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Turning the full-time engineer into a part-time scientist




So I published a post a few days ago on attempting to write a complete conference paper in 20 hours. I must say, I didn't entirely start from scratch. I had jotted down some ideas, the content and the strategy on what to write was pretty clear in my mind. But yet, we all know that even at this point, conceiving a solid journal paper (6-page mind you) is still a considerable effort. So it came down to tools. I must say I've grown more fonder of the ShareLatex over the past few months. If it wasn't for this online Latex compiling and viewing tool and the use of Mendeley, I wouldn't be writing this post to say that pretty much completed my first journal paper since my M.sc in 2010. It's such a liberating feeling to know that I've got an opportunity to present my thoughts and ideas again.

The past two days, I decided to work from home and even though I have other distractions (a two year old monkey a.k.a my son Sam), sitting in that garden and jotting down my thoughts and formulating a plan felt so natural as if I was meant to do this more often. Like Peter Senge says "It's not was vision is, its what vision does". I'm definitely convicted in producing at least one paper each semester (One for work and one for PhD). This means how I write reports and design documents have got to be such that It allows for that. The creative tension in me is unbearable. I can't wait how this year is going to pan out...

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