Graduation Ceremony 17
Wednesday 2 December 2015 at 1630hrs – Jesuits Church Valletta
Graduand’s Speech
Marija Cauchi
I stand here today as a PhD engineering graduate of the University of Malta, honoured and humbled to
have been entrusted with the opportunity to deliver this speech on such a special occasion.
Each and every one of us who will be graduating today has a unique story to tell – a story of a young
man or woman with a dream that has finally come true. My story goes back to when I was a young
student. I vividly remember being in the Advanced Physics class at the Sir M. A. Refalo Sixth Form in
Gozo. That morning our lecturer had planned a lesson on accelerator physics and he started by showing
us a picture of what he said was the largest particle accelerator in the world. This was the first time I
heard about the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research known as
CERN, and it was certainly not the last! Indeed, who would have told me that 5 years down the line I
would be doing my doctoral studies at such a prestigious place and being part of the major scientific
endeavours of our times!
Without any doubt, working at CERN has been one of the most wonderful achievements of my life. This
certainly does not mean that it was a walk in the park. Honestly, far from it! Just finishing a bachelor in
mechanical engineering and having a limited background on accelerator physics, I first had to work
extremely hard to familiarize myself with the project background, before I could apply my engineering
skills to such a multidisciplinary project. On top of all this, I was far away from the people dearest to my
heart. Although it was a difficult journey involving loads of disheartened moments and sleepless nights, I
kept going, as there is no rainbow without a little rain.
Over the past years during my short stays in Malta, whenever I was asked “What do you do?”, my
answer would normally be that I am a PhD student currently doing research in mechanical engineering
at CERN. Upon providing this answer, I could count on being asked another question and I can bet that
this same question has also been asked to most of you here today – “But what do you really do?”. Such
an answer illustrates that most people do not understand what researchers do on a day-to-day basis.
We all know that teachers teach our kids, lawyers sort out disputes whereas doctors treat us when we
are sick. But, what do researchers do? What are their contributions to our society?
Well, today I will tell you how I, and my fellow graduates, have killed time during the past years. We
worked in the lab for seemingly endless days, trying to figure stuff out by implementing the scientific
method to turn the unknown into the known. Doing research is a difficult venture – it is not finding all
your answers in one day! I consider myself lucky to have been present for the announcement of the
Higgs Boson at CERN – this opportunity made me more aware that research is not possible without
perseverance. The Nobel Laureate Peter W. Higgs had derived the theoretical predictions of the Higgs
Boson way back in the early 1960’s but his predictions were only experimentally confirmed at the Large
Hadron Collider in 2012. Yes, after 50 agonising years!
To expand a bit on my case, my PhD research at CERN involved working on the collimators of the Large
Hadron Collider or LHC. Simply put, the LHC is a racing track for particles in which collimators act as the
crash barriers. Each collimator is the pinnacle of precision engineering and my task ensured that these
collimators are adequately designed to protect against accidents. Advanced simulations were part and
parcel of my research together with complex experiments that I had to design to benchmark my
numerous simulations. One of my most nerve-racking experiments involved crash testing a real
collimator. I knew that I had better get my first and only attempt right as I would not have the chance to
do another such experiment during my PhD given that the cost of each collimator is around a quarter of
a million euros.
Looking back, my experience at CERN was enriching on both scientific and personal levels. The fact that I
was amongst thousands of engineers, physicists and computer scientists from all over the world speaks
for itself. Thanks to this experience, today I have friends and collaborators from every continent around
the world.
This is my story and I am sure that each and everyone one of you here today has their own beautiful
story to tell. We should be thankful that we were given the opportunity to pursue our studies which
have not only enhanced our knowledge, but have also hopefully made us better people. All of us here
have contributed something, no matter how small, to society. As the opportunity was given to us, we
should look forward to give similar opportunities to the people coming after us.
Even though we are still a long way to go, we should acknowledge that Malta has made huge
improvements in research, innovation and development. Acknowledging that these play a key role in the
achievement of Malta’s economic and social goals, consecutive governments, hand in hand with our
University, have strived to strengthen the underpinning framework and human resources. However, I
would like to highlight that this does not only mean investing and encouraging students to embark on
MSc and PhD projects, but also offering them adequate opportunities once they are ready from their
studies. This is one of the major challenges of our developing economy.
When we were nearing the end of our projects, I am sure that most of us here have had the same worry:
Will I use what I learnt during my MSc or PhD once I am ready? Given that I carried out my research
abroad, what will be my contribution to the Maltese society once I am back? Will Malta gain anything?
How can I apply the knowledge I obtained to my everyday job?
And while it is understandable and expected that sometimes it is not possible to directly apply our very
specific research, we must emphasize the importance of exploiting or transferring our hard-obtained
skills to both academic and non-academic sectors. Every university should prepare its students to apply
the variety of skills mastered during their research projects, be it problem-solving or management skills,
in the world out there. Malta cannot afford to lose anyone with the right aptitude to create a
sustainable future, improve health, build our cyber and physical infrastructure, and enhance personal
and societal security. A diverse set of minds is necessary to tackle these problems. We are all young and
enthusiastic researchers with a huge potential. We sincerely beg you to give us opportunities to
capitalise on the skills we have obtained to the benefit of the Maltese society. Otherwise, sadly, Malta
would be largely missing out on the people it would have itself invested in.
All of us here today should consider himself or herself lucky that we had people who believed in us – be
it our academic mentors, family and friends. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the
lecturers that have believed in all of us during our respective journey. A special mention goes to Dr
Pierluigi Mollicone and Dr Nicholas Sammut for giving me the opportunity to carry out my research at
such an esteemed place as CERN. Above all, I am immensely grateful to my family as well as my fiancé
who had to suffer the miserable tirades of a stressed PhD student but who remained unconditionally
there for me. Had it not been for such people, my journey would have been far more difficult than it
was. I deeply appreciate all your support as I am here tonight because of you, thank you!
I would like to conclude this speech with a small thought. In the world out there, the profession of a
mechanical engineer still evokes images of a sturdy-looking man in an oil-stained boiler suit with a
spanner in his hand trying to fix a car’s engine. Sadly, this is still one of the misconceptions of what it is
like to be an engineer. Breaking stereotypes is never easy. As a Gozitan female engineer with seemingly
all the odds against me to break through the glass ceiling, I hope that I will serve as a role model to show
that you should never let anyone diminish your dreams.
Today we are all celebrating the well-deserved award for our hard work. We’ve made it. We’ve
succeeded. And today on our commencement, our first day of life in the real world, that's what I wish
for all of us. Instead of trying to make our life perfect, let’s be encouraged to give ourselves the freedom
to make it an adventure. In the words of Albert Einstein, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your
balance you must keep moving”. Let’s always give our best, aim high and keep pushing forward!
Thank you and good luck to all of us in our future endeavours!