My name is Noyaldi and I am currently working at PT Wijaya Karya, which is usually called WIKA. WIKA is Indonesia’s leading integrated EPC and investment company with most of its shares are owned by the government of Indonesia. Actually, my previous education and work experiences were from civil engineering background, but I am interested to know more about coastal engineering subject due to the increasing demand of new port infrastructure and other marine structures in my country. Hence, I chose UK and Plymouth University as my study destination since they offered me a high-quality education level with the world-class facilities. Moreover, Plymouth University is the only university in UK that provides a port engineering subject in their coastal engineering programme.
It was my dream since I was a child to study abroad because I believe that there are some countries beyond Indonesia which are very advanced in science and technology. The United Kingdom is one country that has a world-class quality in their modern education system. UK not only has beautiful natural scenery, a long marine and maritime history, but has so many extraordinary discoveries from their great scientists. Moreover, UK education tends to inspire the students to develop their skills and always be creative through independent learning, as well as supporting the students to get maximum achievement.
My country, Indonesia, is a large archipelagic country where the demands of new ports and marine infrastructure have been dramatically increasing in recent years. Hence, as a civil engineer, I want to broaden my knowledge in coastaI engineering, and help the government to develop the high-quality marine infrastructures in the future. Plymouth University, is one of the leading marine and maritime universities in the UK, with a strong record of excellence and innovation across its teaching and research activities. Furthermore, Plymouth University has developed a world-class marine facilities to enhance the student experience and support best research.
UK is a modern country which has a lot of historical places and famous landmarks around their cities. Although I have a very busy studying schedule, in my spare time I have visited these beautiful and unique places and learnt more about British culture. Moreover, Plymouth, the city where I live in, is a lovely place, peaceful with warm and welcoming people. The lecturer and staff of Plymouth University are very responsive and helpful. They have helped me to settle in and adapt to the different culture.
I believe that a study experience in a world-class education environment in UK would be the catalyst of my career progress. Plymouth University always encourages their students to become creative, work independently and become highly employable graduates through engagement with research active staff in solving the real-world problems. Experience in global teamwork also creates a high sensitivity and talent to understand the perception of other people from a wide range of nationalities and social culture. Moreover, exploring tacit knowledge from fellow students is a great value that could not be achieved in formal education.
Despite the slow start at the beginning due to some problem of adaptation to a new life in different environment, study experience in UK has increased my confidence and the ability to engage and work in different international settings. For instance, I have a group work assignment in the first semester of my study. This team challenge, which is involved some students from some different master programs, has an objective to deliver the alternative energy supplies due to energy crisis by developing the marine renewable energy sources. Even though I didn’t have a proper knowledge to solve this problem at the first time, one of the modules provided by the university has developed my critical thinking and helped me to boost my research skills through several workshop sessions. Hence, my team has succeeded in managing this project, under the supervision from a tutor.
Studying a Master Degree in UK was very challenging. The lecturers always encourage the students to study independently through some assignments. Moreover, we have to be able to manage our time properly, otherwise we can’t finish the tasks on time. However, the lecturers normally provide a supervision time to support the student and give a quick response to each question the student ask. In addition, the facilities provided by Plymouth University also support the student to develop their knowledge, such as the Library which is open 24/7 and provides access to a vast knowledge source from a variety of different study environments. A high-tech study environment through IT services and multimedia class equipment have enabled the students to enhance their working skills. The Marine Building, which is equipped with a world-class marine laboratory and the marine navigation center, is another facility to support marine students to develop their research.
On the other hand, Plymouth city has beautiful scenery along the coast with the most well-known landmark, Smeaton’s tower, located at central of Plymouth’s Hoe park. Others historical and popular places, such as the Barbican and Sutton Harbour can be found in this city. Furthermore, many attractive events have been held regularly in this city. Now, I feel that it was a great decision from my company for sending me here, so I can get a wider benefit from this journey. Finally, it’s a miracle for me to have this unforgettable experience.