Siti Rifhan Binti Kama Asnawi - Funding a future in NDT

Rifhan has been a technician with UTC Aerospace Systems for the past three years and, to further her career, decided to become an NDT Inspector and started taking NDT training courses with TWI.

After getting her diploma, she decided on a career change from interior design to a technical field. She always used to find office work boring and was more interested in hands-on jobs so, when the opportunity of studying Aeronautical technician course in College Yayasan Malacca came along, she didn’t hesitate to enroll. After one year of being on the course, she found the job at UTC Aerospace and that was the beginning of her new journey into the technical world.

She believes that it was a matter of luck that the right opportunity arose at the right time. She was going through her last paper in college when her instructor told her to try her chances with UTC. Soon she was called in for interview and landed on her first job as a technician of valve components.

Prior to her Penetrant Testing course at TWI, Rifhan attended a few vocational training courses, such as air legislation and occupational health and safety.

Rifhan enjoys her job and, to further progress in her career in the aerospace industry, she decided to start taking up NDT courses to equip herself with more knowledge in this field. She mentions that, as a technician, you can progress only to a certain degree. However, to go further up in one’s career path, you need to keep up with the continuous personal improvement, and TWI has set up the perfect platform for her to progress in her career path. She is enthusiastic to experience working abroad and holding globally recognised certificates is going to open up doors for her to follow her passion.

She also highlights that, since not many females enter the field of NDT, there is a special opportunity for ladies who are interested in the industrial world, as such diversity is being encouraged by employers. Although she has faced some challenges working in a male dominated industry, she believes that to prove herself as being equally capable of performing tasks, she had to work extra hard, which has resulted in her career advancement.

She has saved up for her studies at TWI and believes that the investment in her education is worthwhile as she is going to benefit from it in her career in the long run. She thinks that after getting certified for a few NDT techniques, she will receive a rise in her position to become an NDT technician and, by showing that she is capable of performing more tasks, she will be more respected at her work.

She is happy to say that her overall experience with training at TWI has been positive. The facilities are convenient and the catering is good. She finds the course syllabus informative and the lecturer friendly and very professional in the way he delivers the course. Rifhan will be an advocate for TWI when she goes back to work after her NDT training.