Qinghe
2022
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Why did you choose to do a PhD?
I developed my strong interest in research through my undergraduate research experience (URECA@NTU). I applied for a PhD program to gain solid training.
Why did you choose to do graduate education at NUS? If you received offers from other universities, why did you pick NUS?
I picked NUS because of the rigorous training offered by the Institute of Operations Research and Analytics (IORA) and the excellent faculties here.
How does graduate school compare to your undergraduate experience?
My undergraduate experience helped me explore the width, but in graduate school, I exploited the depth.
Briefly share about your research or thesis (i.e. dissertation topic for Masters by Coursework students).
My thesis provides new insights to three areas in sustainable operations: emission, waste, and energy from a maritime perspective. In my thesis, I used operations research as methodology to explore some practically relevant challenges in the maritime operations.
What impact do you hope to have with your research?
As a student at IORA, I have the highest freedom to register modules offered by various departments of NUS. During my PhD period, I took courses offered by Business, Science, Engineering and Arts. These experiences expanded my horizons.
Briefly share a highlight from your graduate school journey.
I was fortunate to collaborate with a world leading shipping line, knowing their pain points, and proposing solutions to address the real-world challenges. Through this project, I realize how my research could generate economic and societal benefits apart from making academic contributions.
Share a challenge you faced in graduate school and how you overcame it.
There was a period when I felt my life lacked positive feedback—rejections from journals, slow progress in research, and so on. Luckily, my supervisor is very encouraging and supportive, giving me a lot of compliments on my progress and helping me to overcome my desperation.
Do you have any interesting personal stories to share? For example, about your journey to get into graduate school, personal hobbies/interests.
Before my graduate study in operations research, which, based on my opinion, is (applied) applied math, I studied Maritime Studies. This unique experience made me very familiar with maritime and shipping contexts and helped me identify research questions. There is an ocean of valuable research questions that can be optimized. I hope to develop models and algorithms that are translatable into products or services that generate real impact.