"I chose NTU for a year abroad, and found my tech future in San Francisco"
Overseas studies at UC Berkeley opened her eyes to bolder possibilities, inspiring this new REP grad to work at the frontier of AI
by Tan Zi Jie
Jewel Aw never expected to work overseas.
When she picked NTU’s Renaissance Engineering Programme (REP) over offers from local and UK law schools, its year abroad was a big factor. At the time, she saw it as a chance for global exposure.
Her studies at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) placed her near the buzz of Silicon Valley. There, she began to think differently about work, growth and building her own path.
That experience eventually shaped her next move. Earlier this year, the fresh NTU graduate relocated to San Francisco to work as a software engineer in the artificial intelligence (AI) startup scene.
Given that AI has democratised access to knowledge, I think creating your own path and not pursuing a traditional or linear journey is especially important.
– Jewel
The year that widened her world
In her first two semesters in REP, Jewel explored different engineering tracks before choosing computer engineering for its mix of software and hardware training. Internships in machine learning, cybersecurity, AI and solutions architecture with multinational companies and public agencies in Singapore helped her test those interests further.
But the biggest shift came during her third year at UC Berkeley.
“I met many ambitious people passionate about starting something big. There’s this spirit of ‘you can just do things’ in the startup world,” she says. “Your background doesn’t matter, only whether what you’re building is viable.”
Back at NTU, a digital strategy course at Nanyang Business School helped her make sense of what she had seen. Through case studies on digital disruption, she learnt how smaller companies, such as Apple in its infancy, use new technology and fresh thinking to challenge larger players.
By her final year, Jewel knew she wanted software engineering work that was both technical and close to making a real-world impact. “I want to build up my skills fast and grow quickly, and realised that working in a startup would give me greater responsibility and higher agency,” she says.
So she started applying to US startups, where forward deployed engineers – who work very closely with clients to build and integrate products directly into their workflows – are more common.
After receiving a few offers, Jewel joined a startup in January to develop voice AI services, such as automated debt collection calls, for financial institutions.
Ready for jobs not yet named
“Given that AI has democratised access to knowledge, I think creating your own path and not pursuing a traditional or linear journey is especially important,” Jewel says.
For her, that means working at the forefront of AI and taking on fast-paced, complex projects.
In August, Jewel will dive into reinforcement learning – one of the hottest areas in machine learning, where human feedback is used to help large language models improve their reasoning and responses.
As a software engineer at another startup that connects AI labs with domain experts such as former bankers and consultants, she will work alongside researchers at frontier AI companies to optimise how their AI models are trained.
It’s the kind of work that did not exist when she entered university. NTU has prepared her not for a single job, but for a future where technologies, industries and even job titles keep changing.
“You have to be curious and hungry. That’s the most sustainable form of drive,” she reflects.
Moving alone to a place that’s a 16-hour flight from home may sound daunting to others. But Jewel sees
only possibility.
She says: “If I don’t limit myself, I can achieve whatever I set out to do.”
Read more stories on the moments in university that changed the Class of 2026 here.
This story was published in the Jul-Aug 2026 issue of HEY!. To read it and other stories from this issue in print, click here.
