The first CDU student to represent Australia in international award-winning engineering internship

A Charles Darwin University (CDU) engineering student is the first Australian university student to intern with international energy service provider company BW Offshore.

CDU Bachelor of Engineering student Dion Choong, 23, was selected to participate in an eight-week, fully funded, all-expenses paid internship at BW Offshore’s offices in Norway and Singapore.

This is the first time that the company, which owns and operates floating production storage and offloading shipping vessels (FPSOs), has partnered with an Australian university to offer internships.

Mr Choong said it was a rewarding experience to apply his skills and knowledge honed at CDU as a part of the internship towards his career.

“The Internship was amazing, I learnt so much, and it was really great to see how the work life is different in each country,” Mr Choong said.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And it allowed me to see the potential of working as an engineer for an international company, which is a valuable insight for my future career.”

Mr Choong joined eight other interns from different countries in shadowing senior staff members, working on both individual and group tasks.

Among these tasks, he was involved in the analysis of a damaged crane on the FPSO BW Adolo along with a ‘fit for purpose’ verification for a riser balcony on the FPSO Petroleo Nautipa, both units operating offshore Gabon.

In addition, he played a key role in the intern’s group task, which was to explore the possibility for a Floating Green Ammonia FPSO.

“It was a great chance to put what I’ve learnt at CDU into practice, to apply the theory to real-life problems and engineering solutions,” he said.

Born and raised in Darwin, Mr Choong is in the final semester of his degree and is looking forward to completing his studies in civil and structural engineering after four and a half years.

He is currently studying remotely from Melbourne, where he is inspired by the variety of architecture and hopes to contribute his own work someday.

Conna Read, HC Manager for BW Offshore Australia, said it was a great experience to be able to bring a student from Charles Darwin University into the company’s global internship program.

“Dion was fully integrated in the international team of interns and was exposed to several real engineering tasks in both Oslo and Singapore,” Ms Read said.

“I trust this will be the beginning of a long and close cooperation with CDU and look forward to welcoming additional students from the university to our internship and Graduate programs in the future.”

CDU College of Engineering, IT and the Environment Dean Professor David Young said Mr Choong’s international placement was a great end to his education journey at CDU.

“International partnerships engage students with unique work placements that reinvigorate their studies and open the possibility of new career pathways,” Professor Young said.

“CDU is proud to help many students establish strong industry connections and become work-ready graduates who are not only qualified but determined to meaningfully contribute to their field.”