If you’re someone who assumes that girls do not become infocomm professionals, you’d be surprised to meet 23-year-old Ei Ei Min Thu.

Ei Ei has come a long way from her native Myanmar. She travelled to Singapore after completing high school to pursue a diploma in multimedia computing at Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP). But the plucky young woman, now 23-years-old, wanted to do more.

“My interest lies in software development. I like the challenge of problem solving,” she says. Therefore, she transferred to the Information Technology (IT) course at NP after her first semester. She graduated with a Merit Award and went on to work as an IT analyst for a few years.

This was when she realised the importance of understanding a business in addition to the technology. “I gained a technical background from NP, but after working in real companies, I realised that I need to analyse whether a technology fits a business process before I could apply or adapt IT solutions to a problem,” she says.

That was why Ei Ei enrolled to the Singapore Management University (SMU)-Carnegie Mellon University Fast Track Programme in 2005. She has already completed her Bachelor of Science (Information Systems Management) programme at SMU and will soon travel to Pittsburg to start her Master’s programme at Carnegie Mellon. Upon completing her Master’s degree, Ei Ei will return to Singapore to serve her National Infocomm Scholarship (NIS) bond with Microsoft Singapore.

MANY INTERESTS
Ei Ei has had a fulfi lling time so far, learning to how to create value for business out of infocomm technology. “I learnt how to analyse a business process and see what ways infocomms can be utilised to fulfi l business needs,’ she says. On top of her modules at SMU, Ei Ei completed several projects, many of which involved managing real problems, real deadlines and real consequences for real companies.

For example, her biggest project had been to develop a software application for a local bank. “There were a lot of challenges. We had to foresee possible problems but we also had to face those that came along the way. My project team almost thought we could not finish the project on time!” recalls Ei Ei.

Ever the hard worker, Ei Ei took on freelance web development projects during her spare time to keep her technical skills up-to-date. She also found time to join various co-curricular activities, such as the Japanese Cultural Club, where she participated in speech contests and other events.

Furthermore, SMU requires its students to perform 80 hours of community service a year, which forms a part of their assessment. Ei Ei helped to organise a road show for the Singapore street festival. She took charge of co-ordinating and liaising with vendors to make sure that everything ran on schedule.

She even manages to fi nd time for her own hobbies, such as swimming and cycling. As you’d expect from someone who has joined a Japanese club, she enjoys watching anime (Japanese cartoons) as well. She loves sketching anime characters and making doll dresses for her little sister.

And, to practise her language skills, Ei Ei also composes poems in English and Myanmese. “I find it a comfortable past-time,” she laughs softly.

BE AN ALL-ROUNDER
Ei Ei has already gained a lot from her studies and previous working experience, but she is always eager to learn more. Hence, she is quite relieved that Microsoft Singapore has been very flexible, allowing her to explore whatever she wanted to study.

“They have not given me a specific position or task yet,” she shares. “They want me to finish the programme before deciding my area of specialisation. This way I get to explore a range of areas and allow me to become an all-rounder.”

Ei Ei is convinced of the importance of being an all-rounder, citing it as a key trait of a successful infocomms professional. “A successful infocomms professional has to be able to talk to users, to find their requirements and apply IT to business solutions,” she says. This goes back to her original motivations for furthering her studies, her awareness that technical skills alone do not make her a complete professional.

Of course, an infocomms professional has to be passionate about technology. “They should be aware of latest developments and stay updated about business innovations,” she says. “I had to prove my passion during my scholarship application as well. This is easy because I love challenges.”

For Ei Ei, she looks at IT development from a holistic perspective. “I think, at the end of the day, the end user must benefit from whatever we do as infocomm professionals. The technology needs to be affordable and user-friendly. They must help to solve business problems, otherwise they aren’t useful.”