After earning a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in his native India, Tejinder Singh still felt career opportunities were limited. It led him to enroll in the master’s degree program in engineering management at Wilkes.
“I struggled because there is so much unemployment in India,” explains Singh, whose home is in the Punjab province in the country’s north. Although he eventually found a job, “I didn’t get paid well there.”
Earning an advanced degree in the United States offered a pathway to achieve success. After researching options, Singh chose Wilkes because of the hands-on experience students receive in classes taught by faculty who have worked in industry. He notes that engineering management faculty bring a wealth of real-world knowledge to the classroom.
“They aren’t just teaching out of books,” Singh says. “When teachers teach here, they are teaching with their experience, sharing it with us. Those experiences shared are more powerful than words in a book. You remember them for the rest of your life.”
He cites professors William Greiner and Bob Taylor as mentors, saying their classes were among his favorites. In Taylor’s product development class, Singh led a team developing an app called Next Door Share which would allow people in neighborhoods to find and swap tools and other items with those living nearby. Such opportunities are what sets Wilkes apart, he says. “This university is for creative students who want to do something. Here, they have the platform to do it.”
Although Singh had never been to the United States before coming to Wilkes, his transition was smooth because of the help he received from Cathy Lee Arcuino, executive director of global engagement, and her team. They helped him to find housing and become acclimated to life in a new country. Arcuino encouraged him to balance study with leisure activities. Singh says, “She told me ‘We want you to enjoy your time here, not just study and study.’”
Such encouragement led Singh to get involved in mentoring other students from India in their transition to Wilkes. He’s also been active sharing Indian culture with the University community. Arcuino says his help offering a student-to-student perspective has been invaluable.
“Tejinder has been a great support and role model for other Indian students. Not only is he hard working and extremely dedicated to his studies, but he is also very compassionate and caring,” Arcuino says. “He has been instrumental in assisting the Office of Global Engagement by welcoming new students from his country and is always willing to assist with international initiatives. We are excited to see what wonderful opportunities are in store for him and how he will make an impact on the world and represent Wilkes on a global scale!”
Singh is taking his final class in fall 2023. After graduation, he hopes to find an engineering position in the U.S. and to earn the Professional Engineering Certification. At Wilkes, Singh says he received the tools to achieve his goals.
