This weekend has to be very busy for most students at KTH as we prepare for examinations before Christmas. Due to this, I have spent the major part of this week studying. So, today is not any different as I woke up this morning to meet up with other students from my programme and what a reading marathon did we have!
In my opinion, one of the advantages of reading with groups is motivation. You might think, “but the examinations are enough motivation”; there is a twist in this: when reading with people, there is a tendency to focus and read longer. For example, when reading in the library, there’s this sense of “we are many trying to achieve similar goals in this space” This gets better when the group of people you are with are trying to achieve the same goal. In this case, the same examination.The icing on the cake is that you can easily ask for help if you get stuck. Remember my post on asking questions?
One thing I love about my method of preparation today is the amalgamation of different study techniques. So, we all started reading individually with no one interception from anyone. Then, after the lunch break, we decided to work together for a bit and solve questions. (Good way to exchange knowledge and share ideas). After doing this for a while, we all went back to reading separately but this time, with the mindset that we are all free to answer questions from anyone who needs help. Then, we continued at this tempo till we called it a day!
You would not be wrong if you conclude that this is the same routine for tomorrow. We would study hard and get ready to smile when the results are out with the saying “WE DID IT”
To everyone preparing for exams, this post is a reassurance that there are other students studying as hard as you right now. With this, I wish everyone, GOODLUCK!
Some pictures from today;)
Getting ready to solve questions togetherCan you guess what we are calculating?Different people; different style of writing. Can you guess mine?All work and no play makes Jack a … ( Do not joke with break times when studying for a very long time; greatest energy booster of all time!)
So this week ended lectures for everyone at KTH for the year. As we welcome the festive period, it is very common for people to host Christmas parties at work or as small groups as most people would be away from school once lectures are over (for those that do not have December examinations)
As a member of the sustainable energy engineering student council, we had one of these Christmas mingle in which we played some games with some snacks available and I had my first taste of the Swedish glögg.
Glögg is the term for mulled wine in Nordic countries. It is served hot or warm with raisins or nuts. It can either be alcoholic or non-alcoholic. It is a traditional drink during winter, especially for Christmas. In Sweden, gingerbread and lussebullar (a type of sweet bun with saffron and raisins) are typically served. I don’t think it is possible to have a Christmas party in Sweden and you won’t have glögg.
Also, the student ambassadors and the bloggers were treated to a KTH Christmas mingle. Similar to the council’s end of the year mingle, we went through the achievements of the year, played some games and also, the Swedish glögg was very present! What a good way to get into the Christmas spirit with everyone wishing each other the season’s greetings and sharing their various plans for Christmas at the end:)
Unfortunately, I do not have pictures from the Student Council mingle but thanks to Nayanika Bhalla, I have pictures from my second Christmas mingle:)
During the games (haha!)Spot the lussebullar;) Photo credit: Nayanika BhallaPhoto credit: Nayanika Bhalla
We are into December, the holiday mood has already kicked in. The snow is here, decorated Christmas trees and fairy lights around the city make the atmosphere so cozy. It is such a beautiful experience to walk around the city to experience the Christmas spirit.
An Instagram boomerang is perhaps something that shouldn’t be missed 😉
Every house in the neighborhood is lit with beautifully decorated trees. So cozy to look at!
Last week was both so deadly, so successful and extremely fascinating. The most terrible deadlines were met and I have certainly emerged as a better person. Too many reflections, realizations, and not to forget the learning I have got out of the past week. Immense! I think its only during such times, we learn about ourselves. And, now having dealt with crazy things, I feel super liberated. 🙂
Well, it has already started to snow in Stockholm. It was my first snow experience and trust me, it was magical! I truly felt like living in the world of Narnia! The white snow can instantly lift up the spirits and the cheerfulness has no bounds. Everyone becomes a kid when it snows. White snow in the dark winters with a cup of hot chocolate and a warm cinnamon bun is what is called ecstasy!
Here is my first snow experience!
Few of my snowman versions 😝 ☃️
Snowfall and KTH ♥️
View from my room 😇
But, there is more to this Holiday season than the white snow and the fairy lights…yup! Shopping! There is a sale in almost every shop. Brands like H&M have offers that force you to shop. It’s inevitable! Haha! There are Christmas bazaars cropping up here and there. No matter if you’re looking around to buy a Christmas present or to renovate your wardrobe, the season has a sale in every shop. I started my holiday shopping with a mission to make my room cozy and ended up spending a little over the budget. 😀
Shopping spirit at city central
Sale! Sale! Sale!
This lovely setup to welcome the winter 🙂
My Kinda shop!
Christmas Godis! 🙂
Finally, that’s how cozy I made my room. a little Christmas tree, a beautiful star and some warm lights for the cozy winter 🙂
Wish you a cozy winter! God Jul ! ☃️ ❄️ 🎄
Did you see the Nobel prize ceremony? Stay tuned to hear about my experience at the Student’s Nobel NightCap party 🙂
December is here an deadlines too. As Christmas Eve is heading towards us you might or not have already bought a Christmas tree, but have you ever thought about the environmental footprint of a real vs a fake one? Which one is better for the environment…
As some people may think that buying a fake one will save world, the truth is that fake Christmas trees need to reach a minimum amount of years to become “environmental efficient”. Dr John Kazer from the Carbon Trust stated in an article for BBC News (2016), that…
If you have an artificial tree at home you would need to reuse it for at least 10 Christmases to keep its environmental impact lower than that of a real tree
As written in the article, Dr. Kazer said that a 2m artificial tree has a carbon footprint equivalent to 40kg of greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than twice that of a real tree that ends its life in landfill – and more than 10 times that of real trees that are burnt.
What do you think? Have you already decorated yours? At my place, my roomies and I already have! 😀 Don’t forget to subscribe and to comment!
So, these past weeks has been knee deep busy! I had this major project that made all students in my programme meet endlessly! Apart from these, we had other deadlines to keep up with in other courses. At some point, it was not clear if I was the one chasing the deadlines or they were the ones chasing me (Haha!)
So, this week, we finally defended this major project and also, had my last presentation for one of my seminar courses!
Ever had that feeling of relief when you finally accomplish a given task well? That’s exactly how we all felt. So, I am finally done with all major deadlines for the year!
In the end, I realised that the joy is not just that we met all deadlines but that we used the process to learn; learning not only technical skills or the topics presented by the courses but also, soft skills such as time management, project management, teamwork, team building to mention a few. Also, looking back I can tell you I enjoyed the fun moments working with my different team members.
Finally, as I start preparing for upcoming quizzes and exams, I can smile and like the first picture in this post – raise my hands together with all the students in my programme having a sense of achievement of deadlines done and dusted!
The human mind is as versatile as it gets! Every day, we hear of new inventions and people pushing the limits, especially in the technology industry. It is no news that Sweden is currently an abode for tech startups and Stockholm is the second most fecund tech hub in the world. To this end, it’s no surprise that an event called “STHLM TECH MEETUP” is held on the first Monday of each month at Stockholm. In this event, depending on the focus for that month, some lucky startups will pitch the special guests live on stage and the audience chooses which startup joins the investors for dinner afterwards. (Very cool right?)
As an energy engineer, I am very interested in practices and solutions to improve the energy industry with the aim of achieving the global sustainable goals by 2030. With this as my driving force, when STHLM TECH MEETUP announced that December’s event will be focused on energy, I knew I should attend.
Here goes the details of my Monday evening:
Presentation time!
CEO, Northvolt presented updates on the company’s project. In case you are wondering who Northvolt is, Northvolt is a European organisation with a vision to build Europe’s largest lithium-ion battery factory. The most interesting thing is the aim of ensuring that the factory produces with minimum carbon footprint and has a sustainable lifecycle. Some of the batteries were shown to us during the presentation.
Next, the CEO of Mercedes-Benz Sverige presented two projects Mercedes is currently working on. Below, you can watch the video for the first project- Automated Valet Parking:
The second project aims at snow ploughing with autonomous vehicles (amazing right?) Also, the Mercedes S-class was available for test driving. You might be wondering why Mercedes is interested in investing in energy startups. Mercedes is very aware of the rapid change in the energy industry and its effect on the transportation sector. Therefore, the company is interested in new ideas that can be integrated into their cars.
Start-ups pitch!
For the panel, we had the portfolio manager of the Swedish Energy Agency, the strategy analyst of Vattenfall and the CEO, SaltX TEchnology present. The two startups who pitched were Smart Charger and Phoenix.
Smart charger plans to balance the consumption of the on-grid power plants in the future when there would be so much electricity demand due to the increased use of electric cars.
Phoenix plans to have a highly efficient biomass power plant. It plans to conduct research to use gasification process combined with the technology in steam turbines.
An interesting thing about the pitch was the startups were interrupted in between with questions or thoughts from the panel giving the audience a chance to understand the projects better and also have an insight to how investors think when startups pitch to them.
Voting time!
Guess who won our votes? Smart charger or Phoenix?? You can take a guess in the comment section:)
Personally, this event also gives a peek into what every inventor or entrepreneur is constantly thinking about – problems! You might say what a weird answer this is, but the start-ups that pitched both started with an introduction to the problem before presenting their solution. The work of the panel (investors) was to critically judge how plausible the solution would be. In conclusion, the ideas that become fruitful businesses are those that are solving a need!
I love this event as it creates an opportunity for start-ups, investors and people who are just interested in the theme of the month to come together and rub minds. There was an argument that arose on this sentence ” In 10-15 years, we would have 95% autonomous electric cars” Some people thought it would take lesser time and some thought 20 years would be more accurate.
As you ponder on what your choice might be, remember:
The world keeps growing and developing because people are thinking! What are you thinking about?
Author
My Kinda shop! 
