.

(B) Sentence Definition:

Titanium is a metal with an element number of 22 on the periodic table and is abbreviated with the chemical symbol (Ti). Titanium is one of the most biocompatible metals in the field of medicine because of its ability to fuse with human bones.

(C) Expanded definition:

1) How did its name originate?

The word “titanium” comes from the Greek Word Titan, which literally means pertaining to the Titans. Titans, in the ancient Greek mythology, were a group of God-like giants. They were born to primordial deities Gaia and Uranus, a personification of the Mother Earth and the later Father Sky. The titans were eventually overthrown by their own children, the Gods of Olympian. Titan was used as the name for the mineral because of its strength.

2) How is it used?

Titanium is used in a number of industries such as the aerospace, automotive, architecture and the medical world.  It is of value and is applicable to many industries due to properties such as corrosion resistance, a high strength-to-weight-ratio and its biocompatible nature. Due to its importance, titanium is mostly used in mission-critical applications and appliances to minimize the margin of error.

3) Applications of medical grade titanium 

Titanium is the only known metal able to bond with the body’s natural bone and tissue. This allows it to anchor firmly to the body. Titanium is most commonly used in hip, knee and dental replacement surgeries. In dentistry, using titanium as the base of dental implants provide the strongest foundation for replacement teeth (Figure 1).

Picture1

Figure 1. Titanium dental implant Source: Dentist in Goa via Flickr, http://www.supraalloys.com/images/medical-titanium-dental-implants.jpg

4) Benefits of medical grade titanium

 Titanium is the perfect choice of metal in surgery due to the following characteristics:

  • high-strength-to-weight ratio
  • bacteria resistant
  • non-magnetic property
  • cost-efficient
  • durable and long lasting

 

Works cited

Oosthuizen, S.J. “Titanium: The Innovators’ Metal–Historical Case Studies Tracing Titanium Process and Product Innovation.” The Journal of The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy 111.1 (2011): 781-86.

Ringnes, Vivi. “Origin of the Names of Chemical Elements.” The Journal of Chemical Education 66.9 (1989): 731-38.

Supra Alloys Inc. – Machining Titanium.” Titanium Metal: Titanium Medical Metal of Choice Supra Alloys.

Theodossiou, Efstratios, Vassilios Manimanis, Milan Dimitrijevi´, and Petros Mantarakis. “Gaia, Helios, Selene and Ouranos: The Three Principal Celestial Bodies and the Sky in the Ancient Greek Cosmogony.” Bulgarian Astronomical Journal 16 (2011): 90-108.

Types of Dental Implant Materials – Titanium vs Zirconia.” Vancouver Centre for Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry.

Link: 301-Timothy Goh-Definitions of Titanium

Featured work from various work and academic experiences.

Picture1Bioluminescence of the Watasenia Scintillans (firefly squid)

This project focuses on why life emits light, going into the advantages and disadvantages of emitting light and finally how bioluminosity has adapted to life.

geneBioinformatics on gene YHR087W

YHR087W, also known as RTC3, is a Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene of unknown function that shares a conserved protein domain and structural similarity with the human Shwachman-Bodian-Diamond syndrome (SBDS) protein. The goal of this project is to better understand the function of RTC3 and reveal insight into the molecular mechanisms responsible for Shwachman-Diamond syndrome.