Ground zero to seventh heaven- Aeronautics , is it?

We have as our guest Ms. Eju Baruah , an Aeronautical Engineer and an aspiring pilot , who is an example of achieving her dreams by sheer determination and hard work. What makes her so special is that she is from Guwahati , who has carved her place in far off Germany and hence we felt would be just the right person to throw some light on the overseas job and career scenario as well as draw some inspiration from her experience.

FE- You are an engineer at one of the world’s most prestigious aviation company. So coming from Guwahati to Germany, how did this happen?
EB-It was a dream, and belief and hard work, no luck or chance!
As a kid, I enjoyed playing with my only toy jeep, that I could open it up and fix it back innumerable times until I could fix it no more. I was fascinated with machines and how they work, and most of all with airplanes. It was then that I had wished for myself that one day I would be flying and working on these flying machines. And this dream led me to the way, one step at a time, in first forming myself with an academic degree in Aeronautical Engineering and later with an advanced degree in Computational Engineering, and acquiring the skills and hands-on experience while working first two years at an Automobile Industry, finally leading me to the doorstep of the Aerospace Industry, where by the grace of god, I can live this fascination today!

FE-As a person who has done her education from both India and Overseas , what do you feel about the Indian Education System in comparison with Overseas?
EB-I am not sure if I am the right person to answer this question. However, having done my education in Europe, I personally feel that the Overseas, in this case the European Education System, teaches you to learn, understand and question the very philosophy behind the subject, it mostly molds the mind to innovate. The Indian Education System teaches you to learn, understand and absorb the knowledge, it mostly molds the mind to apply and implement. But this is just my very personal feeling.

FE- There has been many opinion and discussions about the brain drain from India. What according to you are the reasons? Do you feel it is justified if a individual opts for an overseas education and job?
EB-Again, I am not sure if I am the right person to answer on this issue. Personally to me, the world is more a global-local village, and I feel that it is justified for an individual to opt for an overseas career and life. Having said that however, if the person receives an education sponsored by a scholarship or likewise in India, I feel that he/she has a moral obligation to serve a few years in his home country.

FE-There are many companies who offer overseas education and jobs , some of whom may not be genuine. How do we tell the genuine from the fraud?
EB-Well, I do not know of companies who offer overseas education. Concerning jobs, normally you would apply for a position the conventional way, which is going though advertisements in the newspaper or the company website and applying as an online or a paper application as preferred by the Company. So far, I have never come across anything fraud.

FE- You aspire to be a pilot and are officially undergoing training for it? Why this switch from an engineer to a pilot?
EB-This is not a switch, it is just the fulfilling of my dream to be able to fly and maneuver an airplane in the sky, and enjoy the freedom and the beauty of the endless horizons!

FE- Which do you feel is harder? Being a Pilot or an Engineer?
EB-Whether you want to be an Airplane Engineer or an Airplane Pilot, you need a lot of hard work, dedication and devotion, coupled with patience and discipline. And most of all, whether you want to work with airplanes or fly them, you have to be passionate about it! Only with passion and devotion to the skill, either or both is possible!

FE-On a rating from 1 to 7, how will you rate the following for a career or job of choice – Luck, Talent, Finance, Hard work, family support, determination, exam performance
EB-With 1 as the highest and 7 as the lowest, I would rate these as — Hard work, Determination, Talent, Exam performance, Family support, Finance, Luck.

FE- If not an aeronautical Engineer , what would you have been?
EB-An Aeronautical Engineer 🙂
I tend not to have a Plan B in life, it distracts me from putting all my energy into Plan A.

FE-As an Indian residing as well working in a foreign country, did you ever face discrimination of any sorts out there?

EB-Never

FE-Some words of wisdom, to students who will be facing there boards exam on career choices and for those who think that life ceases to exist beyond a great percentage in exams.
EB–For those who would be facing exams or career choices, my advice to you is that there is no shortcut to success! Put all your energy, dedication and devotion to your skill, and believe that you will achieve what you have set out to achieve!
For those who think that life ceases to exist beyond a great percentage in exams, my advice to you is that life is all about the choices we make! You can choose to decide that life ceases to exist after your failure, or you can choose to accept this failure, get up and give another go. Life, as someone said, is not about how hard we hit, it is about how hard we can get hit and still be able to gear up and go on!

FE- Future plans of yours?
EB-To live the dreams I have realized so far, and to work on the fulfillment of the dreams I have set forth further in life!

Ms Baruah’s brief profile:
– born and brought up in Guwahati, India
– attended schooling in Holy Child School, Guwahati, India
– graduated with a first degree of B.Eng. in Aeronautical Engineering
– further graduated with a second degree of M.Sc. in Computational Engineering
– recently completed a part-time M.Sc. in Composites
– worked 2 years as an Engineer at Daimler Chrysler AG
– working as a Senior Engineer at AIRBUS in Hamburg, Germany
– loves flying, photography, reading, music, horse-riding, gardening,…

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