Soumyajyoti Maji, our Indian Ambassador, is undertaking his Master’s in Electronic & Computer Engineering at UCD and in this blog he tells us more about the course, the renowned professors and college life…
Studying abroad was an important decision to make as I had to step out of my comfort zone and leave all the known faces back at home. This decision was more than just studying abroad, it was a choice to immerse myself in local culture, meet new people and experience usual food and something that I won’t regret ever.
I have always wanted to come to Ireland to study because the landscape and the nature are very beautiful here and I decided to pursue a one-year MEngSc in Electronic and Computer Engineering at UCD because of the global reputation of the university. UCD is a research intensive university with most diverse range of graduate opportunities and is ranked in the top 1% of the word’s universities, and is now home for 6000 international students from 127 different countries. International students can avail the state of the art sports and campus facilities including Olympic size swimming pool, debating chamber, dance studio and 3D cinema.
I chose this program due to its flexibility in designing my own coursework from different available modules. This course covers topics from electronic engineering, computer science and business. The professors are fun, easy going and renowned in their field of expertise. The professors are the most important assets of UCD. Some of them have their own ways of teaching students. For example, Prof. Robert Staszewski is more of a practical oriented person. Having over 120 US patents under his belt, he is a dynamic researcher in his field of expertise. He shows us the slides and motivates us to compare the theoretical concepts with the practical results that we work out in our lab. He always enlightens us with the rigorous problems that the industries are facing today and challenges us to work on them. Prof. Brian uses visual demonstrations – utilising slides to ensure that every concept is clear from the very beginning.
Be it the projects or the assignments, we always deal with some of the practical problems that the industry is facing now. One of the interesting subjects that I have chosen is the Entrepreneurship in Engineering. It is one of those unique courses which allow us to become global leaders of tomorrow. Through this course the message is very clear from the university that they want us to create a job than simply getting a one. Our class is always stimulated to think outside the box to make significant contribution to the society that we are in. In this way, this 160 year old university, built with a vibrant campus life and an extensive range of programmes, provides me with a platform to make my mark on the world.