Dear Reader,

Friday or Saturdays? Always there for you!

I hope you are doing well and having a relaxing weekend. My fridays these days are so busy as I have a slightly different teaching schedule this term so I am struggling to send the newsletters as usual on fridays. I will still send them on most fridays but if I miss doing so for any reason, then do expect it on a Saturday, just as this.

In this week's newsletter, I am going to be adding a few more features/sections to the newsletter as I promised I will do this year. Here are the issues I will be reflecting on:

ChatGPT and MATLAB: Surprisingly amazing!
Behind the Scenes at CM Videos: Software development
Quote of the week: Prince Harry and the need to face the facts
Scholarly Tip of the Week: Publish or Die! Really?

Technical Reflections

ChatGPT and MATLAB: Surprisingly amazing

I published a video this week in which I showed how the highly talked about aritficial intelligence tool called ChatGPT can be used to improve ones MATLAB skills. The video is doing quite well. Click the link below to watch the video.

I have been quite impressed by what the ChatGPT tool can do. I know there is a lot of discussion in the media about the merits and demerits of ChatGPT, in particular, how it will affect university assessments. Some feared it will encourage plagiarism and might not be good for assessments. However, I see the tool as a simply that: a "tool" to help with learning.

So, in this YouTube video, I showed how you can use ChatGPT to aid your learning of MATLAB with the following examples:

(a) learn MATLAB commands

(b) Build Graphical user Interface (GUI) and

One coding example was about the user asking ChatGPT to ""Write a code that can read and write data from Microsoft Excel. This data will then be used to plot a graph and also undertake basic statictical assessment of the data. It did so very competently.

I can only say the software is quite impressive.

Click here to watch the Video

Behind the Scenes at CM Videos: Sofware Development

This year, in CM Videos Ltd, I want to prioritize software development. Last year, I did not do much on this front but since I have a goal to launch about 3 software products this year, I am therefore intending to prioritize this aspect of the business. I know I get a lot of requests from this audience about code development and keep promising to do something about it, but 2023 for me is the year I want to focus a lot on doing exactly that. Some of the software that I am working on and are nearing release are:

MontGen2Dv2 - This is the next version of the MontGen2D suite of software for applying PBCs. I have been able to get this version to work with hollow inclusions and also materials with interfaces. In the coming weeks, I will be launching this product.

PBCGen2Dv2 - I am working on a feature that allows the user to analyze ABAQUS models with multiple parts within a model. The original model only works with a model where all components are merged into a single part. My Erasmus student, John, is the one encouraging the inclusion of this feature.

MontCarlGen3Dv1 - This is the first version of the 3D version of the MontCarlGen suite of products. This should allow the user to create 3D models where the inclusion is a sphere. It also allows for creation of voided 3D structures.

So that is what is coming further down the road in CM Videos and I wantd to share this vision with you. Let me know if there is something else you want or if and how these software developments are going to be beneficial in your research.

Quote of the Week

The royal road to mastery is paved with facts.

- Prince Harry, Spare, a memoir of Prince Harry.

I have been reading Prince Harry's memoir called Spare in which he talked a lot about his upbringing, his struggles in life and also the politics of the British royal family. It is a fantastic read.

I am taking my quote for the week from the book in which Prince Harry was reflecting on his striving to become a good Apache (highly sophisticated) helicopter. His instructor was quite frank with him telling him the real facts of what he is doing well or what he is not doing well. Whilst he did not particularly liked it then, the brutal honesty of his instructor, according to him, was what got him to become quite good at flying Apache helicopters.

It is true that in life we might not like people telling us exactly as it is but if you allow this in your life, you will actually be the better for it. I will like people to give me feedbacks on what they think about me, my work and maybe the way I relate with them. This is crucial to becoming self-aware and achieving our highest possible selves. That is why this is my quote for the week.

Scholarly Tip of the Week

As someone who mentors young academics, earlier career researchers and industry persones, I thought it might be worthwhile to share some of the tips I give to people about their career or life in general. These are also tips that help me in my professional career. If you find them useful, then do let me know. If you think someone will benefit from them, then do also forward the tops to them.

Publish or die! Really? Please focus on Impact

This week, my tip is on something that is generally believed to be true in academia: does not matter whether you are a student, academic or even administrator. There is this general believe that: "You either publish or die!" Die in this instance refers mainly to career death - no progression whatsoever. Indeed it is important that when we start working the academic pathway that you prioritize publishing. This is how you get rewarded with citations, the next academic job, invitation to conferences and research collaborations as well as securing that all important grants.

However, my tip for this week is that you should not take the advice of "Publish or die!" literarily. You have to focus always on impact. The impact of your work will create all those things. Impact refers to the problem you are solving in somebody's life. For example, if a student reads your book and that brings understanding to them, that is impact. On the contrary, if they do and do not gain any insight, then you have not made any impact. You can have a 100 publications but except if these are impact lives, you have made no impact.

Avenues for creating Impact: Focusing on impact means that you will find different ways in which you can realistically make a different and change the world. For example, other outputs to get your ideas our there can include:

Hosting a YouTube Channel where you talk about your work. One YouTuber that I admire a lot is Dr-Ing Ronald Wagner (see his channel here) who on completion of his PhD wanted to make sure the ideas lived on. Although he worked in a corporate job, he started making videos about his PhD and now he is one of the most impactful voices on the FEA community of YouTube. That is real impact!
You can host a podcast where you talk about your work and invite other to share their thoughts about the research area.
You can become an ambassador to schools where you inspire the young generation about your work. There is a scheme in the UK called STEM Ambassadors - that is precisely what they do and that is real impact.
You can start talking to businesses and see how your work can help them with their challenges. It is called Knowledge-exchange and it is something well supported here in the UK.

They are so many ways you can make impact and just publishing for the sake of it - to ammass publications - will in the short term work for you, but in the long term, your work will be forgotten and the impact will not be there.

Thank you everyone for reading thus far. I try to pack this newsletter with a lot of my reflections, not just technically, but also about the channel and also life generally.

If you liked it, please forward it to others and encourage them to subscribe to the newsletter. Please also send mean email with your feedback about the issues discussed here or generally any area you deem that I can help you.

Let us catch up next week and bye bye!

Thank you for reading this newsletter.

If you have any comment about my reflections this week, please do email me in a reply to this message and I will be so glad to hear from you.

If you know anyone who would benefit from reading these reflections, please do share with them. If there is any topic you want me to explore making a video about, then please do let me know by clicking on the link below. I wish you a wonderful week and I will catch up with you in the next newsletter.

Submit a topic to make video about

Lets keep creating effective computational modelling solutions.

Michael

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ChatGPT and MATLAB: Surprisingly amazing!