SURE – Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience

By Muhammad Shuja

Are you not SURE what to do after completing your degree? Are you not SURE if a PhD is the right option for you? Are you not SURE why I’m saying SURE a gazillion times? SUREly, you’ll know it all once you read this blog.

The Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE, sorry had to!) is a program run across all the departments at the University of Sheffield where a group of students work on a six-week paid research project over a summer. It is a fantastic opportunity for students to get an insight of what it’s like to pursuing research-based opportunities like a PhD. I myself was part of such a project in the summer of 2017 where I worked in the Department of Physics. My project was to assess the use of thermal cameras to improve building planning and reducing electricity bills in UK households. We were fantastic team of physicists, chemical and software engineers who worked together for six weeks on this amazing project. We built various simulations and models to test our cameras and use those results to present a report, while I worked on building a website for the entire project for future research and surveying purposes (link given below).

A SURE project definitely enhances your CV and your skills to work in a team of people who put their individual skill sets on the table. It also improves your communication skills since you have to ensure that all work is divided among the team with a clear idea of the progress being made.  All projects carried out over the summer are then presented at the SURE showcase in the next year to give all new students an idea of what has been done previously. The showcase then presents awards to the best projects in various categories. I was quite honoured when my team received the award for the ‘Best Networking Project’, since it was one of the few teams who worked with students coming from different disciplines.

For me, personally, this was an amazing experience to explore an entirely new career opportunity, something which I hadn’t considered before. It gives you the confidence of making a sound decision when choosing a career path after graduation.  You get to evaluate whether you’d be more interested in research as an engineer or if you’d prefer working in a team on a more technical project. Unfortunately, for me as a Software Engineer, I’ll prefer sticking to coding projects in a team and telling my friends to restart their computers if they have a problem (trust me, it always works).

Now that you’re SURE about what SURE is, you SUREly would plan to apply to Sheffield to explore these excellent opportunities which SUREly develops your skills and enSUREs that you have a competitive edge in industry once you graduate, which you SUREly will. Please feel free to add the number of SUREs in your head to the point where you start hating me, if that point hasn’t already passed. I’m SURE it has.

Working as an International Engineering Ambassador - By Haseeb Iqbal

With the year coming to an end, I felt like it was only fair to let the world know about one of the best experiences I’ve had as a student in Sheffield, which was working as an International Engineering Ambassador. Being a person who is always on the lookout for opportunities to get involved, I was quite excited when I applied for the role and then got short-listed for an interview which finally ended up with me successfully landing the role. Ever since then, I’ve had amazing opportunities to develop a wide range of skills, meet amazing people and most importantly, get loads of free food!

Our team of International Engineering Ambassadors is a large group of current engineering students. Our aim is to work together to use various means to reach out to prospective students, and giving them a taste of Sheffield’s life as an international engineering student. As an IEA, I got involved with the film team who are responsible for making short films which are then used for marketing and promotional purposes. I got to be in charge of the video editing, and even though I was a newbie, I was offered lots and lots of support from my team, which motivated me to work harder and also gave me an opportunity to polish my teamwork skills. The IEAs are in charge of the blogs you are reading right now, we also get to help out and organize University Open Days and course presentations for prospective students. Events like these enable you to engage in conversation with new people which is an excellent way of increasing your communication skills. Apart from that, I got to experience the sense of satisfaction with every prospective student I was able to help out while working at these events. To me, it feels like I’m giving back to the University for the support I received as a prospective and a current student.

Before you get bored of all the work I’ve had to do, let me tell you the fun bits. We do quite a few socials over the year where our awesome supervisor makes sure we are treated to delicious desserts and fun games! We get the chance to meet all the ambassadors from various departments of Engineering, talk about our personal experiences and also share insights about our courses and departments. Working as an IEA has been a wonderful and gifting experience for me. It is something I proudly highlight on my CV and continue to look forward to more opportunities as I go forward in my journey as an IEA at Sheffield University.

Christmas Break School Visit

Written By Ioan Alexandru Herdea

Holidays are the time of the year when most students go back home. Some of them to spend time with their families or just to go back to meet up with old friends. What is guaranteed, is our aim to maximise our opportunities in those short time slots.

The last break in this academic year was at Christmas, some of us IEAs headed back home. As we love the University of Sheffield so much, it is inevitable that we want to tell others about our life here and about the Faculty of Engineering. I had already mentally prepared my talk about Sheffield in readiness to answer questions received from my family about my time here.

I hoped to share my experience about the first semester with students at my old high school and others schools if possible. I have to admit that I did not simply go straight into classes and start talking to the students! Before leaving Sheffield, members of the IEA organised a training session on carrying out presentations in schools. This excellent and informative session, was run by Marta Grzybek and Abhinav Kongari. Plus, I got a polo shirt with the UoS and the IEA Logo on it, which is amazing!!! Just imagine the feeling of walking among old high school mates and teachers with that emblazoned on your chest.

In preparation for my visit I created my own PowerPoint presentation. It was pretty straightforward and didn’t take long, as I only had about 45 minutes speaking time. My talk was not for promotional or marketing purposes but to inform students about my personal experiences, including what Sheffield is like as a city, student life, my course, being an IEA, the process of enrolment, and of course, talking about our much loved Diamond building.

Now…I think it is time to tell you about how the presentations actually went. Well, I was very surprised to find out that at least 30 students were interested in what I was going to talk about. This happened at each presentation and was carried out in three different places. I have to mention that, from my own point of view, opening yourself up in front of a such a large group of people may be a bit scary and you may be nervous. However, for me it was the complete opposite. The experience gave me so much confidence, to know that my words were so interesting to others. The fact that I was studying abroad at such a high ranking institution, the University of Sheffield, provoked a lot of interest. I began my presentation by going through slides with a lot of enthusiasm. As I had rehearsed what I was going to say, I was able to keep an eye on my audience and noticed that they were all avidly listening. When it came to the Q and A session, there were many raised hands. I was asked all types of questions from fees to how much I spend on parties!

Finally, I shall not forget about the last visit I made. The audience was made up of rugby players and as I am quite a slender person, and could be described as a ‘stick’, when I was surrounded by them, it reminded me of a Laurel and Hardy film, but the feeling was good. This is because I am also a professional player, I know that participating in team sports, helps to build a good character, so I was sure they would be quiet and they would pay attention.

  

Now that a few months have passed by, I realize what an amazing experience it was. I feel so proud to represent my University everywhere I go and I would strongly recommend everyone to do this. This experience can give you so much confidence and provide a lot of fulfilment during your academic years.

Meet Our International Engineering Ambassador - Ronak Sharma

Course: Computer Systems Engineering with Year in Industry (MEng)

Nationality: Indian

Hi guys!! I am from Delhi the capital city of India - a country where every great race and religion finds a home. Although being Indian, I was born in the Netherlands but lived there for only an year. I have been living in Delhi for the past 18 years. I began my journey to Sheffield in 2015 and have been loving this journey ever since. I am studying Computer Systems Engineering (don’t confuse it with Computer Science) under the department ACSE (Automatic Controls and Systems Engineering).

Initially, I was a bit confused about which engineering stream to pursue as I have always liked the combination of programming, mechanics and electronics. So, this led me to choose Computer Systems Engineering. This degree has opened up a whole new world by providing me with the opportunity to learn all these topics on a single course. Also, UoS (University of Sheffield) is the only  university in the UK that has a department dedicated to controls and systems engineering. It is also one of the best in the world!

I have been enjoying my course because of the flexibility it provides between theoretical and practical coursework. I have always liked opening things up and gaining hands-on experience. This course has provided various opportunities to do so. The laboratory sessions have allowed me to use and understand the concepts taught in the lectures whilst strengthening my practical skills. Apart from this, I was fortunate enough to receive the India Undergraduate Merit Scholarship by UoS which helped me financially and motivated me to start my journey here.

Having the UK’s best voted Students’ Union provides various opportunities to relax and take a break from academic work. There are over 100 societies and committees that can be joined to overcome your stress when times get tough. I am involved in various societies which I really enjoy and have fun but I am also able to develop various new skills.

Due to its cultural diversity, Sheffield is the second home for many students who come from different international backgrounds. Sheffield has great places to visit such as the Peak District which is on the outskirts of the city and perfect for people who love hiking and trekking. Life in Sheffield is great so you won’t get too homesick.

Finally, the advice I would like to give to you is to do a lot of research when deciding which course to pursue and which University to choose. This decision will help shape your life. From my personal experience, anyone considering doing something similar to my course, I would recommend UoS because of its high academic reputation and the numerous opportunities to participate in a wide variety of extracurricular activities.

Summer Internship Experience in Malaysia by Lucas L

I spent the summer of 2016 on the forefronts of development in the Malaysian construction industry, as I practiced on a futuristic tool that has revolutionized global construction. This is my story …

Dawn…

A tranquil ambiance blanketed the massive 34-acre site, sitting at the edge of Peninsular Malaysia’s administrative capital, Putrajaya. Early birds arriving on site enjoyed the cool morning climate, coupled with the scent of fresh earth and concrete around the bare land. Welcoming workers entering the site was a giant sign naming the “Parcel F” site while banners of Sunway Construction fluttered proudly along the perimeter fence.

30 minutes later…

The silence was replaced with blaring sirens, signaling the start of the workday. Trucks, rollers, and bulldozers roared to life; towering cranes recovered from their dormant states, controlled by their puppeteers. Site engineers took their places around the 10-office-block site, skillfully directing workers in mending steel and casting concrete. I, had the privilege of being assigned to the company’s pioneering Building Information Modeling (BIM) department. I headed to the satellite office at the edge of the site, ready to start my day as an intern BIM engineer.

Just for your information, BIM was a budding piece of tech in the historical construction industry. The system utilizes a series of computer programs to generate an accurate digital representation of a structure, allowing also the effective management and optimization  of various aspects throughout the construction supply line from design, coordination, and delivery.

The Malaysian construction industry had only begun to embrace this newfangled system. Design works are typically conducted using conventional methods (sketches, 2D CAD, human calculations etc). Sunway Construction, being an innovative player within the local construction industry, had recently begun to integrate this technology recently into their supply line.  

Armed with a computer and a plethora of plans given by design consultants, my job comes in in the early stages of the BIM supply chain, in which I produce/amend structural and

architectural models. ‘Accuracy’ and ‘buildability', are the two words that summarize the critical aspects of my job. An accurate representation of the actual structures was vital as the models will be used for analysis throughout the production line. In order to deliver a high level of  accuracy, I had to dig through a trove of design plans and detailed drawings. A ‘buildable’ structure was ensured through a critical analysis of the model, i.e. there was a need to be able to identify and report design failures or discrepancies, between the design detail of all trades as the models are being made (architecture, structural, mechanical and electrical) to ensure the structure could be delivered smoothly on site.

The true effectiveness of BIM becomes apparent down the supply chain. Utilizing the delivered models, experienced engineers will then conduct further checks such as clashes with services, plan construction phases and conduct precise estimates of material volumes required for construction. The final product will then be a model that integrates the complete set of information of the true structure being built. From then on, plans are shipped out to site engineers for casting.

The main advantage of my industrial experience was witnessing the deviation of the engineering field from the conventional tedious calculations and field labour to a more effective technocentric path. I have to admit that the emphasis placed on technological fluency at the University in structuring their course, runs parallel to industrial requirements, allowing me a quick transition into my placement role. Just writing this article brings back memories of  recent  MATLAB programming coursework, which prompted students to figure out the most effective algorithm to analyze parameters and determine the most effective method of training a baseball player (slightly unorthodox for civil engineers, but a fun topic nonetheless). The principles of optimization using technology highlighted by such coursework from the underlying principles of which BIM is established for.

At the end of the 12 weeks, my industrial training program came to an end and so did a chapter of my student life. But with this experience, I now possess an insight which will be helpful in my preparation for the future as the global construction industry treads down this technocentric path.

Interview with a student who secured a Graduate role

By Muhammad Shuja

This blog is a transcript of an interview I took with a final year Engineering student, who successfully secured a graduate role. This will give you an idea of the firms you can land in if you are a student at Sheffield. This particular student did various placements to gain enough experience for his graduate job. However, not all students prefer going through the same process. Therefore, I’ll post another interview with a student who secured a full-time job but didn’t do any placements to let you explore all the options students have.

Question: Tell me about yourself. (Name, course, where you’re from etc.)Answer: My name is Shoaib Rana, I am a final year Mechanical Engineering student. I am from Oman.

Question: Where have you secured your graduate role?Answer: I have secured my graduate job at Rolls Royce. It was a company I always wanted to work for and by obtaining good grades and gaining industrial experience, I was able to secure it.

Question: Have you completed any placements during your course? If yes, where? If no, how did you compensate with the lack of industrial experience?Answer: Yes, at General Motors UK. I also completed a summer placement at Bahwan Engineering, Oman, in my first year, and another summer placement after my second year in Oman United Engineering Services. So I got a comprehensive work experience during my degree.

Question: How did the entire process of job applications, interviews, assessment centers and finally securing your position go for you?Answer: I sent many applications and had some assessment centers. I accepted the job offer from Rolls Royce as I had aimed for it at the start of the year.

Question: Where did you look for firms offering graduate roles suited to your preference?Answer: Gradcracker, Sheffield University Careers Service. I also attended the university careers fair and a careers day that had been organized by my department.

Question: What advice would you give to prospective students or students who are currently looking for graduate positions?Answer: Try to gain experience through a summer or industrial placement. These are easier to secure as they are less competitive as compared to graduate jobs. This placement experience will give them an edge over the others who apply for graduate jobs.

Question: Do I have your consent of posting a transcript of this conversation online?Answer: Yes

Thanks a lot for your time!


Click here for more information about careers: https://www.shef.ac.uk/careers

Interview with a student after their Placement Year

By Muhammad Shuja

This blog is a transcript of an interview I took with a final year Bioengineering student at Sheffield who came back after completing her industrial placement, to give you an idea about the application procedures and how degrees with placement years can be beneficial.


Question: Tell me about yourself.
Answer: My name is Hira Nayyar and I am currently in my final year of Bioengineering. I was originally born in Pakistan but moved to the UK at the age of 7.


Question: Where did you do your placement year?

Answer: After successfully completing my second year of Bioengineering, I was able to secure a placement at Philips Healthcare.


Question: How was your time at the firm?

Answer: Being one of the global leaders in Healthcare, I could not have asked for a better place to start my career in engineering. I was given various opportunities and experiences that developed into a better engineer. Philips gave me a platform to showcase my existing skills, yet further enhanced and added to them.


Question: On a scale of 1-10, 1 being very easy and 10 being very difficult, how would you rate the difficulty of the application procedure? And why?

Answer: I would rate the application procedure a 7 as the process was lengthy and challenging due to the mixture of video interviews and competency based application procedures.


Question: Where did you look for placements?

Answer: I used various sites like GradCracker, prospectus and the University Careers Service.


Question: What factors do you think should be considered before applying to a firm?

Answer: A related degree, similar past experiences and if the chosen firm can develop on an applicant’s existing skills.


Question: How would you say graduating with a placement affects your employability after graduation?

Answer: In my opinion having placement experience affects employability immensely, as employers look for graduates who are well groomed. Someone that has had business exposure and knows how to apply their technical knowledge from University to real-life problems.


Question: What advice do you have for prospective students or students looking for placements?

Answer: If you’re looking for placements, apply as soon as possible and don’t be disheartened at the first few rejections. Keep updating your CV and tailor your application and it eventually gets through.


Question: Do I have your consent of posting a transcript of this conversation online?

Answer: Yes.



Thanks a lot for your time!

Click here to get more information about placements: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/placements

Interview with a Postgraduate Student

By Muhammad Shuja

This blog is a transcript of an interview I took with a Postgraduate Engineering student to give you an insight about postgraduate study at Sheffield.

Question: Tell me about yourself.

Answer: My name is Fahad Zulfiqar and I am from Pakistan. Currently I am enrolled in Masters in Advanced Computer Science at University of Sheffield.

Question: What did you study at undergraduate level and where?

Answer: I completed my Bachelors of Engineering Sciences from Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology in Pakistan.

Question: Why did you choose to pursue a postgraduate degree?

Answer: I was greatly intrigued by the Engineering Sciences stream and felt a need for Master’s Degree to further hone my skills. With computer science stream on the boom and the paucity of computer scientists, I strongly felt a need to differentiate myself from the masses with a postgraduate degree from the reputed institute.

Question: What were you reasons of choosing Sheffield to do your postgraduate course?

Answer: With a top-notch faculty and state-of-the-art labs, University of Sheffield is a Premium institute with a top rank in Computer Sciences stream. The breadth and depth on Computer Science curriculum further helped me in my decision. Moreover, an eclectic mix of people would enable me to improve my communication skills and groom myself.

Question: How has your time in Sheffield been so far?

Answer: Considering both academics and extracurricular activities, my time in Sheffield University has been great so far. I got a chance to groom myself together with mastering the concepts in the field I absolutely love.

Question: How would you compare your current course to your undergraduate degree?

Answer: The difficulty level of Masters in Computer Science is immense as compared to my Bachelor’s degree. This was partly due to the fact that the Computer Science program at Sheffield is directed toward the market trends and requirements. Facilities such as 24/7 library access and a serene environment made it possible for me to achieve my goals. Support from my faculty and friends is always available, making it a fun learning experience.

Question: What do you plan on doing upon completion of your course?

Answer: My goal is to work in a reputed software corporate and further hone my skills as a software developer.

Question: What advice would you give to prospective students or perhaps students thinking about going into postgraduate study?

Answer: The most important thing in life is to proceed in a field for which you develop a strong aptitude. With competitive job market and more computer scientists pouring out, postgraduate study is definitely a safe bet at the least. Postgraduate qualification from a Russell Group institute will definitely improve one’s chance of landing in a well reputed corporate.

Question: Do I have your consent of posting a transcript of this conversation online?

Answer: Yes

Thanks a lot for your time.

Employer Fest: Engineering

By Muhammad Shuja

This blog is to let you know about Employer Fest, one of the many career-based events the University hosts every year for its students.

Struggling to find placements or have too many options to decide a graduate career? The answer to every question you might have regarding careers, Employer Fest – your chance to get hands on information about placements or graduate roles through a series of events from February till March. Though the University hosts an Employer Fest for each Faculty, I’ll be talking specifically about Engineering.

Regardless of whether you’ve secured a placement or have no idea what the word means (I’m pretty sure it’s something you take when you’ve got the flu), Employer Fest will help you through each stage of the process. There’s loads of workshops from the Careers Service, regarding all the options you can consider, a year-long placement if you want to get hands-on experience of the industry, a summer-placement if you don’t want a gap from studies, or perhaps a placement in a country abroad which is quite an experience in itself. Furthermore, there’s lecturers from staff working at various firms who give you an idea about the application process, to give you extremely vivid information narrowed down to specific firms. The firms are multinational firms who are leaders of their specific fields. I’m talking about Google, Apple, Accenture, PWC etc. You can have the event tailored to your requirements. For instance, international students might want to know more about immigration policies before they get searching for placements. The JobShop runs regular workshops for exactly that. For finalists, you might be more interested in graduate positions than placements. For postgraduate students, you might want to look for postgraduate placements and you can find specific event to suit your needs. For those of you who are nervous of performance issues during interviews and assessments, there’s a great load of events from both employers and from the Careers Service who will be more than happy to give you one on one advice about interviews, assessments, CVs and absolutely any worries you might have. Last but not the least, the main highlight of Employer Fest: Engineering is the Engineering Placements Networking Event. Employers from world-class firms all gathered around to ask any questions you might have – applications, interviews, the work environment, further opportunities or even how much you can earn (*ahm ahm* I sense a twinkling of the eye)! To conclude, with a whole month jam-packed with career-based events, you’ll definitely maximize your chances to get an awesome placement to earn some dolla while you do what you love!

Global Engineering Challenge 2016

By Muhammad Shuja

This blog will give you an insight about the Global Engineering Challenge in general, something engineering undergraduates take up in their first year at Sheffield.

This will be the time you realise the impact engineers and engineering itself has on the real-word and how much the world is in need of engineers for various aspects of the industry, all the way from healthcare to agriculture.

Teams of 5 or 6 students from different engineering disciplines will be asked to come up with a solution to real-life problem, which they have to present to an audience of other teams, a facilitator and some alumni of the university. Each team is assigned a work space in a hub where they have a facilitator to guide them through the decision-making progress. This seems daunting at first but a lot of support is offered to students in the form on introductory lectures and first hand help from facilitators since the university realizes that the students haven’t transformed into perfect engineers to come up with solutions to such tough problems after just one semester. The whole point of GEC is to allow you to push your comfort zone through working in a multi-disciplinary team where you work with total strangers from different backgrounds and experiences. You deal with both the merits and hurdles of this situation, a skill which is very necessary after graduation since this is what engineers do a lot. All team members get to be the leader for a day which allows to boost leadership and communication skills as you have to work with people with different leading strategies. There are awards for the "Best Professional Behaviour" and the "Best Communicated Solution" at the end of the week.

Another very interesting part of GEC is the Alumni Day. This is when you get to meet graduates from the University who are working for various firms in the country and get to know their experiences and explore various opportunities for summer placements or industrial placement years. The best thing about this event is that you get to have face-to-face information about a particular company from someone who is currently working there, which allows you to make a sound decision when it comes to applying for placements or even graduate jobs.

To summarize, the Global Engineering Challenge allows you to work in a multi-disciplinary team, work on a real-life project, learn about different branches of engineering, have an experience to talk about in interviews or job applications, and explore various employment opportunities … all of this in just one week!

I’ve posted a link to this year’s GEC website where you can get an idea about the sort of projects students work on and also a video about this year’s GEC.

GEC Website

The Course Choosing Conundrum

By Haider Janjua

One of the most important decisions that you make after your high school is to select what you want to study for your bachelors. This decision affects your whole life so it should be a well thought out and wise decision.

Having gone through the process myself, I have thought what advice would have been beneficial for me as far as choosing the course is concerned. So I have written the following points that should be taken into consideration.

In my opinion, the decision should be made during the summer after high school first year examinations. It would leave enough time for you to then concentrate on how to achieve the required grades for the chosen subject area.

The first thing that you have to ask yourself is, whether you are passionate about a particular course/ field or not? If you are passionate about something, already know a great deal about the subject area, you don’t have to go any further. Just work on getting the required grades and go for it.

But if you don’t have a particular preference then you have to follow a process to choose the right field of study. Most of the students already know the general area that they want to choose and have chosen their A Level/High School subjects accordingly. The most important thing that should be done is to research every possible degree course that you can apply according to your subjects. It would be a good idea to make notes for that. Write the degree course on top followed by a brief description. Add all of the modules that you will have to study and a brief description about them. In the end and it is an important parameter, you should include the details about the job prospects.

Research is important as you might find something that you never knew before but is quite interesting. Before coming to the university, I didn’t know that there were engineering courses such as Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, Materials Engineering and Bio Engineering.

The next thing to do is to think about your strengths. Which subjects do you find the easiest? Even decide between subjects like maths and physics. Now choose the courses from your research which have the related modules to the subjects that you like. For example, if you find maths and chemistry quite easy the related courses that you can choose are maths, chemistry, chemical engineering, civil engineering and material engineering. If you like biology and yet you like maths bioengineering could be chosen.

For the next phase, in order to further narrow down your options, think of what would you like to do? Never choose a particular area just because your parents might want you to do that or you think that it would have better job prospects or it is termed as a worthy subject. Never choose something just because you feel like choosing that, always do research about the subject and choose accordingly.

By this time you would have narrowed your options down to two or three areas. If you know someone who is studying /has studied the particular courses, ask their opinion. It is because the person already studying the particular course has more knowledge about the area than you can have even after doing extensive research. Also think about the job prospects at this stage. Is it easier to get a job or not? Think about your home country and whether the course has good scope in your country.

In the end, use your gut feeling to choose from the final two/three choices and may the odds be always in your favour!

Meet Our IEA Alumni: Hera Shams Khan

Department: Bioengineering

Course: MEng Biomedical Engineering 

Nationality: Pakistan

What was your favourite subject at school?
It would not be fair if I named only one; I liked Physics and Biology both, equally.

How did you decide which degree course to take?
I wanted to do contribute to healthcare but not in a clinical environment. I chose my degree so that I can help reduce all the pain the patients have to go through while diagnosis and treatment- but 21st century style. I wanted to create machines for them that would be cheaper, faster, more efficient and robust so that for instance, they do not always have to keep coming back to hospitals for their numerous tests and then their reports.

What advice would you give to people about to choose a university course?One should be extremely cautious while choosing a university course. It is the decision you make now which is going to be the centrepiece of your professional career all your life. It is crucial to research extensively and then to think about the subject that you think you can work on all your life.

What inspired you/Who inspired you to follow this route?Coming from a family of doctors, my visits to hospitals were quite frequent and the unnecessary suffering of patients while diagnosis and treatment used to bother me, so I decided to do a degree that would enable me to reduce it.

What do you particularly enjoy and why?
The diversity of my course baffles me at times but if I think about it that is exactly what makes it so interesting. Biomedical Engineering is an interdisciplinary course, I have to do core engineering modules with Electrical, Mechanical and Control engineers and then I have to do modules where I have to work on cadavers and learn about Cellular and Molecular Biology and the Musculoskeletal System. The transition is hard to get used to but then one starts to correlate the mechanisms in the body to any normal engineering concept.

Best job/most fun/most fulfilling/challenges.
One of the best things I like about University is the Union. There are always hundreds of events happening all year round through the Union, which you can get involved in.

One of the events I took part in this year was the International Language Festival. The idea was to teach your native language to the visitors at the Festival. I taught Urdu at it. The Festival gave me an opportunity to learn more about my language, meet new people and make friends! It was indeed a remarkable experience and one that I will always have fond memories about.

How is studying your subject or methods of learning different at university than at school?
Studying at University is quite different from school. Although, the structure of the course is similar to school like we have assessment/quizzes during the term and an exam at the end of the term but one does not feel pressured at University. The lecturers would neither be displeased with you for doing badly in a quiz or compliment you for doing well in it, the results are kept anonymous in most cases and you can judge yourself accordingly.

What are your plans for the future/dreams/goals?
I wish to work as a Clinical/Biomedical Engineer in a firm that is involved in making medical instrumentation (eg. Philips Healthcare, Dräger, etc).