Degree: Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) / Master of Engineering
What’s been your favourite course so far and why?
My favourite course so far has been ENGG1100, where we built a robotic vehicle that was capable of putting out fires at various heights. I found it encouraged students to come up with innovative solutions that could solve the problem. It was also very satisfying to solve a problem that had been limiting your progress throughout the project. This course also introduced me to project management and made me realise the importance of making sure you manage your time effectively when working on a big project.
What do you love most about your degree?
I believe engineering encourages people to have innovative solutions to problems. I had no idea what I wanted to study when first arriving at UQ, so I did a course in each field of engineering. When I did thermodynamics we had a case study on the efficiency of renewable energy sources and the carbon emissions associated with the development of them. In this project, we had to break down a large system into a series of smaller units so we could research the information we needed before combining these smaller units together into one large system again.
I really enjoyed this process of identifying the smaller components that make up a big system and analysing each one individually before looking at the impact each one has on the whole system. Analysing systems and processes are at the core of Chemical Engineering and can be applied to many different fields, which made it the degree for me.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone considering studying at UQ, what would that be?
Try to get involved in as many opportunities at university as possible. It’s very easy to just focus on your studies and not participate in the different employability opportunities clubs and societies. I didn’t participate in many things in my first year because I wanted to focus on keeping my GPA up as I felt like university was a clean slate where I could reinvent my study habits and try to be the best student I could. But part of being a student is joining many clubs and taking advantage of the number of opportunities you get at university.
Since realising this I have participated in a Leaders program offered by the EAIT faculty and have signed up for 9 clubs. I am also thinking about going on exchange in a few years towards the end of my degree. You might only get one opportunity to be at university, so make sure to try everything!
