Hi, i'm Tierney and I'm here with my lecturer Jiwon and we're here to answer
some of your questions.
Okay I've got the first question, what is the most interesting thing you've
learned that has not been part of your coursework?
UQ was really wonderful in terms of the extra-curricular things that we could do
and I was really fortunate to be able to take advantage of that in
the Icarus Program where you were part of my
program but I also got to go overseas and so I got to go to China and I got to
go to Canada and even Nepal so I think as part of
that one of the things that I really learned is that it's
a big world out there but the experiences that you have at uni
and studying your classes can also be relevant around the world and no
matter really where you are as long as you take it with you.
So what opportunities do your students have to get hands-on experience in
industry? Well I think that we are now living in
a world where a lot of digital transformation is happening
so I think one of the most important attributes that
the students are required to have is the digital literacy.
In our school we have various types of extra-curricular programs one of
them was called Icarus Program which connects groups of students
with academics to give an opportunity for students to
learn various the the projects the coming from real world context so
students have opportunity to learn and work with the
industry the partners and mentors and I think
that those opportunities are really important and useful for
students to learn hands-on experiences for industry. What does a day in the life
of an engineering student look like? Every day
is different but generally as a student you'll
come and do a lecture in the mornings first of all
and then generally that will be followed up with the tutorial so lecture
you'll be sitting in a rather big hall learning material directly from your
lecturer and then in the tutorials it'll be a
smaller class sort of more like school and you'll do work through problems and
ask questions to get you know a bit more personal
feedback and then generally you know you might do that a few times
in the day or you might have a lab which would be like experiments and
hands-on experience in what you're learning
and then generally people will get together and do study
for exams and then often there's a lot of things going around on campus so you
might finish your day with a society event or
just hanging out with friends so it's a pretty good day in the life to be honest.
If you were employing the next engineering graduate what would you be
looking for?
I would be looking for students who have certainly technical skills because in
the tech driven world we live in
the students need that skills but at the same time I think that
the software skills like communication skills and
also the ability to work with others and such skills are also very important.
What are the most valuable skills you've learned as part of your degree?
Well that goes on pretty well from what you've just said
obviously a lot of really good technical learning happens here
with our wonderful lecturers and tutors so you know that's really unparalleled
and when you walk into industry it's really great to feel like you've got
that behind you but there are a lot of other things
that I've learned here as well definitely networks and communicating
with not only peers but lecturers and other
people in a professional kind of way as well as in a social way
and I guess being able to bring in the social side of things into those
relationships to build and make them a bit stronger.
How do you prepare students for the future when we don't know what the
future looks like? Because this world is unknown and I also
try to teach my students such that they can um actually learn the
ability to learn whenever some problem happens the
ability to solve the problems when they face challenges and I think
that the problem-solving skills and
ability to learn when necessary is very important.
What do you think employers in your industry are looking for and
how do you think UQ has equipped you with these skills?
Engineering employers are looking for obviously students who know what they're
talking about in some senses but I think above
everything else they're really looking for people who are approachable,
easy to talk to and are willing to learn and give a go
and also willing to maybe fail but pick themselves up and keep learning and
keep trying and I think those sorts of
resilience skills and ability to be really interested in actually what
you're doing so that you can push yourself
that's something that UQ really teaches you
no one can tell you that it's easy but
you know you get through and you really learn a lot
by the way that you can you know you study here
and learn how. So if you could give me one piece of advice that would set me
apart as a job candidate what would it be? My advice would be
to find you what you really like and and highlight what you are
really good at and although you think there will be a lot of things that
you have to do well and there are a lot of skills that
you have to learn but the the world is very diverse place and
there are a lot of jobs that really require specific skills
so just focus on what you really like and highlight what you
are really good at I think that you will certainly find
the job that really fits you and your profile.
This is the last question, how does the way you learn at UQ
teach you the skills you need to face an unknown future?
Learning at UQ is really quite a good experience
because although you know you will learn things directly from your lecturers you
might not always and you are often faced with challenges
and problems to solve that may not have an answer that's clear-cut
and a lot of engineering is like that it requires
judgment and no one can really sit there and say
yes or no so I did really find that although
it's challenging in a lot of my courses that's what my lecturers tried to teach
me that I could look at a problem come up
with a solution and then have the judgment to say is
that right is that reasonable what's the justification for this and
that is a lot of what happens in industry because at the end of the day
there's no right or wrong answer sheet for life.