Mechanical Engineering « Showcase Student Stories

Serving as a Bridge

NG Cheuk-Pan Derrick || BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering || Euroil Industrial and Trade Co. Ltd., Hungary

CIMG8388 Through a two-month internship arranged by IAESTE, Ng Cheuk-Pan Derrick, a Mechanical Engineering student, joined Euroil Industrial and Trade Co. Ltd., a petroleum engineering company in Hungary with over 18 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Apart from the engineering-related tasks, Derrick also took up the role of assisting the company to explore the China market.

As a leading oil and pipeline design company in Hungary, the company sees the potential of the Chinese market and is interested in doing business in China. Being the only Chinese person in the company, Derrick landed the mission of exploring the Chinese market. This additional assignment offered Derrick the opportunity to utilise not only his engineering skills and knowledge but also his language and communication skills.

“My very first task was to translate the company’s homepage from English to Chinese so that business operators in China could have access to Euroil and obtain information without a language barrier. Since I have never received any professional translation training, the job was hard for me,” he says. Derrick translated the website sentence by sentence into Chinese to complete the job. “I did treasure this experience. I am more confident about my language ability. Besides, through the translation, I gained a better understanding about the company background,” Derrick says.

In addition, Derrick also helped to collect and translate some articles about the engineering industry in China from Chinese into English in order to help the company understand the Chinese market and search for possible business partners. Derrick benefited from getting a more comprehensive picture of the Chinese engineering industry.

Stepping up the effort

Having gained more trust from his superior, Derrick started to search for Chinese engineering companies that potentially could be the targets for Euroil as suitable partners. I first needed to understand the basic criteria and essential attributes my boss required. Derrick also had to draft business letters in both Chinese and English on behalf of the company to invite possible business partners to collaboration. “However, without any experience of writing proper business letters in Chinese, I needed to find references on the Internet,” he says.

“I realised that you need to be well-equipped with different skills for all kinds of demands in the workplace. As an engineering major, communication skills are as important as solid technical training. Therefore we should always keep enhancing our competence.”

“I am glad that I managed to start some groundwork for Euroil to explore the China market. My communication and writing skills have been elevated to another level and I learnt how to communicate appropriately and effectively with colleagues and my superiors. In fact, I believe I have achieved more than I expected,” Derrick says.

Rating: 5.0/5 (6 votes cast)

Assimilated into Diverse Cultures

IP Ka-ki Eric || BENG (Hons) Mechanical Engineering || Graz University of Technology, Austria

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The summer internship in Austria was more than just a placement opportunity to mechanical engineering student Ip Ka-ki Eric. The compelling experience, which kicked off with a heartwarming reception, was an invaluable exposure opening up Eric’s world to different people and cultures.

Through the IAESTE programme, Eric went to Austria last summer for an internship being an assistant to a Professor at Graz University of Technology.

After long hours of flight and train rides, Eric reached his destination, Graz, at almost midnight. It was his first time stepping on Austrian land. To his surprise, an Austrian IAESTE officer was waiting for him at the train station even at this late hour.

“I was very much impressed by the warm welcome. Despite having spent 24 hours travelling, feeling tired and hungry, I didn’t feel lonely or homesick as there was someone taking good care of me,” Eric says. During the internship, Eric met different IAESTE trainees and fellow interns from different countries such as Canada, Greece, Italy, Germany and Macedonia. To help the trainees to get acquainted with each other and form a support circle, the local IAESTE office organised a weekly gathering, Regular Table, for the trainees.

“It was the best time to have a good time and chat with fellow IAESTE trainees in Austria. I learnt to say ‘cheers’ in many different languages and obtained knowledge about the culture of different countries,” says Eric.

A taste of Austria

At the very beginning, Eric, who can’t speak German, worried about the language barriers he would have in the German-speaking country. Fortunately, when he found that many Austrians also understood English, he put his anxiety aside. Eric also appreciated the great sense of humour of Austrians. “Chinese people place great emphasis on courtesy, and making fun of others is literally a kind of disrespectful behavior. However, from the Austrian’s point of view, making fun of each other is simply a demonstration of their sense of humour,” Eric says.

Through a weekend hiking organised by the local IAESTE office, Eric experienced another facet of Austria — the highly unpredictable weather. “At the start of the day, it was beautiful and sunny. However, when we began to climb up the mountain, it rained suddenly. The rain just got heavier and heavier. Eventually, it turned into a heavy downpour. So, we headed back to the train station. But once we entered an indoor area, the sun came out again,” Eric recalls.

To further explore the European country, Eric traveled to several famous Austrian cities such as Salzburg, Innsbruck and Hallstatt.

“I made a lot of friends from different cultural backgrounds and the experience strengthened my personal development. I am now much more independent and confident, especially in conversing in English even with strangers,” Eric says contentedly.

Rating: 4.1/5 (7 votes cast)