Mr. Ng Tsz Man Max (Civil Engineering Year 3) was granted the Sir Edward Youde Scholarship 2015, which recognises and encourages academic achievements of university students. The judging panel was particularly impressed by his involvement in community work, namely Pathfinder Cambodia Volunteer Service.
Pathfinder is a service organisation initiated by students from HKU and CUHK, which aims to bring holistic solutions to improve the water use and sanitation conditions in rural Cambodia. Their first service trip in summer 2014 led about 30 students to build a 3m-tall sheltered concrete platform with toilets - biosand water filter, solar-powered system, water taps and associated facilities. This benefited 200 local students in a rural primary school under the threat of annual flooding. With the guidance and advice from professors, our engineering students designed, planned and managed all engineering part of the project. They worked with students from other faculties such as Medicine for other programmes including health education.
Below is a brief account by Max to share his learning experience from participation in Pathfinder.
“The service experience has brought a great impact to me. As an engineering student, I have never thought of designing and managing a real project would bring direct benefits to people in the developing world. I was lucky to meet our vice-president, Thomas Lai (Mechanical Engineering Year 3), who led and inspired the team to pursue seemingly unachievable goals. The difficulty might first seem insurmountable, yet with collaboration we managed to solve problem each by each and come up with a feasible plan.
“The project involved great extent of our academic knowledge, both in breadth and depth. Structure, foundation, water resources, wastewater treatment, piping and electronics were among those areas involved. Most of the time we had no idea of how to carry out the design work. The problem was either beyond the scope of our lectures or never encountered in reality. Luckily our professors were willing to offer help and suggested directions for us to continue.
“To carry out engineering work in Cambodia would mean extra challenges for communication. Language barrier was an extra hurdle alongside with the cultural difference. We overcame by using simple yet precise words and making sure there was no misunderstandings. Such effective communication skills are transferrable to all tasks in our lives. Similarly, communication within a team laid the cornerstone of our success. Teammates from different background tended to have different ideas and so arguments arise when facing the challenges every day, ranging from procuring materials to dealing with local contractors and leading the volunteers. Without positive discussion, it was impossible for teammates to understand their roles and duties and make breakthroughs amid difficulties. I am delighted to have joined Pathfinder where the experience would benefit me throughout my engineering career. Besides technical work, we also engaged extensively in fundraising, publication and promotional tasks. The experience was undoubtedly comprehensive and rewarding.
“With my graduation this year, I can no longer take an active role in Pathfinder. However, I am happy to see more engineering students joining and taking the initiative to apply what they learnt to help the developing world. The coming project is even more exciting: to build a community-scaled water station. If any student wants to equip himself/herself to be an engineer with hands-on experience, Pathfinder is a chance not to miss.”