Graduate inspires women to engineer a career in STEM

19 Dec 2018

A strong curiosity of how technology is changing the world we live in led Engineering graduate Siyu Liu to major in software engineering at The University of Queensland.

After accepting her honours degree last week, she’s now working as a full-time software engineer at Jacobi Strategies in Brisbane.

“After four years, I find myself passionate about my chosen profession,” she said.

“I am eager to explore, to learn, to create, and I love that rush you get when you build something worthwhile.”

Siyu is an international student from China, who came to UQ to develop the skills she needed to turn her passion into her purpose.

“The first-year engineering courses provided me the opportunity to get a taste of what it is like to work in an engineering team,” she said.

“It offered insights to a variety of different disciplines through a combination of real-world projects, independent research and team-based work which eventually helped me to make my decision to become a software engineer.”

Siyu volunteered with Robogals Brisbane during her time at University, an initiative that aims to inspire and empower young women to pursue engineering or other STEM fields.

“During the summer holidays of 2016, we visited schools, libraries and communities in rural Queensland to run workshops and events,” she said.

“It was an incredible experience to see young children develop confidence when trying to solve problems.”

While studying, Siyu also had the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the industry.

“I was very fortunate to be able to gain relevant work experiences throughout my studies,” she said.

“At the end of my second year, I was offered a place in the undergraduate vacation scholarship program by CSIRO where I completed a data analysis project.”

With plenty of experience under her belt and graduation behind her, Siyu is open to the idea of taking her studies even further.

“In the future, I might pursue an advanced degree to broaden my skill set,” she said.

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