Saengil chukha hamnida!!!

Happy 20th b'day to the only my 'big' younger brother, Fikri. ^_^ I don't know whether he will read my blog or not since he is away and probably he does not have internet access. Whatever he's doing rite now, my pray always be with him. May Allah give His Blessings and Guidance to him. I hope he will grow up maturedly and will be able to take care of my family specifically my parents since he is the only 'man' in my siblings. of course i'm going to take care of my parents also but we know that a son carries a bigger responsibility towards his parents, rite isn't it? I pray also for his success in this world and hereafter. amiinn..(huhu :( minggu ni belum lagi berborak2 and berkomunikasi dgn any of my family members..mayb diorg sume sibuk berkemas2 untuk perpindahan sementara..)

Inilah my brother yg merupakan peminat MU juga. ni malam b4 fly hari tu..siap pakai t-shirt manchester lagi tu...besar tak adik saya? haha..

Today I had a lab session for mixing in bioreactor. during my undergrad, I just learnt the theory and memorizing some formulas. but now I've seen practically how to determine the power, air flow rate and rotation of the impeller of the bioreactor so that we have the perfect mixing inside the bioreactor. perfect mixing is important so that oxygen is well dissolved in the liquid in order for the microb, fungi etc. getting enough oxygen supply for their growth. fuhh.. (mcm tulis jwpn time exam plak rase..kui3)..by the way, today's lab really an eye-opening experience for me...i learnt also how to operate pilot plant bioreactor (not sure the exact volume of the bioreactor), control the airflow rate and the rotation of impeller. but sumhow the lab area where we working today was verrrrryyy cold (mayb the temp was around 8-10 degree C). the 2 previous experiments were not as cold as today. mayb they want to keep the bioreactors and all those big machines cool all the time. we was freezing like our hand can't write well...huhu...some pics that I managed to capture during the experiment (tak leh tangkap banyak2...supposedly amek gamba liquid dalam bioreactor tu time mixing, saya pun menyimpang sket..haha..ade cctv kt pilot plant area tu, so kene lah berlakon cam amek gamba for the experiment..)

One of my group members (sy yg menyibuk masuk group dieorg..kui3), Angela. She's from Penn state, US. it's a surprise to see an american comes to UK to study coz most of people will say studying in US is better than UK..ahaks..

Dr Michael Cooke explained how to set the air flow rate going into the bioreactor

Another group member, Tanmay. he's from India. can't really get the picture of him since he was busy observing the level of the liquid inside the bioreactor as well as the hydrodynamics of the liquid.

this is my part. I have to adjust the rotation of the impeller by using this machine..scary maa..this is quite an old machine but really accurate. I have to be really careful so that I do not break the rotator motor..

Yesterday, I attended a biosafety induction. I have to attend this induction only that I can start doing my experiment in the Morton Laboratory. The very good thing in this school is they emphasized much on safety. Even we have an occupational safety officer on duty inside the building who will take the appropriate action if any accident happens. Prof Ferda also told me if I'm not feeling well, I can go to them and get my blood pressure checked and stuff like that..hmm..something new and mayb we can practice it in Malaysia too. This school makes sure that we have the adequate knowledge regarding the safety and proper conduct when we performing our experiment in the lab. The instructor, Ralph Cooper gave his talk in 2 hours and although he does not has masters or PhD in chemical/biochemical engineering, his wide experience working in laboratory safety area is really amazing. He also used to be a trainer for microbiology lab but now due to his health conditions, he is not allowed to work with pathogen bacteria and fungi. I noticed several things that they have in this school but not in our university in m'sia (bukan nak mengagung2kan dan terlalu memuji mereka, tapi beberapa perkara yang kite patut ikut especially about safety and the way they work):

1- Every technician is well-trained and they know what they have to do. In other words, they are always there when they are in need and perform their job perfectly. The academic staff or lecturers do not have to find and search them as well as to run after them..I think I will never hear any lecturer complaining about technicians etc. here.

2- Demonstrators (most of them are PhD student or post-doc) do not need to prepare the reagents, appratus, etc since technicians will prepare them all.

3- Safety first. Without lab coat and goggle we cannot enter the lab. Remember I told before there are CCTV in few places inside the lab. When we are in the middle of our experiment today, I took off my goggle (it's not really comfortable since I'm wearing my spectacles too)..few minutes later, Mr Jim (he's one of the technicians) came and asked me to wear my goggle back..haha..kantoi..he showed me the CCTV just up behind my back..he came all the way from level 1 to my lab just to tell me to put on my goggle back..see..they really stressed on safety. Plus I'm going to get my own lab coat as well as goggle (goggle ni nnt yg ade power mcm my speck jg..i have to get prescription from my supervisor and I have to show it to the university optician in order to have my own goggle free....). In addition, not everybody is allowed to enter morton laboratory unless they have their ID card activated to access the building.

4-before this, I always thinking bout the difficulties to work in the new lab environment and I guess i have to struggle in order to set up my working area in the lab..like I did during my FYP in which I have to search all the apparatus and glassware and sometimes using the equipment without proper training. As a result, many equipment are broken and lots of money need to be spent to repair them. here, I will have to be trained until they feel satisfy for me to start my work by myself. so that I will not break any machine inside the lab. no wonder although the machines look old, they can still functioning properly. Since I'm going to work with plant cell culture that is very sensitive and easily contaminate especially by bacteria or fungus, Mr Ralph told me that he will find for me a working space that is free from bacteria or fungus and find sumbody to teach me plant cell culture techniques..so nice..i have a very little experience with plant cell culture actually. i really need somebody to teach me how to grow and take care of plant cell culture.

Morton Laboratory building. Just next to the Mill (my school building)

Hmm...what I want to higlight here is the commitment of all staff (academic, technical) to make sure that the safety rules and regulations are followed by everybody. I really impressed with the way they perform their job. a word can best described them: dedicated. I hope we can find dedicated staff like them back in malaysia (specifically my department in uia..)