Engineering Mathematics I & II

At NTU they divide math across 3 subjects - Engineering Math(I and II) and Discrete Math. Here I talk about Engineering Math and my experience with it.

The first part of Engineering Math 1 was linear algebra, so it dealt with matrices, n-dimensional vectors, linear equations and the like. I was able to get through these chapters using class notes from lectures supported by some of my high school knowledge. But the second half touched on one of my weakest points - statistics. I had always been weak at statistics because of its heavy reliance on formulas and mechanical calculations. However, at the end of the course, I was able to develop some knowledge in statistics which proved to be fairly useful in my year 2 research project on deep learning.

Engineering Math 2 was the complete opposite of its concurrent course Engineering Math 1. Math 2 was my absolute favorite course in the whole first year, mainly because I was (and still am) a huge fan of calculus. I loved integration and differentiation which formed the bulk of this course. I was able to breeze through the first half fairly easily using my high school knowledge but the second half was where I hit somewhat of a stumbling block. This is when they first introduced sequences and series, a topic I had only ever briefly encountered once before during my AP exam preparations.

At this point in university, I had fallen under the impression that without my high school knowledge I would not be able to manage the courses. After a period of worry and stress, I was able to find some resources on the internet to supplement the lecture notes from university. This also happened to be my first time studying something from the internet without a "syllabus" to guide me (one of the many lessons I learnt during my time at university - there is no such thing as a "syllabus" after school, you just make do with whatever you can find). In the end, those notes (and of course my efforts) were what got me through Math 2.

Overall Engineering Maths were great courses which allowed me to develop some interest in statistics and explore my interest in calculus, which later helped me decide to specialize in Artificial Intelligence.

Before I conclude this blog, I'd like to add that my experience with Engineering Math was an eye-opener as to how important foundational basics are when a student enters college, having been supported by my high school knowledge for quite a part of these two modules. However, I also realised that it is essential to be open to new methods of study and research, and to have belief enough to tackle new areas within subjects learnt before.