We, at Avanse Financial Services, understand the significance of your study abroad dreams. Hence, we have introduced the Students Speak series just for you. In this episode of Student’s Speak, we are in conversation with Vrushali Lawand, who will be pursuing a Master’s in Construction Engineering and Management from Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey, USA.

Vrushali’s academic background and work experience

Her fascination for civil design, structures and construction encouraged her to complete a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from S.B. Patil College Engineering. With a twinkle in her eye, she quickly shares her amusement for sea links and bridges, which connect places within cities and states. Such constructions motivated her to pursue further studies and a career in the Civil Engineering domain. After completing her course, she worked in a construction management firm for a brief period. During her stint with this organization, she decided to pursue higher studies that will impart technical and management skills so that she is able to explore better prospects in this domain. 

Let’s take a peek at her course, university and study abroad destination.

She will be pursuing MS in Construction Engineering and Management from Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey. The rationale behind choosing this course is to gain a perfect blend of technical knowledge and management skills. The Stevens Institute of Technology is well known for its faculty members. There are over 3,000 undergraduate students and 3,400+ graduate students studying in this institution. According to the US News & World Report 2022 rankings, it is one of the top100 national universities. 

The Construction Engineering and Management Master’s program has been designed to help students strengthen the already existing technical skills and develop other skills such as managing costs, time constraints, quality and safety controls through an advanced curriculum including experiential learning and engagement with the overall industry.

Vrushali’s course is scheduled to begin on 18 January 2022. The university currently follows the hybrid model of teaching, so she will get to experience online as well as on-campus learning right from the start of her semester.

Her research suggests that the USA is one of the pioneer destinations for this kind of course. Interestingly, the Stevens Institute of Technology is known for its rigorous coursework in the construction and engineering arena, enabling students to network with industry leaders and gain work experience through its co-op program. During the conversation, she also mentioned that one of the professors from this institute guided her to plan her admission to this college. To connect with this faculty member, she dropped him an email. After a couple of days, he humbly responded to her and shared his invaluable advice. 

Future prospects post-course completion

Vrushali admits that every student dreams of working abroad, at least in the initial years, after completion of the study program. She plans to do the same if the right opportunity knocks at her door. However, Vrushali has a noble cause at heart. She aspires to serve her country and hence, plans to come back and make a sizeable contribution through the wealth of knowledge that she will gain. She also shares that the ‘Make in India’ initiative is one of the many reasons she aspires to come back to India to build her career in this country. According to the institution’s website, some of the career opportunities that one can explore are Project Engineer, Operations Engineer, Site Engineer, Construction Manager, Director of Engineering, Director of Field Services and more. In addition to this, Vrushali mentions that after finishing her course, she will also be able to explore job roles such as Law Advisor or Environment Manager in the environment management domain based on some of the interesting elective subjects that are offered by this institute. 

This is just the start of Vrushali’s higher education journey planning. We will be sharing more information about her research mechanism, travel and accommodation plans, and things to keep in mind while travelling to the US in the upcoming blogs of Students Speak. Stay tuned for more. Meanwhile, if you have any doubt, please share them with us. We, at Avanse, will be happy to assist you. All the best!