After her A Levels, Karishma N Mehta could not land a spot to read chemistry and biology in a local university. Most people would have settled for their next choice. But Karishma is not like most.

Instead, she took an unconventional path and enrolled in a polytechnic to study medicinal chemistry. She reckoned that while the route may be longer, she was more than prepared to slog it out and not allow a detour to stop her from pursuing her first love – to study science.

Her doggedness eventually paid off. Armed with her diploma, she applied for a place to read Pharmaceutical Engineering in Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), because the degree was the first of its kind in Singapore, and was formulated closely with industry standards. Karishma saw it as an opportunity to not only take her passion to newer heights, but also to stand out from the crowd by developing her skills in a niche industry that was growing.

Heavily integrating both science and engineering, the four-year direct honours degree programme trains students on both the theoretical and practical aspects of the pharmaceutical industry, focusing on development and manufacturing.

Now a final-year student at SIT, she can confidently say she has “no regrets” with the unusually long road taken.

With her polytechnic qualifications, she was able to transition easily to her degree programme curriculum. At SIT, she experienced a wide range of pharmaceutical processes first-hand, from research to manufacturing, which she found especially fulfilling. 

SIT’s industry-ready approach was amplified when Karishma embarked on her Integrated Work Study Programme (IWSP) – a key component of SIT’s applied learning pedagogy – and completed an eight-month stint at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

During her time at the retinal lab at A*STAR, she immersed herself in eye research -- even working with real mice and pigs’ eyeballs.