Singapore's race to develop self-driving tech

It may look like a giant robotic bug but the MooAV could be the car of the future.

Made by startup MooVita, it's one of dozens of autonomous vehicles being put to the test at a special center in Singapore that aims to advance the development of self-driving car technology.

Startups from around the world are coming to the purpose-built track that recreates an urban environment over 5 acres at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. The roads look like any other in the city, with stop lights, crosswalks and traffic signs. There's even a rain simulator.

It's all part of an effort to test how autonomous vehicles cope with all those elements.

Dillip Limbu, MooVita's CEO, said the quirky design of the company's car, the MooAV, is intentional.

"In order for the public to know that this is different to conventional cars, it needs to be noticeably different on first impressions, and stand out in comparison to other cars," he told CNN.

At last I can conclude saying that - self-driving cars might still be a rarity on our roads, but the speed at which the technology is developing has researchers and developers in a race to get ahead of what could one day develop into a major industry.

-26.02.2019

Nuclear Power Plant : The Future Bangladesh

The Government of Bangladesh is building its first nuclear power plant in Rooppur on the east side of the river Padma near Ishwardi in the Pabna district of Bangladesh.

The project is being implemented by the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC), under the guidance of Science and Technology Ministry of the Government of Bangladesh. The Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) will include two units namely Rooppur Unit-1 and Rooppur Unit-2 with a capacity of 1.2GW each.

Foundation stone for the Rooppur NPP was laid in October 2013 and the first concrete for the main construction phase was poured in November 2017. Rooppur Unit-1 is scheduled to commence operations in 2023, while Rooppur Unit-2 is due to come online in 2024.The nuclear power plant will use cutting-edge technologies and follow the safety guidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The project will provide low-cost electricity and create new jobs in Bangladesh. The power production in Bangladesh currently exceeds 4GW a year. The new plant will increase the country’s power production and enable it to achieve energy independence. Rooppur NPP will be equipped with two VVER-1200 water-cooled, water-moderated power reactors of the AES-2006 / V-392M design.

Each reactor unit comprises a reactor and four circulation loops, with each loop including circulation pipelines, a reactor coolant pump, and horizontal steam generator.

Nominal thermal power of the reactor is 3.2GW, while the maximum utilisation factor is more than 90%. The time of fuel operation cycle in the reactor is between four and five years.

The main equipment of the power plant will have a service life of more than 60 years, without the need for replacement.

The power plant will also include meteorological and water gauge stations, permanent seismic stations, as well as storage and laboratory facilities.

Construction of the nuclear power plant has been divided into stages, including the preparatory and main stages. The preparatory construction stage work was carried out during 2015-2016. It included the construction of amenities and office buildings, roads, security fences, and storage facilities.

The main construction works include excavation works, the pit water removal system, development of pit for units one and two, soil stabilisation works, and foundations for both the reactor units.

The Rooppur NPP incorporates the defence-in-depth protection system, which is a multi-layer protection and mitigation system. Any human or man-made accidents can be mitigated using the system ensuring safety to the environment.

The system includes five layers of barriers, which will prevent radiation exposure as well as protect people and the environment.

JSC Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Rosatom, has been appointed as general contractor by BAEC for the project. The contractual scope includes the supply of equipment and materials, and nuclear fuel, as well as providing training to the project management team. A $79.3m contract was awarded to Inter RAO Engineering for pit excavation of the main buildings, and construction and erection of facilities for the plant. Goldenberg Group of Companies was awarded the civil construction and pipe laying works contract. Orgenergostroy carried out a comprehensive engineering survey for the plant and constructed the pilot bases and residential camps for the contractors.

City Alo Women Entrepreneurship Certificate Program

Tentative start day June 15

2 Technology Trends to Watch in 2019

1. Machine Learning will advance Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovations will continue to bring scientific breakthroughs, in part, thanks to the vast amounts of data that new technologies have been collecting and is now available. 

In 2019, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence will be embedded in the business platform creating and enabling smart business operations. 

In the Artificial Intelligence space, China is going to leave the U.S. behind, emerging as a leader in AI developments and applications.

Advances in Machine Learning technology and algorithm training will result in new and more advanced AI. Autonomous vehicles and robotics are the two industries that will see the most rapid developments during 2019. 

In 2019, there is going to be a convergence of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning in business applications. As AI and learning technologies get to work together in order to reach better results, AI will have greater accuracy at all levels. 

So far, humans have only developed Narrow Artificial Intelligence. A superior AI, though, is in the future of mankind. How far should humans go with AI development is still a subject of controversy. Is this really going to be mankind's last invention?

2. Global Internet of Things (IoT) security breach

Hackers never sleep. Everyone in the cyber security industry knows that. As long as you connect something to the Internet it immediately becomes vulnerable.

In the past years, we have seen how hackers have turned to unsecured Internet of Things (IoT) devices to create an extensive botnet which then they could use to push enough traffic to take down Dyn, the DNS provider. As a way to refresh your memory, here is how the DDoS attack using IoT devices happened in 2016.

A quick look at the news tells us that not much has been learned. However, the great number of security breaches occurred during 2018 should serve as an alert of what can happen at a global scale in 2019 if organizations don't take the necessary precautions. 

Analyst firm Gartner forecasts that 20.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide by 2020. And with the rise of autonomous things --I will call this the Internet of Autonomous Things (IoAT)-- there is a good chance that many of these things will show a certain level of weak security. 

In 2019, it will be paramount for IoT manufacturers and all of their supply chain to dramatically increase the security in all the products that come out to market. It can be a connected refrigerator, a robot, a drone, a vehicle, or a health tracker.

Manufacturers must implement a level of security that keeps hackers at bay. Otherwise, there is a good chance we are going to witness a global IoT security breach in 2019. 

Dr. Hasan Zaman's Educational Video

DR. HASAN UZ ZAMAN

Professor & On Leave [NSU]

Ph.D. from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA in Electrical Engineering

MSc Eng from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA in Electrical Engineering

BSc Engineering from BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh in Electrical and Electronic Engineering

10 BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGIES 2018

Every year since 2001 we’ve picked what we call the 10 Breakthrough Technologies. People often ask, what exactly do you mean by “breakthrough”? It’s a reasonable question—some of our picks haven’t yet reached widespread use, while others may be on the cusp of becoming commercially available. 

National Pay Scale of Government Employee:

The government has approved a new pay scale for its employees with a highest basic pay of Tk 78,000 and a minimum of Tk 8,250, allowing an across-the-grade hike ranging from 91 to 101 percent.

An officer who joins government service by clearing the BCS examinations will now get a basic pay of Tk 22,000, to which will be added house rent in accordance with the area of residence and medical. The earlier basic was Tk 11,000. The basic pay for officers and other employees took retroactive effect from July 1, 2015, while the allowances was paid from July 1, 2016.

A Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, endorsed the eighth national pay scale. New pay scales had been recommended for the armed forces also. The new structure had dropped the class categories, selection grade, and time scale. The annual increment will be a percentage of the basic pay. The government employees will be given two festival bonuses as well as 20 percent of the basic as Bangla New Year allowance.

Although the recommended highest basic pay is Tk 78,000, the cabinet secretary and the principal secretary to the prime minister get a basic of Tk 86,000, while senior secretaries entitled to Tk 82,000. Their earlier pay was Tk 45,000 and Tk 42,000, respectively. Officers of these grades have fixed salaries, which means they are not entitled to any annual increments.

The new pay scale imposed a burden of over Tk 159.04 billion on the government in the year of 2015. Next year (2016), it will be more than Tk 238.28 billion. Revenue inflow has risen compared with what it was last year. It is expected to increase further next year. So, it will not be difficult for the government to shoulder this additional burden.

The current pension rate, which is 80 percent of the basic, has been increased to 90 percent. The Seventh Pay Scale, introduced on July 1, 2009, had awarded a highest basic of Tk 40,000 and a minimum of Tk 4,100. 

In addition, government employees posted in cities have been getting 20 percent of their basic salary as dearness allowance. This sum will be withdrawn once the new scale comes into effect. Mohammad Farasuddin, former governor of Bangladesh Bank, made the recommendations of the Eighth Pay Commission. It had recommended a minimum scale of Tk 8,200 and a highest of Tk 80,000.

A secretaries’ committee reviewed the recommendations and revised the basics to a minimum of Tk 8,250 and a highest of Tk 75,000. The recommendation of the secretaries was further reviewed by the finance ministry, with the final figures emerging as Tk 8,250 at the bottom and Tk 78,000 at the top.

The Pay Commission had recommended a 16-grade structure, but a 20-grade structure, recommended by the secretaries’ committee, was finally approved.