Hi, I’m Lola!
I'm a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Chemical and Environmental Engineering) student. I joined the Women in Engineering Student Leaders to give advice about chemical and environmental engineering and support future students.
What or who inspired you to choose engineering?
I wasn't sure what I wanted to do after high school - just that I wanted to help people, and as someone who had a diverse range of grade 12 subjects, I was really unsure. Ultimately, my physics teacher helped a lot by describing how engineering could apply physics (my favourite subject) in a way that connects with people. My sister also decided to study engineering, so I thought why not. At first engineering didn't feel right to me, I felt bogged down with math, coding and the struggles of self-motivation in uni. But then I chose my major - Environmental - and took my first enviro course. I realised this was exactly what I wanted to be doing, and that engineering can have an incredibly tangible impact on the world and the people living in it. My love for engineering as a career was further cemented in a humanitarian engineering course where I discovered that I could shape engineering to be something that closes the gap and directly improves people’s lives.
Why did you choose the discipline you are studying?
I wanted to major in environmental engineering and the specialisation options at UQ are through chemical or civil engineering. I was always good at chemistry, and loved physics where ‘stuff moves’, i.e. thermodynamics, which is a focus of chemical engineering, whereas civil focuses more on static structures. I also now enjoy how chemical engineering is essentially all the internal workings and essential processes between the input and output of a process - making it an incredibly broad specialisation.
What is one thing about university or engineering that you wished you knew earlier?
How many inspiring people, projects and opportunities there are. People kept telling me that ‘Engineering is really hard’, but mostly university itself can be hard and requires excellent time management and self-discipline. But getting involved and engaging with the wealth of support available is an excellent way to feel like you’re on track and a part of something bigger than yourself - and as engineers, you are!
Also, social sports are incredibly fun and very easy to sign up for, the UQ Redroom has great trivia nights, and there is free campus kitchen breakfast and dinner every day.
What made you pick engineering at the University of Queensland over other universities?
I chose UQ, largely based on the great things family, friends, and high school, told me about it and its convenient location to me. However, there are so many more reasons it is an excellent place to study engineering that I wish I knew beforehand. Most importantly to me - the wealth of global experiences and New Colombo Plan (NCP - Australian government initiative) funded trips that aren't offered at other universities. I've personally been on an NCP funded trip to Indonesia for chemical engineering, am going to Cambodia with Engineers Without Borders (EWB) in January 2026 and have just applied for a semester exchange to Norway. All of which would have been near impossible to participate in without the support offered at UQ.
Give us your best tip for first-year engineering students?
Get involved! With clubs and societies, with networking events, with the first-year learning centre, with your group projects and with classmates. It can be easy to feel behind in first year, but immersing yourself in university life is an easy way to stay on track. Also, it’s completely okay to not know what specialisation you want to choose after 1st year - I had no idea and took a gap semester to figure out what I wanted to do!
Tell us your favourite example of amazing engineering?
My favourite examples of amazing engineering are all from humanitarian engineering focused organisations like EWB, the Centre for Appropriate Technology (CfAT), and Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief (RedR). EWB and CfAT have designed technology that supports and empowers indigenous and remote communities. Such as solar powered treatment plants delivering clean water to remote communities from EWB, and bush hardy products from CfAT (based in the Northern Territory), such as woodchip heaters, ablution blocks and mobile hotspots. RedR supports humanitarian responses to global conflicts, with current projects being: mitigating the spread of viral diseases in Burundi, finding a path out of cholera in South Sudan, and using flood mapping technology to save lives in Southern Africa.
What's your dream engineering job when you graduate?
I would love to work in remote areas with indigenous communities all over the world to help close the gap in areas of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and climate adaptive living.
What do you hope to achieve as a WE student leader?
To provide guidance, and clarification for young women looking into engineering, and to inspire you by highlighting how large of an impact you can have on people and the world through engineering. And encourage overseas opportunities!
