Ms Aqila Alkaff Senior Executive, Futures and Planning Division (Strategic Planning), Ministry of Environment and Water Resources Class of Bachelor of Environmental Engineering, 2014

 

What made you choose the course in NUS over other courses?

I have always been interested in maths and the sciences as well as passionate about physical processes and the natural environment.

What do you like most about the course and NUS etc?

The teaching staff, faculty and curriculum are what made my NUS experience unique. I am truly grateful for the dedicated staff and faculty who make our educational experience truly special.

The friends I have made, whether it be from my course, CCAs or Hall, also provided a good support system to get through uni life which can be tough at times, and spurred me to make the most of my time at NUS.

The campus and facilities also hold a lot of memories of my time at NUS, and visiting the campus after graduation will always be nostalgic.

What other activities/programmes were you involved in?

Global Engineering Programme (GEP)

During my time at NUS, I was in the Global Engineering Programme (GEP) which is an accelerated programme which lets me complete my degree in 3 years.

With a relatively short undergraduate career, I was motivated to make the most of my university life and this opened my eyes to the vast range of programmes that NUS offers, such as summer school, special terms, vacation internships, research opportunities, exchange programmes, overseas community projects, etc. While the workload was a bit challenging at times, the whole experience taught me a great deal about the importance of planning ahead. More than that, it taught me about the need to be ready to make changes to the plan along the way (and to know when to do so), to be nimble and to adapt.

Student Exchange Programme (SEP)

I did my SEP at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, during Year 2 Semester 2.

My semester-long exchange experience at Carnegie Mellon University was one filled with growth and discovery, as it was my first time living and studying abroad. Going to school in the US taught me a lot about the similarities and differences between different college education systems around the world, from the teaching faculty, to the school culture. It wasn’t all work and no play during my exchange, I tried skiing for the first time, I spectated school basketball matches, explored campus life (I found out the school has a Quidditch team!) and I caught a live baseball game in the Pittsburgh baseball stadium. During vacations and term breaks, I also got the opportunity to travel around the US. I took the following 6 modules during my SEP; Fluid Mechanics, Water Resources Engineering, Biological Wastewater Treatment, Mathematical Modeling of Environmental Quality Systems, Remediation Engineering and lastly, Environmental Life Cycle Analysis.

Vacation Internship Programme (VIP)

I did a Vacation Internship Programme (VIP) over the summer vacation period. My VIP was with the NUS Water Science and Technology lab, where I worked on a project on using Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) for wastewater treatment and BOD measurement, with a research scholar under Prof Ng How Yong. The VIP was unlike the typical industrial attachments in companies, as this was conducted in an NUS laboratory and was research-based in nature. It was a good opportunity for me to get acquainted with laboratory research work before doing FYP. Doing a research-based VIP in NUS also allowed me to better relate what I learnt to my environmental engineering syllabus as it was directly relevant to what I had learnt in my earlier modules.

Clubs and membership

I was part of the Environmental Science and Engineering Student Club (ESESC). I served as the Secretary within the Exco. I was also in Students against Violation of the Earth (S.A.V.E) and worked on the Green Wardrobes initiative.

How has the course helped you in your everyday/work life?

Pursuing engineering has ingrained in me analytical skills and intellectual capacity to think critically, synthesise information and present my ideas effectively.

Lifelong Learning Experience

In 2019, about 5 years after graduation, I enrolled in the School of Continuing and Lifelong Education (SCALE) programme for the Specialist Certificate in Civil Engineering. It is a course comprising 8 modules which allows Environmental Engineering graduates to bridge over to Civil Engineering discipline so that they have knowledge in both fields

What would you like to share with the incoming and current students?

Make the most of your time at NUS, you only get to be an undergraduate once 🙂