ALUMNI

Ng Yi Shien 

Diploma in Civil Engineering with Business

Class of 2017

Singapore Concrete Institute Gold Medal 

The Institution of Engineers Gold Medal

DCEB, Singapore Polytechnic, School of ABE

Singapore Polytechnic has been a special place for me. It was here that I forged close and memorable friendships with classmates and lecturers, and had many opportunities to apply the civil engineering skills I learnt.

I fondly remember participating in the Poly60 run with my classmates, helping out in the Freshmen Orientation Programme as group leaders, bonding with our personal tutors over meals and games, and getting to know them better through a 3-day Overseas Civil Engineering Ecology and Environmental Education Trip to Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Joining the SP Navigators helped me grow as a person. I was part of the organising committee for several freshmen events, club activities and camps, where I made friends with many people from the other courses in SP. The Christian values embraced by the leaders, such as compassion and the worth of an individual, have influenced me to care for the needs of others and encourage them when they face challenges. I learnt to value people and spend more time building friendships with them.

Although it was tough understanding and applying the engineering concepts, my lecturers made school life much more bearable, by being very approachable whenever I needed help with my schoolwork. Their passion and concern for every student definitely played an important role in my SP journey.

In my 2nd year, I was chosen to represent SP in the international “Introducing and Demonstrating Earthquake Engineering Research in Schools” (IDEERS) competition in Taiwan where I led my team to clinch a respectable 4th-place finish behind three foreign Universities. Moreover, we were the only non-university team participating in the Undergraduate category. I did not imagine that I would be able to represent SP in a competition, especially an overseas competition. I am thankful to SP for giving me such an opportunity.

I was awarded the A*STAR Science Award (Polytechnic) in both my 2nd and 3rd years, requiring me to undergo my internship at an A*STAR research institute. I was attached to the National Metrology Centre (NMC), where I had the unique opportunity to work on two R&D studies focusing on fluid flow at the microscopic level, which was not directly related to Civil Engineering. Nevertheless, I took on the challenge and was commended for my contribution in developing the operational procedures for NMC’s research team for their next phase of R&D work.

All these experiences have enriched my poly life, preparing me for my university studies and a future career in the engineering industry.