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 Student
testimonials
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Liwu Cai
Northern Ireland, 2007
My intention for going to Northern Ireland was to learn, but not just about
work. Work was interesting though, there were times when I worked taking trips to England and back for critical situations that
had to be resolved, and this was a good experience.
It has been long said that life is what you make of it, and for those who
believe it, no other situation allows you to sharpen your wits, test your
resourcefulness and reward you with genuine life long friendships than a
foreign country. For those that would live life to the brim, see the feature
instead of the trailer, act on the world stage instead of university; IAESTE
offers all this and more. Many thanks to Rochelle Ades, Juliet Eardley and
Karen Moses of IAESTE (UK), the experience was life changing and still is.
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Michael Dubs
Germany, 2007
As a second year Computer Engineering student at UNSW, I am in the middle of
a 3-month IAESTE traineeship at the Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum. At the
Communications Security (COSY) Department, which is world famous in its
field of applied cryptography, my project is aimed at trying to find the
secret key of a hardware cryptographic implementation.
I arranged to articulate my IAESTE traineeship straight into a formal
exchange semester starting in October so my stay in Germany will extend into early 2008.
On top of the new engineering skills I am learning during the working week
at COSY, the IAESTE Local Committee in Bochum is ensuring the 10 Trainees
from all around the world who are here over the European summer are having
the most fantastic time. Apart from the Munich weekend which united
trainees from all over Germany over many beers, pretzels and sightseeing, we
have had a Tour de Ruhr, a weekend in Potsdam/Berlin and a visit to the Love
Parade in Essen.
So thanks to IAESTE Australia - I can strongly recommend the traineeship
program to any Australian engineering, science or IT student who is looking to
undertake some of their industrial training overseas.
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Sam Maurus Denmark, 2007
I am completing a 12-month IAESTE traineeship with Microsoft
Development Center Copenhagen (MDCC) in Denmark, the largest Microsoft
Development Center in Europe.
If there's one thing apart from developing software that MDCC excels
at, it would be the amazing working environment offered to the staff.
Managers are very helpful/friendly and are extremely flexible with
working hours as long as the work gets done.
People in Denmark lead a very active social life. IAESTE Denmark
truly are the masters of organising trips and gatherings for their
trainees. After less than six weeks in the country, I had already
taken part in a weekend cruise to Oslo (Norway), another weekend trip
to a cottage in the beautiful Danish countryside and met countless new
friends from all over the world.
I truly am having the time of my life. The professional and personal
experience I will gain from this placement will be priceless, and I
strongly encourage any eligible student to seriously consider applying
for an overseas placement through IAESTE. I have yet to find any
reason not to!
Sam Maurus 4th-year student in BEng (Robotics & Mechatronics) / BSc (Computer Science & Software Engineering)
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Vanessa Lea
Oman, 2006
In June 2006 I found myself doing an IAESTE placement in Oman - a country I had barely heard of before, let alone considered visiting! For 10 weeks I worked on meteorological and environmental science research projects, under the only female professor in her department,at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat . Not only did I get to see real world applications of the topics I had been studying in my Arts/Science degree, I had the chance to experience the long process of submission and revision of a paper for publication in a scientific journal. One of the reports I co-produced with my supervisor during my placement is soon to be published in an environmental engineeringjournal.
Moreover, I was able to enjoy the incredible hospitality of the Omani people, see the country's amazing landscapes and meet other trainees from around the world. As all the IAESTE trainees were housed on campus it was the perfect opportunity for us to learn about each other's countries, from Norway and the Czech Republic to Tunisia and Afghanistan , as well as to establish friendships with the local students. Evenings were spent playing beach soccer together, having dinner at friend's houses, and even attending a traditional wedding.
On many weekends IAESTE Oman organised excursions for all the traineesto cultural, natural and historical sites. We also arranged our owntrips to see dolphins or swim at secluded beaches in the 45 degreeheat. Our novelty value as foreigners, being mainly from Westerncountries (quite a rarity in Oman ), meant we often made it into localnewspapers and on the TV on such excursions!
My experience in Oman , and in particular the generosity and opennessof the local people, has made me eager to return to the country and to the Middle East in general.
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Ivanco Neskovski
Germany, 2006
I arrived in Germany and I have already finished
nearly two weeks of work. The IAESTE committee
who met me here are really friendly and are helping
me out including; going out and mingling with
other trainees and students. It is still early
days but I believe that I'm going to have a really
good time here and learn a lot at work. The Fraunhofer
Institute is really good and they are really letting
me apply all of the things I have learnt at university
and also teaching me much more.
So thank-you again for all your help and I will
give you another update soon!
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Matt Gardner
London, 2006
Through IAESTE Australia I obtained a position
at Imperial College, London. It is regarded as
one of the top universities in England. With an
understanding of the global workplace in which
we operate, I regarded the opportunity to gain
experience beyond pure study as a definite must.
My position at Imperial College involved working
alongside postgraduate and PhD students with support
from one of the United Kingdom’s largest
fuel cell companies. Although my time in London
was relatively short, it allowed me to gain foresight
into practices and politics that all companies
must endure when researching and designing products.
The numerous contacts and ongoing opportunities
that have occurred since have been great for my
professional development.
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Kim Graham
Brazil, 2006
Brazil is fantastic! I am really enjoying my work.
I have already worked on some exciting projects
and everyone here is so friendly. There are three
other IAESTE students here as well and we are
all taking Portugese classes together. The family
that I am staying with is really accommodating
and I have my own little house in their backyard. |
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Eloise Kok
Denmark and Czech Republic, 2005
I was lucky enough to partake in two IAESTE traineeships
– one in Denmark for four months, and the
other in the Czech Republic for just over a year.
Both were interesting experiences – I would
definitely repeat them again! Being able to work
and attempt to learn a new language in a completely
different country provides invaluable knowledge
and is completely different to just travelling
through for a few days backpacking.
My two traineeships were completely different.
One I spent most of the time arranging my social
life and attempting to learn one of the most difficult
languages (Danish) whilst I prepared a report
template for the Stability Group within NovoNordisk.
The other I was assisting a fellow Australian
complete her PhD thesis.
Working in a veterinary research institute and
learning to overcome difficulties in culture,
as well as work ethic has been an interesting
learning experience.
I am lucky now enough to have been given the
opportunity to extend my latest traineeship and
following up my experiences by attempting my own
PhD in Finland.
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Thien Nguyen
Poland, 2005
It was an awesome experience!!!
Working in Poland provided me the experience
of being in a professional Research and Development
Laboratory, but it was the friends that I made
and the experience we had together that made it
a memorable one.
In our dormitory there were people from all over
the world. Everybody bought with them their personality,
culture and their sense of humour. The sad thing
was saying goodbye to each one of them because
I was the last trainee to leave Poland. Fortunately,
we have all brought back a special memory; a memory
of new friendships and of the good times we all
had together in Poland.
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Annie Sanderson
Tajikistan, 2005
I was an IAESTE exchange student in Tajikistan
for August and September of 2005.
My placement was in the town of Khujand, which
was the second largest city in Tajikistan after
Dushanbe, the capital. Tajikistan is a very interesting
place where you can receive the unique opportunity
to see a wonderful interface between the western
and Muslim worlds.
The people in Tajikistan are outstandingly hospitable.
A very large part of their culture is to care
for guests, and they do it wonderfully. I stayed
with a family in their home for the duration of
my stay. During that time I met their relatives
and friends, who all welcomed me with open arms.
The Tajikistani students in the IAESTE program
were also a pleasure to meet. They took care of
us, and showed us the sites around Khujand. Each
weekend we would go on social trips to see the
sites. Trips I went on included outlying villages,
weekend trips to the Tajikistan ‘sea’
called Kirakom. Kirakom is an enormous dam supporting
extensive hydroelectric scheme. Tajik people from
Khujand would go out to Kirakom on weekends with
family and friends and have a BBQ, drink some
beers and dance the afternoon away!
The music and dancing in Tajikistan were also
a highlight for me. The Tajik people love to play
loud music and dance at every opportunity - in
the public buses, weddings, parties and picnics.
A stereo would never be too far away, and with
it an afternoon of drinking and dancing. I had
a really great time learning the traditional Tajik
dance.
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Catherine
Man
Sweden, 2005
It has been a great experience working in Denmark,
which is geographically quite far away from home.
It was not just the work experience that I gained,
but also having to adapt to a different lifestyle,
environment and meeting various individuals that
gave me the satisfaction that I was previously
looking for before I started working here. I also
got to try many things that I had never thought
of before, such as snowmobiling, dog sledging,
visiting the ice hotel, watching the northern
lights, driving on ice roads to nearby archipelagos
and hiking in the famous Kungsleden.
Coming here was one of the best choices I have
ever made. Sverige ar jatte otroligt!
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Craig Handley
Denmark, 2005
It was always a great dream of mine, ever since
starting school, to travel overseas and simply
see what it was like on the other side of the
world. When the opportunity came up through IAESTE
I felt like my dream had come true. My position
was with a company called GN ReSound in Denmark.
Not only did I learn a lot about the Danish lifestyle
and cultural values, but the position also gave
me the opportunity to travel around Europe and
make lots of friends through the IAESTE network.
They also helped out with the accommodation and
paperwork issues which helped immensely during
my stay.
The experience gained from this position will
benefit me greatly in my future career. The cultural
lessons learnt including the work life balance
of the Scandinavian countries and the fun loving
culture of the southern European countries will
help me increase productivity during my working
career and hence make myself more employable.
The position was what I had hoped for plus plenty
more.
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