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高三一班
李久林
九十年暑假，我非常幸運的成為四位遠赴加拿大國家研究委員會(NRC)進行為期六個禮拜研究的成員之
一。我的寄宿家庭是純老外夫妻 ( 其實身在異國，我才應該是老外
)， Mr. and Mrs. Bernard 倆都是加拿大人，
Mr. Bernard除了英語外，還精通法語和德語，很具國際觀。由於
Mr. Bernard 剛轉到NRC工作不久，他們也是
兩、三個星期前才搬進NRC附近的這個新家。那天是星期六，
也正好是NRC航太研究所( IAR
- Institute for
Aerospace Research ) 也就是去年林彥瑋學長做研究的地方)的開放參觀日。根據
Mr. Bernard 的說法，這是 " 百
年難得一見的機會"，建議我去參觀。所以為了開開眼界，另一方面也為了打好關係，我們在下午便一起 "
走" 到NRC去了。由於加拿大幅員廣大，外出幾乎都開車。如果距離在三公里以內，他們即稱此為 "Walking
Distance"
走路約半個小時可達。而我們家到 N R C Campus就正好是這個距離。故以後我到NRC去工作，每天
來回都得走上一個小時的路。除了到IAR參觀以外，
我的第一個週末可說是跟著Mr. and Mrs. Bernard到處跑，
了解週遭的生活環境。
NRC 全名National Research Council，稱之為 "加拿大國家研究委員會"。其重要程度約等於台灣的中研院
，但實際上它可以說是 " 中研院加國科會
" ， 所以經費充裕，
足以支援很多大型研究。我所屬的研究部
門叫做ICPET，全名為︰ Institute for Chemical Process and Environmental Technology。
這個部門事實上研究的領域
非常廣泛，不但有尖端技術的研發，也有許多有關環境科學的主題，甚至還幫助許多大企業做評估及技術改
進等。我研究的領域主要在於電化學方面，指導教授為Dr. Gattrell，主題為測試並比較各種不同的催化劑鍍在
電極上幫助分解染料廢水的速率。你可能會問為什麼要做這項研究，因為在染料廢水中，除了染料之外，還
會有一些可溶於水的聚合物以幫助染料附著在衣物上，但不管是染料或者是聚合物，他們都被設計的很安定
，自然不易被自然界分解。此外，他們又通常擁有很高的化學需氧量，也就是說，他們的分解會耗掉非常多
的氧氣。故若未處理就排放到河川中，他們將會耗掉大量的水中溶氧導致魚類或河川生態遭受威脅，因此必
須將廢水先行處理後，也就是用人為的方法把有害的物質先氧化掉，才能把廢水排放。而我研究的目標就是
測試並比較各種電極上的催化劑對反應的影響，以期能找出最有效率的方法來處理廢水。於是，我在這六個
禮拜的期間，做了七個主要的實驗；利用各式各樣的儀器來分析實驗跑下來得到的各階段樣本，這不僅讓我
大開眼界，同時讓我了解到實驗後的數據分析是一個非常嚴謹的過程。一個研究人員必須能夠了解並解釋實
驗數據所代表的意義，而這種能力是必須有廣泛的知識和紮實的理論基礎才能達到的。事實上，我差不多有
將近一半的時間都花在數據分析的工作上。在Dr. Gattrell啟發式的開明指導之下，我從中獲益良多。
NRC的工作時間為早上九點至下午五點。我每天八點鐘進研究室，先觀察實驗進行的狀況，收收e-mail
，緊接著開始一天的工作。除了第一天的報平安電話之外，為了省時省錢，每週固定送一至兩封e-mail附照片
回家報告生活情形。午餐是值得一提的大事。大半時間我都在NRC內部的餐廳搭伙，其菜色變化之多，我在
那裡的六個禮拜還沒有吃過重複的主菜。此外，偶爾跟著指導教授及研究生一車四人外出品嚐各國美食，這
真是最快樂不過的享受了。我幾乎都在五點半後離開實驗室，但由於渥太華約八點過後才天黑，所以下班之
後還有充裕的時間可以做自己想做的事。因此，每天的工作份量雖不輕，但由於做的是自己喜歡的事，過的
還算順利愉快。此外，由於公車系統實在很方便，週末坐公車到市區探險似乎已成為一種習慣。頭兩個禮拜
的週末先把渥太華市區裡裡外外都逛了一遍，甚至還搭了船從運河的北邊跑到南邊。真正大玩特玩的日子是
第四個週末，那是個連續三天假的 "長週末"，在陳心瑜的寄宿家庭熱心的安排下，我們一行六人於星期四晚
上出發，前往南邊的多倫多，最主要是去看看尼加拉瓜大瀑布，身歷其境，那雄偉壯麗的景象著實令人畢生
難忘。
六個星期的研習活動，說長不長，說短也不算短，全看以怎樣的態度來看待它。對我來說，每天過規律
的生活，投注熱情於實驗中，六個禮拜一晃眼就過去了，總覺時間太短。但重要的是，在這段期間中我學習
到了很多實驗的技巧以及解決問題的方法，更深入了解了加拿大的歷史文化，使我的眼界又向外開拓了許多
。俗語說︰讀萬卷書，行萬里路，這個計劃不啻是一個將所學加以發揮，並感受異國風情的好機會。
Bilingual Department Eric Lee
Canada is the place to be for your summer. Since 1998, our wonderful school, NEHS, has been offering students the opportunity
to go to Canada and work at the National Research Council. Well, at least most of us worked there. This isn't some great big story
that's told as a bedtime story. This is just my point of view and what I did.
My story began early May, when I turned in my project about anti-gravity and related subjects. Now I had plans for my summer.
This great big project would take a total of six weeks.
I would be provided with
shelter and work. I would receive a living
allowance of 40 Canadian on weekdays. I arrived in Ottawa on a Saturday morning. I was associated with my
host family, who
were from People's Republic of China and had only lived in Ottawa for a year. I lived in the small town of Nepean, which was in
the middle of nowhere. The coming Monday, I met with the numerous people in charge as well
as my other fellow NEHSers
who had attended the same program. After the lunch social, we followed our mentors
back to our labs. My
case was special.
Since my project was on anti-gravity and rarely anyone did research in that field, I was assigned
to an acoustics facility. I was
now part of the Institute of Aerospace Research of NRC in building U-66A. The IAR buildings were special because they were
not located with the other NRC buildings. Instead, they were located near the airport, which was literally in the middle of nowhere.
I was in contact with awesome equipment in the sub-building, but I was never allowed to operate any
of them. These machines
were worth more than my life. Instead, I spent my six weeks working with
a computer and writing a
report on microgravity.
Every morning, I would take the bus to work. Even though my workplace
was directly east of my host family house, I had to
travel in a parabola. I would first go north, take a curve, then go back south. Though the
bus seemed very inefficient, it was my
only form of transportation and proved to be quite useful on the weekends.
With regard to tourism, I would say Ottawa deserves an A. Though I don't particularly
enjoy every type of museum
, Ottawa
definitely has a big selection. However, the unforgettable tour
was the trip to Niagara
Falls with the other students and a host
family. In conclusion, I would recommend students apply for this rare opportunity. The advice I give is to choose a broad subject,
and if you're expecting hands-on experience, then do something
where they might actually let you operate the equipment. But in
the end, it's a good experience |
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