My PhD story : Part II

Maaf, tergendala lama juga sebelum boleh menyambung siri ni...terima kasih kepada komen2 yg diberikan, inshaAllah bertambah semangat nak sambung siri ni ;-)

continuation from part I

Why optoelectronics?

Firstly, my degree was in Electrical and Electronic engineering from Cardiff University, there the emphasis was more on the electrical machines and power system. So, I am more familiar with machines and drives subject compared to other fields. Belum habis degree ada company from Malaysia dtg wat interview in Cardiff..the company is called Malaysia Microelectronics Solutions Sdn. Bhd... the company does chip design using CMOS technology...guess what, I went to the interview...mula2 tu saja je test market...tup tap, the boss (CEO of the company) who came was really islamic and this attracted my attention and I decided to take the job (although at that time, I was not even sure what CMOS is!)...

The company is actually an IC design company, so mostly deals with semiconductor, in particular the silicon technology (CMOS). My first day there, I was given a paper test, with basic questions on Logic gates and CMOS design..huhu, I think I failed the exam...out of 10 maybe i just got 1 right! Sedey betul...the technical boss I think was surprised at why the CEO took me for the job...but I made a point to study real hard to understand their business and technical details...It was the toughest first two months, but alhamdulillah in the end, I manage to understand what they were discussing in the meetings :)

The point of the story above is that semiconductor is actually a bidan terjun field for me...i dont know much about it...i knew just enough for the job...and yet...i've done a PhD in semiconductors , huhu...

So, back to the questions, why semiconductor, why optoelectronics? To those of you who are not familiar with optoelectronics, it means electronics that deals with light. Yeap, laser is a field in optoelectronics, detector is also in it, solar cell, LEDs.. At first, i want to do renewable energy for my PhD...either wind energy or solar energy (niatnya so that leh bantu negara2 miskin utk generate electricity)...but Loughborough Univ had a problem with their online form system and lost my application...the one who replied very fast and keenly was Sheffield univ, under Dr. John David (at that time he wasn't a proffesor yet)

Pakcik John punya field ialah detectors...saya takde la minat sangat, huhu..tapi pakcik tu pandai, kata field dia leh gak wat solar cells, lasers seme...maka saya termakan la juga kata2 manis tu...plus lepas solat istikharah berkali2...saya rasa tenteram utk sambung dgn pakcik ni...with the perception that whatever happens after that will be the best that can happen to me, (i believe this is the path that Allah guide me to do)....so i started my PhD under him....

To be honest, if somebody asked me at that time, awak minat ke engineering ni? My answer was... not really....and if somebody ask me again the same question, after 5 years of PhD , my answer will still be...i dont think so....

then came the question, how come you manage to do well in your first degree (with a first class honors) and manage to complete your PhD altho it took you 5 years? ...

I always believe that whatever we do is amanah...so when we are given an amanah, we must make sure we do the best of our ability to complete it and achieve the best of our potential....even if we don't really like to do it...so the solution is to struggle and force oneself...Alhamdulillah Allah gave me the ability to force myself to do something altho I dont like it, but forcing myself out of responsibility....I feel responsible to show to the Mat Salleh and non-muslims alike that muslim women are not oppressed, are not stupid and can be as smart or even smarter than them...I feel responsible to show that a practising muslim is capable of working hard and in the same time upholding her principles...I feel that I am representing the muslim ummah....how can I do lebih kurang, ye dak? :)

Thats why, dengan segala mehnah dan dugaan yg menimpa masa stadi ni... I still manage to cope (well, sometimes barely coping)...because I believe Allah is on myside...and doing dakwah in the same time strengthen my belief and hopefullness....I always believe Allah will never ever zalim towards his servants....and Allah's promise in the holy Quran...Intansurullaha yansurkum....If you help in Allah's way, Allah will surely help you...

ok cukup dulu entry buat kali ni... next part is sharing on the trials and tribulations of PhD life...

ps: Buat Suria, kalau su nak jadi lecturer, leh la wat PhD...kalau tak, entahlah, kadang2 rasa tak perlu buat PhD ni...(kalau setakat nak prove to oneself)...sbb banyak at stake wat PhD ni..bukan kita je yg go thro it, suami kita, anak2 kita...yg paling elok, istikharah banyak2, minta Allah bg petunjuk...inshaAllah itulah keputusan terbaik :)