Japanese adventure for Lisburn student

The Queen’s University student has been selected to take part in British Council’s IAESTE (International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience) programme, an exchange initiative which sees students from science, engineering, technology or applied arts subjects undertake paid industry placements in one of 80 countries.

Kyle, who is currently in his third year studying Chemical Engineering, will spend the summer working at the University of Tokyo in the Graduate School of Engineering. Through the experience, he hopes to gain skills that will significantly contribute to his future employment prospects when he returns to Northern Ireland.

The 21-year-old will be joined by 34 other students from across Northern Ireland in the IAESTE programme, with placements taking place in countries including Ghana, Brazil and Macedonia working in fields such as medicine, engineering and computer science.

“I can’t wait to live and work in such a fascinating and exciting city such as Tokyo,” said Kyle, a former pupil of Friends’ School Lisburn. “It is a chance to build upon the knowledge gained from my degree while experiencing a new culture and meeting people from across the world. I will be working in a laboratory researching composite materials, focusing on how to enhance their performance and lower manufacturing costs and this is a chance to build upon the knowledge gained from my degree.

“Next year, I am completing a placement year at Seagate Technology then hopefully coming back for my Masters year at Queen’s. I have a keen interest in material science and hope that the experience gained from my IAESTE placement will give me a better insight into the sector and benefit my future development.”