HKUST Alumni News 2015
5
Feature
says Samantha. However, New Page Publishing, which specializes
in “how to” books, recognized the value of her project and agreed
to help. She is self-funding the book, which is expected to cost
around HK$60,000 and she has decided to donate all proceeds
from the book sale to HKUST in recognition of how her alma mater
has nurtured her into an all-rounded person.
Distinguished Support
The book is set to be published
in July, in Chinese. Its title “
ምႭ
Engineering
݊˥
߅ظ
” translates into
English as “Who Says Engineering
is Second Best?”. Samantha has
achieved something of a coup by
persuading three very distinguished
personalities to contribute forewords:
HKUST President Prof Tony F Chan,
Ir Victor Cheung, Chairman of Hong
Kong Institution of Engineers, and Ir
Dr the Hon Lo Wai-kwok, member of the Legislative Council for the
Engineering constituency. President Chan knew Samantha while she
was still a student at HKUST, and is very impressed with her passion
and the drive she is showing to publish the book and encourage
other young people while in a full-time job herself. The President
notes that she is an excellent role model. He is proud that the
University is able to equip students with the professional knowledge
to lay a solid foundation and who are able to make positive changes
to the world with their professional expertise.
Samantha is planning to promote the book at the annual
Hong Kong Book Fair, which is staged in July and attracts one
million-plus visitors, many of them secondary school students.
Her own story is pretty inspiring in itself – she originally
wanted to study law, and after high school she found a small
law firm that agreed to hire her as an unpaid intern. “It was good
exposure for me, and I got the opportunity to work with solicitors
and barristers, but I realized that to qualify as a lawyer takes
several years of studying and I wanted to do other things as well
as study,” says Samantha. “I also worked for a High Court judge
who did a lot of arbitration work, which is a combination of law
and engineering. I then decided to go for engineering.”
When she saw that HKUST offered chemical engineering
programs – the only such department in Hong Kong – she
decided to apply, specifically to study chemical and environmental
engineering. She is passionate about the environment and realized
that she could utilize her chemical engineering skills to build a
more sustainable world.
Samantha is currently working as a graduate environmental
engineer at an international consultancy, and regularly contributes
academic papers on environmental issues to international
conferences. She continues to pursue her passion for international
relations – and flying the flag for engineers everywhere.
HKUST, mainly alumni but including some who are still students.
Some are in education, some work with engineering companies,
some work for the government, others have started their own
businesses, and one even had an internship with Boeing. There is
one who first did an associate degree and he talks about how he
went on to study at HKUST.”
The contributors talk about university life and why they chose
engineering in the first place, as well as sharing about their career
experiences and achievements. Samantha notes that a number
of the writers are in the position to hire graduates, so it is very
relevant to hear what they have to say.
Finding contributors was a lot easier than finding a publisher.
“I think they thought, ‘she’s 23 years old, what is she doing?’”
Samantha (middle) is one of the co-founders of the social enterprise – Eldpathy.
“I got the idea for the
book when I returned
from the UN. I heard
many people from other
countries talking about
how they are proud to
be engineers. But local
students are not so
interested in the field.”
Samantha is currently working as a graduate environmental engineer at an
international consultancy.
