LEE Hoi-ying Fion || BSc (Hons) Engineering Physics || St. Jude Medical AB, Sweden
Employees in Europe might give people an impression that they are somewhat laid-back at work. However, when Lee Hoi-ying Fion worked in Sweden, in front of her was a batch of devoted and hardworking people who offered her a pleasant and inspirational working experience.
“They all worked as a team with a high morale. Also, my colleagues were all very open-minded. They were happy to accept different ideas and opinions from others. It was very rewarding to work with them,” Fion says.
The Engineering Physics student commenced her internship in Sweden at St. Jude Medical AB, a US-based medical device company famous for making pacemakers. Working under the development department, Fion was assigned to test the impedances of a pacemaker, make a register manual using Excel, complete a progress sheet and conduct measurements on IC chips.
With the knowledge and skills she had gained through training back in PolyU, Fion handled all her tasks independently and efficiently. She also tackled different obstacles when using apparatus during experiments and tests.
Nonetheless, new difficulties always occur at work. “I needed to use the software, Matlab, to generate some graphs from the data obtained. Matlab was something completely new to me and I had to teach myself some programming skills and search the internet for solutions,” she says. “In the end, the most effective solution was to seek help from my colleagues who shared a lot of their experience with me.”
The meaning of breather
The Swedish are coffee lovers and would treat themselves to a cup of coffee amidst their busy day. “My colleagues in Sweden enjoyed two coffee breaks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. During the break, we put our work behind us and just chatted. The coffee break was very refreshing and refuelled us,” Fion says.
Through interacting with her co-workers in Sweden, Fion has recognised the importance of having passion for work and the necessity to take a break at appropriate times. “Exposing to a different working culture has benefited me greatly. Such experience has catalyzed my growth,” Fion adds.
