Engineering an international experience
by Geraldine Hinter
Attending
the 2007 International Institute of Women Engineers Expedition in
Paris proved to be an exciting challenge and an experience not to be
missed for UniSA scholarship winner Bachelor of Engineering
(Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering) honours graduate Teoh
Ying Ying.
"The conference broadened my perspectives on issues regarding climate change and global warming, as well as cultural issues and career options, and increased my understanding of engineering and its importance to our environment," Teoh said.
"Industry visits gave us useful insights into working in large corporations and increased our understanding of international companies," she said.
Other than the seminar topics concerning sustainability of energy and the environment, one of the greatest outcomes of the expedition for Teoh was the opportunity to increase her understanding of the importance and influence of the diverse cultural backgrounds of people from different countries and to accept and respect the different cultures.
With 40 future engineers from 14 countries attending the conference, Teoh found the interactions with students from other countries very interesting, especially those with students from Middle East countries and Africa.
"These students were very warm-hearted and weren’t reluctant to share stories from their homeland. Through them I’ve learnt not to take things for granted as, sometimes, even daily necessities such as water and electricity were not readily accessible to them," Teoh said.
"I was very impressed to see that they were making great efforts in their studies in order to contribute in developing their countries.
"If it weren’t for the sponsorship provided by their universities, the experience that they gained would have been impossible," Teoh said.
The sponsorship from UniSA played an important role in making
Teoh’s dream possible and she hopes that other students will be
given the opportunity to share this "priceless experience" in
the future.
Since her graduation in December 2007, Teoh has found temporary work in Malaysia in a company that provides CAD/CAM, CMM measurement, rapid prototyping, reverse engineering, and product lifecycle management solutions for manufacturing industries.
"In the future I look forward to broadening my perspectives by exploring the work fields of other countries."