Challenge myself and travel to Berlin!

During July I was fortunate enough to get to travel to HTW in Berlin, Germany to finish off the last part of my capstone project. It had been a 6-month long journey which began in Sydney earlier this year when HTW students came to UTS for the program’s start. We worked collaboratively online over the course of a few months to work towards building a proof of concept for the EU’s proposed battery passport, an application intended to track and trace batteries throughout their life to promote circular economies.

I found that the faculty-led program challenged me more than completing my capstone locally would have, and it’s through these challenges that I have learnt a lot and developed a lot as a professional. I really enjoyed being able to collaborate with students and academics from Berlin and have the opportunity to travel to Berlin to complete the final portion of my capstone project and immerse myself in a different environment and culture.

Taken at the Bavaria Statue in Munich, Germany

The program was also a great opportunity to challenge myself and travel to new places I hadn’t previously visited and do so with friends! Over the course of a few weeks, we travelled around Berlin as well as to some nearby places like Poznan, Prague, Hamburg, and Munich. I’ve made great friends and great memories through the program and thoroughly enjoyed the ability to incorporate a short exchange in my studies.

Taken at the Croissant Museum in Poznan, Poland

This opportunity has enriched my overall university experience and provided me with unique opportunities and experiences which I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. I think it has helped me develop and better prepare to enter an increasingly globalised workforce.

The program presented a really cool capstone project that is quite different from the projects on offer locally and had a heavier focus on different aspects of industry which perhaps have not yet become as common in Australia. Something I found quite exciting and felt eager to learn more about.

The program was a great chance to see how my learnings from the BUILD program could translate into the real world and across different cultures and contexts.

Taken at a restaurant just outside of Berlin City Centre.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the program and gained a lot from it, and I think my learnings from the program have helped me better understand where my degree can take me and what I might want to do post-university.

Jennifer Luu
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin – Global Women in Engineering and IT Summer School
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