Ben Se Hwan

My passion for engineering has always been with me ever since I was young. Whenever I saw something, whether that was a simple math question or a machine, I wanted to know how it worked. This eventually led me to be interested in STEM topics and to pursue a university degree in engineering. Even though I had the choice to go back to my home country, South Korea, after graduating high school in the Philippines, I wanted to embark on a new adventure where I would not only receive one of the best engineering education in Asia but also challenge myself in a new environment and culture. Choosing to apply to the School of Engineering in HKUST was a no-brainer after that.

However, I realized that whether I choose to become an engineer or not, if I am going to go out to the “real world”, I would have to be familiar with the business world as well. This realization soon turned to an interest in finance as well as my original passion for engineering. With the help of HKUST’s engineering school faculty members and friends, I was able to learn more about how engineering can be applied to and merged with the business/finance world. In addition, the flexible course structure that allowed me to get a taste of various courses in both engineering and business schools allowed me to finally join the Department of Industrial Engineering and Decision Analytics where I am currently learning about financial engineering.