Gabriel Sikukuu
Born into a very humble family, my determination to succeed and help my family and society drove me and enabled me to do my best. During my childhood, I used to see my mother prepare traditional brews to raise money to provide for the family. The brewing business was the only source of income for the family, therefore during my free time, I would assist my mum to prepare the raw materials used in the brewing process. My friends used to make fun of us, calling us brewers/ brewing engineers and calling our home a brewery. I was curious to understand more about the brewing process and this drove my interest in engineering and chemistry. After graduating from Kenyatta University (Kenya) with a degree in Industrial Chemistry, I secured a job as a quality analyst at the largest brewing company in East Africa because of my passion in brewing.
With the hunger to equip myself with more knowledge, skills, experience and expertise necessary to accomplish my life goals of transforming my society and other people’s lives, I decided to join HKUST for my PhD Studies after completing a master’s program at Kangwon University (South Korea).
Why engineering?
The brewing business helped develop my passion for chemical engineering. Our country has a lot of natural resources, yet the resources are not processed in the country but exported to other countries to be processed. The final products are later sold back to us at a more expensive price. I wanted to learn more on how chemical engineering can be applied to convert raw materials into useful products. This motivated me to pursue chemical engineering. I have a dream to excel academically as an engineer and in return be a key player in helping my nation achieve the vision to be an industrialized nation by the year 2030 and to be more developed in future.
Why HKUST?
Top quality education; HKUST is ranked among the top universities in the world. Thus, by studying in HKUST I am assured of getting quality education that will enable me to compete with other scholars from all over the world. HKUST also has highly skilled and experienced staff from whom I am learning from. I believe that to be the best, I must learn from the best.
Research oriented institution; My aim is to acquire more knowledge through research. Studying at HKUST provides me with the opportunities to participate in a lot of research projects thus acquire more knowledge.
If you want to change the world and make it a better place, start with yourself. With its modern facilities, experienced staff and conducive learning environment, HKUST offers various opportunities for one to transform himself/herself to a better person.