Realizing a master’s thesis as a team: it’s a matter of course at Group T. And an increasing number of students of different origins still find each other. They form an international team, a carbon copy of the business world they will soon be part of. We wanted to know whether that cooperation is running smoothly and also whether it effectively provides an added value. We spoke to two teams.
Toon Goris and Pan Taibo form an international team.
Toon Goris and Pan Taibo come from Belgium and China, respectively. They are both master’s students in Electronics Engineering and know each other from a previous project on which they were working with four other students. That project related to Digital Image Processing (DSP), a topic they wanted to explore further in their master’s thesis. After a meeting at NXP, a Leuven-based company for semiconductors, they were able to set to work there to do their research. It is their intention to use the results in the communication between two hearing aids to improve the hearing experience.
Majid Abdulameer and Joost Vanreusel are both master’s students in Electromechanical Engineering. Joost is Belgian and Majid comes from Iraq, a country he fled some years ago to build a new life here. He is more than 15 years older than his fellow students as he already obtained a degree as an Aeronautics Engineer in his country and had been working there as an engineer for some time. Because his degree is not acknowledged in Belgium, he decided to study Electromechanical Engineering at Group T so that he could also work here as an engineer. So in their case, there is not only a difference in nationality to overcome but also a difference in age. But their interests are similar: airplanes and space travel. In the company Verhaert Space, they are collaborating in the development of a treadmill that will be used in the International Space Station (ISS) to allow astronauts to do running exercises and keep their muscles flexible.
Complementary
They are unanimously positive about their experiences. They complement each other well because they are good at different aspects of the work. For instance, Toon is more familiar with the control aspects of DSP research while Thaibo can do his thing in programming. Majid brings his 15 years of experience as an aeronautics engineer and comes up with solutions Joost would never have considered. Joost, in turn, is good at the software development that is to go alongside in implementing these ideas. Both teams have the opportunity to function in an international environment. Thanks to their good command of English, they do not encounter too many problems on their way.
To learn how to work together with a partner from another country and with a different background requires some effort. As such, communication in a language that, after all, is not the mother tongue for either partner remains somewhat of a barrier that needs to be taken into consideration. Describing a problem so that your partner understands what you mean is not always easy and takes time. The advantage, though, is that the problem is analyzed more thoroughly. Furthermore, you get to know each other better after some months of working together and the process of mutual understanding will develop at a higher pace. With Majid and Joost, the different backgrounds and training were sometimes an issue. For instance, in very limited time, Majid was required to brush up on his knowledge of basic software that is taught at Group T in the bachelor years. In addition, he also had to familiarize himself with work model handled at Group T for projects and project management. But yet again it showed that intense collaboration is a good basis to reduce these differences quickly.
Intercultural added value
Getting to know your partner’s culture turned out to be a great added value for both teams. This getting to know one another occurs spontaneously at work, for instance, when they shared their favorite music, or ate together afterwards and explored the different tastes that are associated with their eating culture. Joost thought it important to learn more about the complex situation in Iraq. Majid not only appreciated the interest but also Joost’s concern for the safety of his family when there was yet another attack. Together they liked to philosophize on the differences and similarities of cultures in the world.
Would they recommend an international collaboration of students to their successors? Absolutely. It is highly recommended. Foreign students are going through great efforts, also financially, to come study in Belgium and by extension at Group T. By joining an international team and therefore leaving their familiar environment, they learn, in practice, how to interact in an entirely new environment. The same is true for the Flemish: they, too, are offered the opportunity to expand their horizons, to learn how to deal positively with differences in culture and background, to set aside prejudice and to have an eye for everybody’s talent.
Jan Jaspers
Group T's extensive international network will prepare you
for working in an
international environment.