Overview

There are five departments in the Faculty: Department of Civil Engineering, Department of Computer Science, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering. To equip students with practical working experience, most students are required to take Engineering Internship or Workshop Training in the summer after the first year of study. It also encourages students of the BEng programmes to participate in student exchange programmes so as to widen their horizons, expand their international exposure, enrich their learning experience and learn to appreciate different cultures, by studying abroad at prestigious engineering schools.

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I. Engineering Internship

Cases: Internship

Yr 2 Summer voluntary work: Ming De Project
Adrian Lai

Task Performed
My internship was known as the project Ming De. Myself and my other classmates were responsible for designing a primary school in a village located in the Mainland. We started off from scratch to drafting detail drawings, everything was done by us. We had to attend a course learning codes used in the Mainland prior to engaging in the project because their practice was very different from ours. In the project, we had to consider a lot of things such as earthquakes. We also consulted architectural firms from the outside to get their advice and opinions prior to engaging in this project. We had to draft a lot of technical drawings and we could not take things casually, for contractors would build according to what you had drawn. Since we had committed ourselves to this project, we had to finish meeting deadlines no matter how busy we were.

Reflection
It was useful for there were things we couldn’t learn at lectures. To me, it was a hands-on experience. We’d learned a lot of theories in class, but I would hardly believe in such theories if I couldn’t experience them in person or with my own eyes. By the time you actually did the whole project, experienced the whole process, you would finally believe what you had learnt in class was true. At secondary, we used to do a lot of calculations, but we never knew whether the answers were authentic or applicable in nature. But as you saw in the actual construction, the product let you realize the taught knowledge was real.

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Yr 2 Summer internship: e-learning
Thomas Yau

Task Performed
We went to a primary school located in Sichuan mainly to help set up a system in there. This system included a few parts: solar boards; multi media classroom; and an e-learning system. I was a team leader. Above me was the “project director” or “project supervisor”, I would follow his/her order by choosing, arranging and gathering appropriate members to work under him/her. Besides managing team-mates, I had to teach them technical skills for some were not from the engineering field, and so I had to arrange certain training for them. I was responsible for establishing a bridge between my supervisor and my team-mates.

Reflection
I could see caring between humans. In Hong Kong, rarely do we help someone whom we don’t know. When we got there, we could feel that they needed us, they needed us to help. Disregard whether it was a big issue or a minor issue, I would help initiatively, and I would help as much as I could. After coming back to Sichuan, I have changed for I will provide help initiatively whenever I can.

When doing construction, you will encounter various types of problems, some due to your thoughtlessness whereas some due to emergency cases. You have to know how to handle these problems, can’t sit there and wait for the lecturer to come over to help. You have to learn how to solve the problem on your own.

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Yr 2 Summer internship: ‘Beyond The Pivot’ and’ Light for Children’
Chan Kaai Hei

Task Performed
I worked in Fabi Timbers Limited in Ghana, Africa. First, I learned the method of doing a project individually. I learned the way to plan and outline a project and communicate with my supervisors to ensure my plan is in his expected right direction before I start. Second, I learnt how and where to search relevant information and I learnt an efficient way to get all the necessary information which can save me a lot of time. Third, I also learned a lot of theories and practical skills.

Reflection
I experienced the life of an engineer and the life of working overseas in Africa. Although the working experience only last for a few weeks, the more important thing is to see and learn things that cannot experience in the lesson. It was a wonderful experience for me to gain practical work and work overseas.