Where Creativity Meets Technology UTS students go far

First we collect the samples.

Then the lab breaks
it down to the cellular level.

The computer turns

the samples into a huge set of values.

And then I turn it into this.

My name is Fia Sabrina Boedijono.

I'm a bioinformatics research
assistant at UTS.

So I grew up in Surabaya, in the East
Java province of Indonesia, and

I really love studying science and I knew
I wanted to do a forensics degree.

But at the time, the closest place
that offer it, it was just UTS.

And so I applied to UTS,
and I came here when I was 17.

I used to get lost by myself
and find different routes

around the city,
and I was much more shy and isolated then.

I didn't really

go to a lot of social events,
and I was very happy in my own company.

In my final year,
I had the chance to take an internship

and I knew one of my subject
coordinators; he's a genetics

researcher
and I always find genetics so interesting.

And so I thought, “you know what,
I'll give it a go,” and I emailed him

and he responded: “Yeah, cool,
we can start.”

 It took me so long to really understand 
pretty much anything

 that was happening in the meetings.

But when you're in a real working
environment, you just absorb things

pretty quickly.

After I graduated my supervisor
actually offered me a full time position

and I've been doing research ever since.

When I first arrived at the UTS campus,

I find the diversity
to be really exhilarating.

Like it blew my mind. The way they dress,
the way people express themselves;

it's beautiful that people are embracing
different parts of themselves,

and it allows me to be that way as well.

I haven't had the experience of

being with people who accept me entirely
for everything that I am.

And so when I moved to Sydney and I
did, I'm just like, wow, I'm so grateful

to be here and just have all the people
that I have in my life right now.

I'm just excited to see how it goes,
who I’m going to be

and finally feel, yeah, I'm doing exactly
what I'm supposed to be doing.

I was very nervous before I came here
because all I knew was through photos

and videos but when I got here or the
worries and nervousness just went away

Sydney's kind of like home for me I feel
more like myself here

is more open-minded and innovative the s
fresher people are friendly and

everything is new and exciting this is
my first time out of Vietnam I'm pretty

much on my own here but it doesn't feel
that way I'm living in UTS housing and

it's been amazing I've made so many
friends from all over the world

UTS is in the perfect location because
this right near Central Station you can

go to the beach great optic floss and
obviously being in the heart of the city

there are a lot more job opportunities

I'm studying The Bachelor of creative
intelligence and it's amazing to see how

students from a range of faculties have
a different way of thinking when we come

together to solve our problems it
becomes much easier and more creative I

feel like people recognize my value here
what I care about the people here very

diverse and I really love to be in a
diverse environment even the locals

themselves are diverse

I feel very fortunate to be where I am today. 15 years ago, I didn’t know a role like this even existed.

Engineering has always been about exploration for me. It rewires your brain to look at any situation and go, “What’s the best thing we could do here?”

As a Data Solutions Engineer, I try to bring the human factor into engineering.
  
At UTS, I didn’t feel like I was just in a classroom; I felt like I was being equipped to step into the working world. We had industry leaders come and speak to us. I could hear what I was learning was directly applicable to industry.
  
One of the best memories from UTS are the teachers. It was so easy I could just walk up to the department and meet my professors. Being an international student, I had questions. So that interaction and openness for conversation was really great.

I put my hand up to become a mentor with the UTS Lucy Mentoring program about six years ago. I want to show young women that there are so many amazing avenues in engineering, and I want to see more women in the teams that I’m part of.

I’ve seen first-hand how having an education has impacted me, my family, and the community that I’m part of.

I’m very passionate about letting young women know that they can create a career of their choice in engineering.