What is your current role? 

I'm a freelance robotics engineer, founder of The Techover Foundation. I have always wanted to be a robotics engineer, ever since primary school.

What inspired you into engineering?

When I was younger, I always enjoyed taking things apart and putting them back together again to see how they worked. I didn't realise that in exercising my innate curiosity towards machines, I was actually "reverse-engineering" them. I was inspired by a toy I stumbled across in a flea market. When I was a kid, my mum bought me a doll that could walk and talk. I was fascinated by the idea that an inanimate object could have some semblance of life, which began my journey into robotics from trying to recreate it.

Your day to day 

No two days are the same for me. I’m not confined to the corporate path, doing the ‘9-5’. I choose how my day shapes up. Sometimes I'm working on a humanoid robot, and other days, I'm having meetings for my workshops.

What part of engineering do you enjoy the most?  

The most rewarding thing about being a robotics engineer is the fact it lets my creativity shine. Making something from scratch is so fulfilling.

The area I love most about robotics is machine vision. Imagine giving a robot eyes. You can make it see and perceive the world as humans do. As both a creative and technical person, engineering is the perfect career for me – I get to design, build, and program robots that could potentially transform industries like manufacturing, healthcare, and even space exploration. I’ve had the pleasure of working on some amazing projects and witnessing these creations come to life and contribute to real-world progress is incredibly rewarding.

How do you help encourage more girls into engineering?  

I organise STEM community outreach programs, speak at events and workshops, and run The Techover Foundation, Global EduTech NGO on a mission to educate, inspire & support the next generation into STEM - especially those from underserved backgrounds. I believe it is left to those of us who have overcome challenges while working in STEM to speak up and be a figure that the younger generation can look to.

 Representation is everything - you can't be what you can't see.