It’s not every day that we heard about a Malaysian making waves overseas. When we do, it’s really impactful and it serves as an inspiration for many of us. Amazon, Nasa, Tesla and Microsoft are probably some of the few big companies that many dreamed of working with at some point in their lives, but not many get the opportunities to do so.
However, Fakhirah Khairuddin defies all odds and managed to land herself a job at Elon Musk’s Tesla. An alumna of MARA Junior Science College (MRSM), she is now working as a technical training robotics engineering instructor at Tesla and is currently living in Fremont, California. Hailed from Terengganu, she studied at MRSM Ulul Albab in Kota Putra, Terengganu and received a scholarship from Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) to study at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) upon graduation. After completing her Bachelor’s Degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering, she received another scholarship from the university to pursue a Master’s Degree.
Tech enthusiast Ricard Ker, vice president of Aerodyne Group in Malaysia shared some of her credentials regarding her extensive technical experience, which ultimately helped her got the job at Tesla.
Here is what Ker shared about Fakhirah:
- She has worked as a Propulsion Development Engineer at the University of California, where she wrote Matlab codes to study the heat conduction of a rocket engine.
- She designed and programmed a robotic arm and won first place in the Northrop Grumman System Engineering Challenge 2019, beating 50 other teams.
- She was a team lead and spearheaded the research and development of a Hexacopter Project with UCSD.
- She designed a quadcopter, sensor casing and landing gear using the Solidworks programme. She also demonstrated new concepts through 3D print testing and improved the designs.
Many supports and congratulations from Malaysians come pouring in on social media after Ker’s post went viral.
We wish Fakhirah all the best and keep up the good work.
Photo Credit: https://www.instagram.com/fakhykhai
