“If this is what it’s like to learn,I want to keep learning my entire life.”

It’s been interesting to study sustainability in a building context, and see how we can reduce energy consumption without compromising the end users’ comfort and the functional requirements of buildings. Also to work with people from different cultures with different mind-sets. I wish more people would get this kind of experience.

Photo of Rahel Zeleke

After a BSc in civil engineering, I worked on the construction site of a mega hospital project in Ethiopia, where my responsibilities included coordinating subcontractors, consultants and designers. This required a lot of communication, which sparked my passion to study Information Management.

Despite tough competition, I was fortunate to get a full scholarship from the Swedish Institute. JU was the only university at the time that offered this programme, and we were the first to graduate: 17 students from eight countries. It has confirmed my image of Sweden as a safe and peaceful, socially diverse and welcoming country with good education.

The system here made it even more fun, relaxed, challenging and interesting. I remember thinking: if this is what learning is like, I want to keep learning my entire life.

If you consider Sustainable Building Information Management, I can assure you the learning process will be fun, especially if you enjoy modelling. Even the exams were
pedagogical. We had take-home tests and open-book exams with questions that made us reflect on what we were learning: What do you think? What was your experience? That was amazing!

Eventually, I want to specialize even more in information management so that I can accomplish something significant for the industry. Therefore, I’ll go on and do a PhD at JU.

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