Brandon d’Cruz, Class of 2024, MSc in Green Electronics
For many youths who spend their summers frolicking on sandy beaches, Brandon d’Cruz has a different summer from other typical children his age.
Born in San Luis Potosi, known for its rich cultural heritage and lush vegetation, Brandon spent his childhood amidst the culturally rich Spanish Baroque-style cathedrals and colonial architecture. His parents divorced when he was six, which not only left him and his fraternal twin brother to fend for themselves with his mother but also created an emotional void that was difficult to fill. Brandon not only missed out on his childhood but also on his adolescence.
Bearing silent witness to the events that transpired, Brandon was not one to give significance to his circumstances. Instead, he began to support himself and his mum. That is also when he had his epiphany about what he wanted to achieve in his life.
“My sister told me about a programme that offered a visa to work at a kids’ camp in the US, so I ended up working at Camp Scatico in New York. I vividly remember arriving at JFK Airport at night and driving into the city. Seeing the lights of New York City at night was impressive, and it was the first time a member of my family had travelled to another country. The experience ignited my passion for travelling and dreaming big,” recalled Brandon.
Indeed, life in foreign cities became a familiar feature for Brandon as he took on jobs from all and sundry in the USA and Canada.
For Brandon, life was not simply just another Mediterranean life cycle; he was determined to make an impact in his capacity. Even as Brandon grew up, the books that accompanied him throughout his growing years were not the typical Road Dahl fiction but books of science and hard facts. It was also when he chanced upon an encyclopedia that he began to develop a precocious interest in science and everything related to it.
“I started reading about the structure of atoms and found it fascinating. It felt meaningful to me, which led me to decide to study nanotechnology,” recounted Brandon.
The dream of being able to live in another country while pursuing his interests was an intoxicating notion. He wanted to find his Ikigai (a reason to live), and pursuing a Master of Science in Green Electronics degree in Singapore was a prospect that touched his soul.
Without much thought, he enrolled into the programme. In hindsight, heading to a country on the opposite end of his time zone was not what one would consider a calculated risk. It was reckless. “I began having second thoughts the day before my flight. I realised I hadn’t fully considered all aspects and chuckled at myself for not thinking it through. However, I reflected on my experiences living in big cities like New York City, Toronto, and London. We’ll never know until we try. That gave me the confidence and faith to trust my heart that I have made the right choice,” Brandon reflected.
“The programme can be challenging, especially because the first year was quite intensive to cover all the syllabus. It can be repetitive, but I like to believe that repetition is key to mastery,” Brandon said.
“I spoke to my friend Antonio, a professor at Imperial College London. He observed that some degrees don’t provide a good understanding of the cultural characteristics of the countries the programmes are embedded in. Conversely, the MSc in Green Electronics at TUM Asia is not only entrenched in the deep cultural currents of both Singapore and Germany, but the professors gave very interesting insights into the cultural nuances preexisting in the countries, which allowed me to gain an appreciation and learn to communicate sensitively in globalised work environments.
“My internship at the Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF) broadened my horizons, and it rightly hit the nail and allowed me to understand the dizzying array of fascinating technology applications like LiDAR and high-performance computing. I am interested in chip applications. Therefore, I plan to continue in this line of work to gain a deeper understanding of the design, fabrication and characterisation of semiconductor integrated circuits. I aim to acquire additional skills to empower me as an engineer, particularly in programming,” Brandon shared.