Dr. Lim Nguyen is a Fulbright scholar about to finish a year here at the American University of Sharjah. Even though he was born in Vietnam, he did not find it too difficult to adjust when his family moved to the United States. He went to high school in Oklahoma, and had a good time growing up in the old Indian territory state. Dr. Nguyen graduated high school in 1979 and moved on to something much bigger - he was a student at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) until he graduated in 1983.
After graduating from one of the most prestigious universities in the country, Dr. Nguyen moved all the way to Los Angeles for work. This, he said, was a big change. But it didn't seem like much could have halted his progress. Soon enough, he was working for Caltech and getting his Master's degree. Although, that was never the original plan. Initially, Dr. Nguyen planned on working for two years after getting his Bachelor's and then going back to school. It wasn't until 1991 that he began to pursue his Ph.D., with a wife and a kid!
We asked Dr. Nguyen why it was that he was so driven and determined when it came to his education: "The way I was shaped, growing up! And whether you realize it or not, it sticks with you and becomes part of your DNA. I didn't even realize how much of an effect my upbringing caused until much later. I had asked myself why I was pursuing education so hard for many years - I didn't have to go the extra mile and concentrate so hard."
Currently working in the field of Electrical Engineering, we asked Dr. Nguyen why he chose it in the first place. He began to laugh and explained he didn't want to be outdoors in construction and he wasn't too good at chemistry, which left him with Electrical Engineering. Growing up in Oklahoma, once of his favorite hobbies in his youth was putting together radios, so it made all the sense that he would excel at it. His teaching allowed him a little bit of traveling, and while he was teaching in the U.S. in the early 2000s, he met a brilliant Egyptian student who later on become a professor at AUS. Having kept in touch with him for several years, AUS was brought to Dr. Nguyen's attention.
Being a Fulbright scholar allowed him to travel to South Korea for a year, which was an exhilirating experience for him. He was in awe over the cultural differences and how drastic an experience traveling that far away from where he grew up can be. As he was always curious about it, the Middle East was next. Unsure which country to directly go to at first, the elements for his research as well as having AUS on his radar due to a past student were, in his words, "a great fit".
Now that he's been here almost a year, he reflects back on his time. Dr. Nguyen was most shocked by the weather that no one could have prepared him for, but soon enough realized that walking everywhere in the summer was not the way to go! His favorite part about his stay so far has been a trip to the Jais Mountains in RAK, where he fell in love with the hike and the views.
Dr. Lim Nguyen is among the many wonderful scholars currently doing important and amazing work on our campus, and he hopes to explore more of the UAE before he returns home. We wish him all the luck and more travels!
Bayan Almasri
Publicity Specialist
No comments:
Post a Comment