Meet Our IEA Alumni: Wu Xin

Department: Aerospace Engineering

Course: BEng Aerospace Engineering

My name is Wu Xin. I was studying in BEng Aerospace Engineering at the University of Sheffield.

From young I have a fascination with aircraft and always in curious about latest technology introduced in the aviation. I completed a Diploma in Aerospace Electronics in Temasek Polytechnic in Singapore. During the time, I developed interests in the aviation, in particular the aircraft propulsion, namely gas turbine engine. So I decided to switch from aerospace electronics (avionic) to aerospace engineering which more related to propulsion.

Sheffield is well-known in its mechanical, electrical, auto control and material engineering in the UK. In my course, I am greatly benefited by learning different modules offered from those departments. As aerospace covers a wide range of knowledge that many people described aerospace engineering graduates as ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’. But I strongly believe this knowledge is essential to aerospace engineers. As aviation is one of the most innovated industries, aerospace engineer needs to be resourceful to solve a problem efficiently regardless it’s a mechanical problem, or electrical or in combination.

I would like to work in the aviation industry in the future. Another reason for me to choose Sheffield is that the engineering faculty has a closed relation to industry and provides lots of placement and internship opportunities of world-class companies for engineering students. For these reason, I chose aerospace engineering as my major in the University of Sheffield.

I love Sheffield.

Sheffield is a cosy place to live and quiet place to study. If you want to calm down and study, here is a great place. I enjoy studying at school library (Western Bank) and occasionally relaxing myself at the lovely Western Park just nearby. But it doesn’t mean it is a boring place. There are plenty activities you can do here!  Our student union provides a whole range of activities like: clubbing, café social event, weekend tour, hiking etc. You can always find interesting activities going on whenever you want.

Life in Sheffield is easy. I could found daily necessities in the city with only 15 mins walk and my favourite restaurants in 20 mins walk. Tram and bus services lead you to everywhere in Sheffield city. Meadowhall is an amazing one-stop shopping centre which only 20 mins by tram from city.

Sheffield is really international. Personally, I like to socialise with people from different culture backgrounds as I could make friends from every corner of the world. Furthermore, in the future, working in an international company requires cooperation with colleagues from all over the world. Sheffield with a wide global community provides this opportunity for us to enhance communication skills and culture awareness before we join the society.

The only difficulty I found live in the UK is the weather. Since I lived in Singapore which is a fully tropical country (only two kind of weather: hot and rain) for 7 years, it was a hard time for me to adapt with the winter.

Bits and pieces about the first semester

By: Hui Choo, Tan - BEng Aerospace Engineering

I had been studying in Singapore before coming over to Sheffield for my BEng. To those who do not know where Singapore is, let me share some fun facts about her. Singapore is a tiny little country beside Malaysia. It is a country and also a city. There is only one season, which is summer all year round, with lowest temperature of about 24 degrees Celsius.

Why did I choose the University of Sheffield? I did some research before choosing the universities and I found out UoS is known as one of the best engineering universities in UK. In addition, a friend of mine who is studying in London suggested UoS as it is known for aerospace. Apart from these, UoS is ranked the top 100 of the 2014-2015 Times Higher Education World Universities Rankings’ Engineering and Technology.

University is about independent study although there are many hours of lectures, tutorial and laboratories. You will have to spend time doing revision to keep up with your work. It is all about time management so that you can play and study. UoS has many professors who are top in their engineering field, which is beneficial to the engineering students. Never be shy to consult them because they will be able to share their knowledge and experience.

What are the benefits of UoS?  There are many places that you can seek help from, as well as to get involved. The best place to seek help is the Students’ Union. The Careers Service is one of them and it is a good place to apply for future summer internships and placements. The school has various societies such as Engineering without Borders and Simurq UAV which are related to engineering.

What should you do before coming? Do lots of research! Check out the various stuffs and documents that you will have to prepare, the events that UoS organised for the prospective students and a little research about Sheffield. Get yourselves involved in various events during the Orientation Week and Introduction Week to make new friends. Lastly, be mentally prepared that you will feel homesick as you are far away from home. But this will shape you to be a better person as you will pick up new skills and gain valuable experiences. 

Meet our International Engineering Ambassadors: Au Hui Her

Name: Au Hui Her

Course: MEng Bioengineering

Background about myself

I am from Singapore, a really small tropical country in South East Asia, so small that it is practically a city itself. Consequently it was rather overwhelming when I first came to UK: the sheer size of this country was slightly daunting to me. However, I have always looked forward to studying overseas but my passion for travelling has been restricted due to the size of my home country, hence when the chance to study abroad presented itself to me, I immediately grabbed it.

Why The University of Sheffield?

When I was choosing which country to study in, UK was my top choice as Singapore’s education system closely mimics Britain’s, and The University of Sheffield is one of the few universities in Britain that offers bioengineering as a course. Part of the Russell Group, The University of Sheffield is known for its excellence in research, and since my course is mostly research-based, choosing The University of Sheffield was a no-brainer. Another reason why I chose The University of Sheffield is because of its cost. Sheffield is one of the cheapest city in Britain as the cost of living is 25% cheaper compared to London. Therefore the education I receive here is definitely value for money in my opinion.

Most enjoyable thing about your subject at The University of Sheffield

I find the most enjoyable thing about my course, bioengineering, at The University of Sheffield is that it is very broad. I learn a bit of everything, from control systems to electrical engineering to human anatomy, and eventually at the end I will be able to witness how all these different knowledge work together. In addition to this, we only have to decide on our specialization in the second year, which means that we get to learn more in depth about the different paths in bioengineering and make an informed choice the next year, which is very helpful for me.