When Siecap analyst Georgie Dignan was offered the chance to participate in Harvard’s Summer School in July 2019, she didn’t think twice. “Going to Harvard was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I knew that I had to do it,” she says.
Georgie has been an analyst here at Siecap since 2018 and is also in her final year of a mechanical engineering and finance degree at The University of Queensland. In 2016, she took advantage of a six-month exchange program that took her to The University of Edinburgh. It was during that experience that she says she fell in love with travelling and the benefits of studying abroad.
Her three-week intensive at Harvard Summer School this year saw her undertake a Sustainable Finance and Investments course, during which she conducted an integrated analysis into the feasibility of using solar power to cool an underground mine in Queensland. “The analysis quantified potential economic, environmental and social impacts of the project,” she explains.
Apart from providing her with a rare educational opportunity and giving her credit towards her finance major at UQ, she says the experience as a whole was unforgettable. “Being able to study at a world-class university, whilst exploring the city of Boston at the same time, made this exchange one of the best experiences of my life. The other students in my class were from all over the world, studying degrees across a range of different disciplines, which made the class discussions extremely diverse and interesting.”
She also left Boston with a great network of contacts and lifelong friends. The best thing she learnt? “To always take every opportunity that is presented to me.”
Well done, Georgie!