From NTU to the fast lane at Imperial
Whether she's in Seoul, rural Vietnam or Imperial College London, Renaissance Engineering Programme student Kimberly Lek is on a learning adventure of a lifetime
by Wong SY
Kimberly Lek, a third-year Renaissance Engineering Programme (REP) student, has been raving about her exchange programme at Imperial College London just weeks into her nine-month placement. The temperature has been hitting zero outside and the Wi-Fi is glitching, but Kimberly insists she’s having a whale of a time. It helps that she’s spending it with 20 of her course mates.
A mechanical engineering major, Kimberly is especially thrilled about taking part in corporate projects at Imperial involving world-class manufacturers like Caterpillar. She’s also enjoying the exposure to industry insights, through talks by speakers from Rolls-Royce, Sony AI and Google DeepMind.
“My 12-member project team has started meeting up with the Imperial Formula Racing student team to learn how they test, design and build better race cars,” says Kimberly.
Kimberly and her REP friends are happy with the study-play balance. They’ve studied in lecture halls that have produced some of the world’s greatest engineering minds. And found time to travel to Bath, Cambridge and Oxford to explore Britain’s historical roots. They also frequently cook together at the halls of residence.
“Eating out in London is very expensive, unlike at NTU, where food is cheap and accessible. What we make might not be the tastiest, but we enjoy the camaraderie,” says Kimberly.
Before London came calling, Kimberly did a three-month exchange at Seoul’s Hanyang University, the alma mater of Korean stars Lee Byung-hun and Choi Ji-woo. A K-drama fan, she took a Korean language elective in her first year. “Hanyang was more a cultural exchange,” says Kimberly.
“It sharpened my language skills and understanding of Korean culture.” Upon returning from Hanyang, she was soon off again – to a small mountain village in Vietnam. The one-week trip was part of REP’s HEAL (Humanitarian Engineers and Leaders) programme.
The rustic village was a social universe away from Seoul and London. But for Kimberly, the simple, zero-frills experience was equally enriching. The REP students helped set up a chimney in a hut frequented by visitors. It was no complex engineering feat, certainly not on the scale of building race cars. But when smoke first billowed from the new chimney, the NTU undergrads felt a strong sense of pride. For Kimberly, it was just as exhilarating as hearing Big Ben chime for the first time.
So far, her NTU journey has been much more than Kimberly ever hoped for.
“After my A levels, I’d already decided on REP regardless of the perks of studying abroad. I liked the course structure and learnt about the close rapport between lecturers and students. To me, the exchange components were an added incentive. But what a bonus it has turned out to be,” she enthuses.
Her university education has been one great adventure. And Kimberly Lek is really living it.
Renaissance Engineering Programme
The Renaissance Engineering Programme grooms engineering leaders with an entrepreneurial spirit to become changemakers. Earn a Bachelor of Engineering Science and a Master Science in Technology Management in just 4.5 years, complemented by a year abroad at top universities and intensive leadership training.
Read more stories about NTU undergraduates learning beyond borders here.
This story was published in the Jan-Feb 2026 issue of HEY!. To read it and other stories from this issue in print, click here.
