Industrial Attchement

6 Months industrial attachment was part of my 4 year study of bioengineering in NTU. I was attached to Merck Sharpe & Dohme, a pharmaceutical company. I wasn't sure what to expect, what i would be required to do, and what kind of people i would interact with. On the first day, i met several other people in a similar situation like mine. We were all in NTU or NUS, attached to MSD for our 6 month attachment. We came from different backgrounds, and were under different departments. We all had no clue what our department or what our jobs were all about. We all had no clue who the people beside us were. How things changed over 6 months!

My closest friend in MSD was my fellow course-mate and intern Zi yen. We were from the same course and were attached to the same department. At first, i had my doubts about working with her. I did not know her well and she seemed quite different. Quite reserved....hardly saw her in lectures in school and she was always with her friend Averil (who was also interning with us , but from a different department). Over the last 6 months, we became very good friends. We both helped each other out when needed, enthusiastically cleaning the lab with our innovative 5S ideas, carrying out routines HPLCs and discussing all the various company gossips. Working together with her, i realised how similar we were in our thinking. I had the most amount of fun working with her to make our video for the interns presentation. I think it was one if the best video (technically) that I am glad i had an opportunity working with her. I think she is one of the nicest people around from BIE. =) I didn't get an opportunity to work with Avril as much I knew she is a sweet girl as well. What struck me most of her was her contagious laughter. When Avril laughs, you feel like a small kid is laughing, and you feel like laughing with her!!

There were a total of 13 of us interning there. Each person distinctly different and unique from the rest. Daniel is straightforward and frank, and is the genius among all of us. He seemed like a hard worker who had his priorities right. I remember how me and Zi Yen were so enthusiastic about helping him with his Valentine's day crush. Hsein Long was terrified of his supervisor and used to tell us all the scary stories of how his sup was bullying him. We all got scared of his sup after that.Marilyn is the rose among the thorns of NUS guys. A very sweet girl with a good sense of humor and who likes mambo! En ping could never stop talking about his cycling trips to Thailand and his secrets to having a trim and fit body. I must admit though..they were very educational!=P I admire his fitness and i m very jealous of his extremely high metabolic rate( He eats all day..but looks as fit as a fiddle)! Alvin's 'Why??' never failed to intrigue me in more ways than one. Kok Hong has this air of mystery around him. His views on girls, fashion and relationships are interesting and enjoyable to listen to. Lai peng and Siang fu's quiet but obvious relationship status was the talking point amongst the interns. Sagar was the weirdest of them all. He hardly joined us for lunch and was extremely quite when he did. And finally, the hardcore gymmer, Chandra!! Mr. muscles man and his 'HUMP'!! His interns presentation video was the most hilarious video i have seen. Chee Yan joined us only for about 4 weeks but her stories about Ipoh and diving were enjoyable.

Having such characters with me, i never failed to have a interesting day at work. I will miss them all, especially in my last two weeks at work. =)