Six students from the Singapore Management University (SMU) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) share their internship experiences at Ecquaria.
The pragmatic relevance of getting the best of both worlds in terms of skills sets and the gumption to make a difference in people's lives is the main reason why these university student interns chose to take up a degree in Business and Computing Studies and internship at Ecquaria.
The desire to push the boundaries of technology and bring its benefits to people is what keeps Alvin Koh and Shawn Fong, from SMU (Bachelor of Science in Information Systems Management) , passionate about exploring and applying the combined power of computing and business to help solve social challenges.
"I enjoy helping others and solving problems and aspire to alleviate social challenges through my work," shared Alvin. To that, Shawn added: "Being able to contribute to society through developing useful applications is what I want to do and this propels me to join the infocomm industry after my studies."
(L-R): Marcus, Shawn, Jonathan, Sing Hong and Clarence taking aim at a game of pool at Ecquaria's recreation corner.
This may sound like an unabashed echo of the company's inspiring corporate tagline - "Public Service Innovation that Delights Citizens and Businesses" - but from the lips of the new generation of socially and technically adept infocomm talents, the phrase comes alive with some ringing endorsement.
Bent on making a positive impact on people's lives, their ideals are however tampered with a healthy dash of pragmatism – for the better, actually. They possess a staunch spirit to learn and grow, have no qualms to start from scratch, picking up skills and working their way up steadily to various positions of consulting and management with the eventuality of setting up an IT business firm of their own.
Said Clarence: "I would like to see myself in the software industry , possibly starting as a junior position, and working my way up towards project management and towards a mid to senior management position."
Shawn sees himself as starting as a developer and working to gain more exposure and experience. "I would definitely like to take the chance to open a firm in the ICT industry if ever any opportunity arises," he added.
And as their four-month exposure stint at Ecquaria would attest, all agreed that Ecquaria has provided them with a nurturing and exciting environment to get their way on to a good start. These students were attached to various departments of Pre-Sales, Professional Services, Product Development and Marketing in Ecquaria where they undertook different projects. Read about what they have learned and experienced (See box below).
Four of them, Alvin, Marcus, Shawn and Sing Hong were under the Infocomm Development Authority's (IDA) Enhanced Learning in Infocomm Technology Programme or "ELITe". This is the first time Ecquaria is partnering with IDA on the programme aimed to enhance students' industry awareness and experience.
When asked if they would consider specializing in e-Government ICT, most of them recognized its promising niche domain and Singapore's strong brand value in this area. Referring to Singapore's success story, Marcus said that "the business model is very replicable and can be transferred to any country in the world with localization."
"eGov ICT lies in this interesting intersection of technology development and developmental technology. Singapore's remarkable and continuous growth story is a clear testament to the transformative power of government-led ICT," added Alvin.
And would they consider joining Ecquaria after they graduate? A representative voice affirmed, "With such a friendly culture and limitless depth for learning, of course I wouldn't mind joining Ecquaria and become part of the team!" quipped Clarence.
What kind of exposure has Ecquaria provided you during your stint here? Any practical skills or business knowledge gained?
 "I have learned the different logic of what constitutes a good design for the customer and conforming the end product to the user's needs and wants."
"I have had the fortune of contributing to and observing various stages of the business value chain - from planning, prototyping and software development, to testing and marketing. I have gained a better appreciation for the thought processes behind business and technical decisions, and have also gained a better understanding of my professional aspirations and motivations."
"My stint here at Ecquaria has enabled me to hone my technical skills, as well as learn to work in small teams. I've also had to pick up new skills and knowledge within a short time and learnt how to prioritise and deliver the various tasks at hand. Communication is vital and also the ability to meet deadlines are essential."
"Throughout my stay in Ecquaria, I have learnt a few important lessons. Firstly, communication within the team and to the outside is very important as it ensures that the project is visible and all doubts are cleared before more details are put in, ensuring the success of the project.
I have also learnt to be patient especially during testing, as it could be done repeatedly over various platforms. Testing is crucial to the success of any project so as to eliminate all bugs and to provide feedback."
"During my stint in this company, I was involved in developing a system, quite similar to a web crawler, which downloads and extracts relevant information on the web. The downloaded information is presented as a valuable database for the company to perform future business analytics.
I learnt the heavy emphasis on project proof of concept and presentation so as to bridge any potential gap between the client's first stage requirements and the Pre-Sales understanding of them."
"My internship stint at Ecquaria has helped me gain insights into how businesses are run and how they are expanding their work overseas. It definitely has been a very rewarding experience to be able to spend my internship here at Ecquaria."
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