Sharon

I am a master student majoring at the Graduate Institute of Innovation & Design of National Taipei University of Technology (NTUT) in Taiwan, my country of origin. Being an oversea student has always been my dream for many years. Fortunately, Brunel, one of sister schools of NTUT, offers exchange programs, which I got from a notification on campus almost one year ago. This news interested me since Brunel Design has high reputation in the world.

From that moment, I made efforts to apply to this program. At the same time, I was informed that I was awarded a PhD scholarship supported by the government, and my supervisor, Prof. Philip Hwang, encouraged me to visit the schools and professors in person, which is the best way to carry out a survey for my future PhD research. So I started to believe Brunel's exchanges will be my good opportunity to extend my research career.

In April, I met Dr. Ray Holland in NTUT. His lecture introducing branding inspired and impressed me much so that I could not wait to visit Brunel. Actually, Brunel's Design and Branding Research have been running for many years and growing actively, and is now becoming well-known in the field of education. For me, a design student with wide ranging interests, the courses teaching students about the role between management and design were quite attractive!

Thanks to the Brunel School's timely help via a series of contacts, application and administration, finally, I joined the lovely Brunel family this autumn! That was a result of the relationship between Brunel and NTUN built over many years ago.

The scenery of campus in the autumn was amazing and provided many changing images through the constantly changing weather. I liked to stroll under the trees and appreciate their leaves that were beginning to turn yellow, pass by the buildings a mixture of with raw and modern elements, and enjoyed the sunny tea times on the patio of Café Rococo. The library of Brunel also offered comfortable study space to me. The atmosphere there allowed me to feel relaxed but energetic. I could discuss with friends there freely about many things, and studied with a cup of coffee! Of course, it also provided abundant resources and quiet study rooms when needed.

Information required for my studies was also easily obtained, owing to the well-organised e-software systems, like the Six Degrees newsletter and the Brunel Intranet website. I learned immediately what was happening on campus once I got on line. In particular, the Event Calendar System was efficient for finding out what was going on and helped me check whether they coincided with each other so I could maximize my extracurricular activities. With such complete information management and scheduled arrangements, I joined a trip to Bath, a beautiful Roman city in the west of England, and applauded the basketball games. Life in Brunel was interesting!

Turning to catering and accommodation, I believe the Brunel facilities were excellent for students, although I lived off campus in walking distance. I even visited the halls of residences and felt it was a pity I was unable to live on campus, as there was no accommodation available for students studying on a short term basis. The necessary facilities to exist comfortably were all there, and the cozy space for catering also provided a good venue for international students to socialize with each other whilst enjoying a meal. Concerning the catering on campus, I really enjoyed pizza and salad, which I disliked originally, at the More Food hall. How surprising it was to discover I liked this!

Furthermore, due to the location of Brunel near the underground tube station at Uxbridge, a local town ten minutes bus ride from Brunel, I could shuttle between school and Central London easily. Accordingly, I took visited the City whenever I had free time. In my opinion, Brunel is not only suitable for studying but also advantageous to experience the London life.

On the other hand, as a design student, I really appreciated the green policy executed throughout the campus. Once I landed in Brunel, I noticed its efforts on various policies and activities, such as “Switch off” for energy saving, the litter recycles, and carbon footprint reduction. Then, I supported this action by joining “I'm Not a Mug” activity, which gave me a sweet feeling of belonging to Brunel family.

I have a desire always to learn new things, so I became passionate about everything happening on campus, and immersed myself in Brunel completely. I attended every lecture of Design and Branding Strategy, including Design Research, Branding Strategy, Creative Enterprise, and Strategic Design Management. All of these were new modules to me. I was pretty impressed ! The lecturers were always full of passion and enthusiasm in their teaching. Through their veteran experiences I quite admired, I broadened my vision beyond my original studies focusing on product and interface design in Taiwan.

I also participated in several workshops following the lectures. There, I met many international classmates with a variety of interests, and I found the lecturers were really approachable, almost like friends as well. They always led and encouraged us to express our own opinions by joining group discussion. As an international student, whose mother tongue is not English particularly, I was deeply affected and became confident to participate myself.

Through Dr. Ray Holland’s kindly arrangement, I was fortunate to be invited to investigate a wide rang of research topics in the School of Engineering and Design by discussing with professors and doctors. As a consequence of my double majors, Electrical Engineering & Design, I was heavily involved in absorbing the latest researches from engineering and design phases to formulate my PhD proposal. Indeed, all the researchers were so friendly and willing to share there distinguished research knowledge with me. Their suggestions stimulated my thinking and were helpful in drawing together my own research interests, and also assimilating new ideas derived from their own work. Eventually, I found I preferred to focus on Design Strategy and Management rather than other issues, which was not confirmed before coming to Brunel. Both of these topics were beneficial in adding value to my current studies in NTUT.

In addition, I also observed students in Brunel Design had many opportunities to put theoretical knowledge into practice, and then have a real influence through design projects or co-operation with industries. This insight encouraged me to think and plan comprehensively in writing my research proposal.

In conclusion, Brunel life was an amazing self-enlightening experience. This program gave me an opportunity to come to terms with navigating unfamiliar worlds, including the UK and Brunel’s academia. I really enjoyed living amongst people from different countries with different cultures. Speaking from my heart, I have found a new myself, one who understands how to live with open mindedness, even though I just stayed at Brunel for six weeks. I believe since this experience my life style had become more flexible and my perspective as well! This is a change I never yearned or imagined before. The knowledge is priceless. I am looking forward coming back to UK next year to pursue a brilliant life again.