Know your CEan - Ash!

[The_Big_K]

CEans,

He joined us in July '07, and put CE on the fast track. You'll find him everywhere on CE - helping new members, answering technical queries, developing CE Bot, discussing kick-ass ideas with fellow CEans and most importantly - fighting the evil spammers. Yes, he is CEan Ashraf aka 'Ash' from Malaysia.

Our editor, CEan Patty had a chat with our moderator, CEan - Ash :

Q. What are the prospects of a Communications Engineer?

Ash: The prospects are very high! At their essence, Communication Engineers deal with the problems of interpretation and propagating information from a source to a destination, across some sort of medium. Communications is inherent in nearly all sorts of systems, such as Television, Computing, Radar, Mobile phones and Satellites. There will always be a need to communicate faster and securer while using less power. With limited bandwidth and ever existing "noise", transceivers will need have efficient designs, as well as use revolutionary encoding techniques. Radio Frequency will still be around for a long time, and in the near future you'll start deal with high speed "cable-less" optical communications as well as micro- and nano-fabricated transceivers. Thus, the future is pretty bright!

Q. How do you find life in college?

Ash: It really depends on how one take its. I find some bits stressing while other things enjoyable. Sometimes things don't go smoothly when leading group projects. Plus, the never ending reports and assignments which seem meaningless become such a burden. However, college is a virtue because you get to meet geniuses; like your professors! You'll also be able to make friends with great people who share your interests as well. Plus, there's always access to very expensive equipment, some of which I borrow to work on my own projects, haha. Believe or not, the library is one of my favourite hangouts because there are so many free resources to check out too!

Q. How did you join CE?

Ash: I was Googling for ideas for my for my final year project When the Crazy Engineers website did load, I was curious on the many discussions that were going on. I later understood Big K's vision of uniting engineers around the world, so I hopped on! Never looked back since.

Q. You Grew up in several countries. Tell us about them and your experience?

Ash: My father is a diplomat, thus we travel around quite frequently. My family is Malaysian, but I was born in Philippines. Other countries I grew up include Pakistan, UK and Kuwait. It seemed common to shift schools many times, and I missed the friends I've made in the process. But of course, I've met even more companions too. I got to see the places in real life which I thought I'd only see on TV. It's great to meet with people from different countries and cultures. Kind of like meeting people here on Crazy Engineers!

Q. They say that with great powers comes greater responsibilties. How does our Moderator cope with his responsibilities?

Ash: I was quite stumped on what to do when I was given that responsibility. I was afraid I would press the wrong button and ruin something on the website! But Big K was very patient, and over time, the role grew on me. Organizing threads and getting rid of spammers is easier now I do sometimes have to resist the temptation to ban members who are not following the "CE Culture", and sort of guide them instead. I'm in the midst of doing video tutorials so that new members can easily fit into Crazy Engineers

Q. Anything you would like to change in CE?

Ash: There is nothing more I'd like to see than active members in CE! There is only so much Big K and the rest of the CE Team can contribute in terms of features and content. With more active members, we can have more dynamic discussions, influx of original ideas as well as progressing the great CE projects like CE Bot and CE: IM. As I've mentioned in some of the discussions, we lack the "critical" mass of active members. I'm still wondering what that number is, but hopefully we'll reach it soon with the member count increasing rapidly

Q. Any interesting college incident that you would like to share with us?

Ash: While coming back from a toilet break at 5am in the morning, some stranger entered my dorm through the window of another compartment. Turned out he wanted to take his old stuff back, as I've just shifted in the room for my first semester (such anticlimax eh?). Scared the crap out of me, though. As much as I try showing bravado and toughness when I face potential "thieves", I pretty much froze on the spot. Perhaps he just came at the wrong time

Q. Whats with the name Ash?

Ash: Its simply short for Ashraf. Its easier to say one syllable I suppose. To my chagrin, some liken me to the other "Ash" in Pokemon! I don't really have any cool alias (except for "Brader Gedung" in multiplayer PC games, which I'd rather not get into )

Q. Name three CEans that you would like to meet personnally?

Ash: Big K, xheavenlyx and Gohm! Of course, Gohm can pay for my flight ticket

Q. What would you like to do after college?

Ash: I'd really like to get straight into the R&D sector, so that the momentum of my project work will carry on. Most engineering companies have some sort of R&D division. However, I don't mind doing some field work!

Q. Describe yourself in 1 sentence

An introverting yet friendly journeyman with an addiction for cheese macaroni, sports and anything cool related to technology.

Gosh, does that make sense at all? haha

Q. How do you kill your free time?

Ash: CE takes most of my free time I also enjoy reading novels, do random stuff with the computer like digital art, programming and gaming. If I manage to over come procrastination, I try practicing on the basketball court.

Patty: See ya buddy and thanks for your time. Catch ya later alligator.

Ash: Oh, the interrogation is over? Kidding Thanks for the interview, Patty!

[The_Big_K]

Super-cool interview, Patty!

& super cool interview, Ash.

My questions to you will follow soon (so, the interview not over yet! )

[ash]

wha.. what? More questions?

Haha, thanks to Patty for the interview. Had a blast!

[MaRo]

Very good Ashraf I thought Ashraf is Arabic name

R&D is the real work

[The_Big_K]

Okay, few more questions, Ash, please -

Q. What is your advise to CEans who want to become moderators on CE?

Q. Where do you see CrazyEngineers community 1 & 5 years from now?

Q. How do you think a community of engineers is different from other communities?

Q. What kind of projects do you see happening on CE in next 1 or 2 years?

[ash]

Very good Ashraf I thought Ashraf is Arabic name

R&D is the real work

Ah Maro, it is indeed an arabic name. My full first name is Mohamed Ashraf

Originally Posted by The_Big_K

Okay, few more questions, Ash, please -

Q. What is your advise to CEans who want to become moderators on CE?

Be prepared to allocate time everyday to check the forums. However, one does not need to spend hours in one sitting! Spread it throughout the day, perhaps 5-10 mins in the morning, afternoon and at night. Also, being a moderator is a learning process. Don't hesitate to ask for help from the admin or other mods about how to do certain moderator functions. Finally, be willing to help others no matter what. Patience is the key

Q. Where do you see CrazyEngineers community 1 & 5 years from now?

Within 1 year, hopefully we'll see increased participation in terms of solving queries as well as getting involved with the existing CE projects!

And 5 years? Man, Crazy Engineers will be very big name for sure. It'll extend beyond being an online forum, to being a fully featured global portal that will be involved in all facets of engineering! We'd have collaboration with the biggest personalities in engineering, and be involved in loads of projects

Q. How do you think a community of engineers is different from other communities?

We engineers tend to have a sense of brotherhood (and sisterhood) amongst us. We all share the goal of trying to solve practical problems, use the problem solving skills for other uses, and share interest in technology in general. When you meet a random engineer on the street, you can easily start conversing. This unity is what distinct us from other communities!

Q. What kind of projects do you see happening on CE in next 1 or 2 years?

I suppose software projects will always be on going, because theres so many possibilities! Once active participation has increased, we can do more projects simultaneously. CE Linux is one of the possible ones

Hardware projects is admittedly harder to collaborate on, mainly because of the physical separation of CE members. But once the CE Meets are in gear, it should be no problem. These projects will have large impacts in society for sure, as long as we sincerely want to make a difference!

[mayurpathak]

Good one Ash! You seem to be too eager to answer questions. So lets have a sequel to your interview, albeit make it personal... very personal

[xheavenlyx]

Interview bang. I am loving meet the CE interviews ^_^

CE takes most of my free time I also enjoy reading novels, do random stuff with the computer like digital art, programming and gaming. If I manage to over come procrastination, I try practicing on the basketball court.

Heyyy brother!!! lol, each and every hobby is same here (except basketball :P ). What more is common I guess?

So here are my questions (keeping in mind Mayur's suggestions) :

1. You play MMORPG's. Which one is your favorite and why? What do you think of WOW, GuildWars and FinalFantasy. And yea, write everytihng about your gaming...favs, PC, console etc

2. How did you meet your first girlfriend, describe the situation (and I mean someone you liked even if just friends...be it serious or not). And if no one yet then what personality trait will you look at the most?

3. What is your dream? I mean a real dream for which you can sacrifice yourself...(if not then something related)

4. Tell us your strongest beliefs. Related to engineering and otherwise.

Thats all for now, think about the answers and then post!! take your time (if biggie allows for time :P)

[The_Big_K]

Thats all for now, think about the answers and then post!! take your time (if biggie allows for time :P)

Oh, well, Ash should reply before he forgets the answer to #2 I bet he's a popular guy in his university

Ash - blame Mayur if this is getting personal

[ash]

Ok, ok, this is getting waaay out of hand! This is "Know your CEan", not "Know every little detail of your CEan"

But regarding my biggest dream, you all will have to wait within a decade or so to see it! And btw, I'm not that popular at uni. I'm an introvert, remember? Keeping a low profile is the way to go (of course, I'm still willing to promote CE though!)

For other things, feel free to add me on gtalk, haha.

[just2rock]

so nice to know about your hobbies...

[xheavenlyx]

Yea blame Mayur :P hehehe

I just took the opportunity! Anyway, this is pretty good and we will wait (but not for a decade though) to see your dream.

[mayurpathak]

Originally Posted by xheavenlyx

Yea blame Mayur :P hehehe

I just took the opportunity! Anyway, this is pretty good and we will wait (but not for a decade though) to see your dream.

Wo ho! Why blame me? And by the way, Ash, you are our moderator. You have every right to press the coveted 'delete' button.

By the way I personally feel there is nothing 'personal' about Q # 2

I'm waiting Ash. If the answer is yes, you know what my next question could be. Ha ha ! There is no escape......