Curtin civil engineering students attend talk on internships and career opportunities

Miri – 16 October 2019 – Curtin Civil Society (CCS), the student-run civil engineering club at Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia), with the support of the Curtin Highway Infrastructure Research and Innovation Hub (CHIRI) and Department of Civil and Construction Engineering at Curtin Malaysia’s Faculty of Engineering and Science, recently organised a talk on internships and career opportunities for its members.

The attendees comprised students in their second, third and fourth years of their Bachelor of Engineering in Civil and Construction Engineering courses, as well as academics from the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering including the head of the department, Associate Professor Muhammad Ekhlasur Rahman.

The talk was delivered by Ir. Yii Hock Wong of Pekerjaan Piasau Konkerit Sdn. Bhd.

Ir. Yii started with a short discourse on construction of balanced cantilever bridges, particularly the procedures in constructing the closure segments of such bridges, as it was relevant to the Reinforced Concrete Design unit being studied by the third-year students. He then followed with a session on the importance of internships to the learning and teaching of civil engineering students.

A subsequent question-and-answer session saw extensive discussion between Ir. Yii and two other engineers from Pekerjaan Piasau Konkerit and the students, who were eager to learn all they could about balanced cantilever bridge construction and career opportunities in civil and construction engineering.

Associate Professor Mohammed commended the CCS for organising the workshop and thanked Yii and his colleagues for their support, saying that such interaction with industry experts and other forms of learning beyond the classroom can be of great benefit to students.

“It is always good for students to learn from engineers with extensive experience in the industry, both through talks, workshops and seminars, and site visits. That way, they can relate all the concepts and theories they learn in their courses to real-life applications in the field.

“It is also more convincing when engineers stress the importance of internships to students. Having undergone internships will definitely enhance their resumés and employability when they start looking for jobs after graduation,” said Associate Professor Mohammed.

Curtin Malaysia offers Curtin University’s four-year Bachelor of Engineering (Hons.) in Civil and Construction Engineering which is a comprehensive combination of civil engineering and construction engineering. It is a professional and practically-orientated course that has extensive support and collaboration from industry players and is highly prized by graduates and respected by professional engineers.

Graduates of the course can find employment with consulting engineers, large contractors, specialist subcontractors and government authorities. They can also establish their own consultancies in their fields of expertise and professional competence.

Curtin University is currently ranked in the top 100 universities in the world for Civil and Structural Engineering according to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2019. In Malaysia, Curtin is rated Tier 5 (Excellent) for its engineering programmes at Curtin Malaysia under the discipline-based D-SETARA rating system for higher education institutions.

Staff and students in a group photo with Ir. Yii (seated 4th left) and other Pekerjaan Piasau Konkerit engineers.

Ir. Yii explains construction of balanced cantilever bridge to students and staff.