on October 11th, 2021

Luis Abuel is someone that can take aim and shoot. When he does he nearly never misses.

While this statement relates to his pristine skill of dribbling a basketball and shooting a goal (by Luis’s estimate he can make 100 hoops in 20 minutes), it also applies to his life and studies in the engineering field.

It is one of the reasons Luis was selected as EIT’s online higher education student representative. When he sets his sight on something he seems to hit his target every time.

Ultimately, what I love about my field of engineering is the understanding of how man-made stuff works and can serve humanity and nature,” says the Bachelor of Science (Industrial Automation Engineering) student.

Luis Abuel sitting at a dedsk
Pictured: Luis Abuel

It makes sense, engineering at its core is about the betterment of society, and Luis has the plum position to not only work in the field but take pride in being part of the educational aspects of it while also being a student.

If that sounds like a tall order. Let’s break it down.

Luis is currently completing his degree while working as a Technical Officer at ANSTO. At the same time, he’s EIT’s online higher education representative and also starting his own YouTube channel to better disseminate engineering education to a wider audience using his alumni networks.

“I think that it is important to be involved in my education as a representative or even just being vocal about my studying and using education as my career advancement tool because being chosen for the role is recognition.” he says.

As an EIT education ambassador Luis views it as an opportunity to learn more about leadership, professionalism, gathering feedback, and providing his insight within the engineering profession.

Even in adverse conditions, he thrives, and it brings a lot to the table when you consider it from the perspective of ambassadorship.

“Last year by first establishing my routine and taking considerations of all the priorities such as commitments to health and well-being and commitments to the family I survived the pandemic.”

For him family and health came first but ensuring those personal aspects are taken care of, learning could come third with some ease. Clearly, it worked, Luis is a valued part of EIT’s student body.

When it comes to education Luis not only takes it seriously, he genuinely wants to reach minds.

He even started his own YouTube channel under the channel name Continuing Education Specialist in 2021 where he tackles some aspects of his field, including risk and project management.

“I would like to use my education, interests, and skills to better the world by either working extraordinarily well, mentoring at work, or by teaching in a classroom or online. I started my YouTube channel and uploaded the webinar I conducted with an EIT-inspired unit called project management as my topic.”

The channel represents something he has noticed, that engineering learning and work do seep into each other, and it all relates to education.

“The unit Engineering Design and Drawing assisted me in interpreting mechanical drawings of our neutron detectors’ interfaces. Also, the unit Project Planning, Management, and Costing assisted me in handling project as a manager, procurement officer, and technician all at the same time.”

He goes on that some units like Safety Systems Engineering ensured he is always on alert and even writes work-specific safety standards.

How does he do it you ask? When it comes to Luis the answer is simple: The Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment. 

“It helps identify the areas where you have the greatest potential for building strength. It measures recurring patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior. Fortunately, after taking this assessment, it resulted in ‘learning’ as my number one strength. Therefore, if I used this strength on my daily activities (applying my learning or learning from them) then everything will be enjoyable and productive,” he says. 

To state it differently, for him working and studying will only be fun if he uses what he learned or learn from it. 

“As a matter of fact, there are moments where I am not concerned anymore whether I am working or studying because while immersed in those learning moments everything else is just fun.”

With learning being fun, it’s no wonder Luis is already thinking about a Master of Engineering once he wraps up his Bachelor degree.

Fun Facts About Luis

If you could invite anyone to a dinner party, who would it be?

I will probably invite a saint, a Spanish Roman Catholic priest, Josemaria Escriva, a holder of a doctorate in law because when he was still alive, he dedicated himself reminding everyone in all walks of life regardless of culture, belief, or upbringing that the best and fulfilling way to serve humanity is by exceptionally performing ordinary duties. Moreover, as a speaker, he was known to have a good sense of humor.

Odd but not exactly strange is the continuous use of bourdon tube in measuring pressure in one of the state-of-art Nuclear Industries (I am sure in other industries as well). 

When did you realize you want to be an engineer?

Around the place where I lived (Manila, Philippines), was several manufacturing industries like Intel, Nestle, Colgate-Palmolive, and Uniden just to name a few. This scenario convinced me that Engineering was the proper course for me to undertake after high school graduation in 1987.

See his blog about “How MFI influenced my beliefs regarding learning and teaching”.

What is the greatest invention ever, and what do you consider to be the worst invention ever?

In my opinion, the greatest invention ever is yet to come – International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). ITER is an international collaborated nuclear fusion engineering megaproject aimed at replicating the fusion processes of the Sun to create a 500MW energy on earth. This project is expected to start in operation by December 2025.

I consider those “be-fit-quick-without-hard-work” inventions are the worst because they promote false hope, an example would be the “Ab Belts”. I have also proven that those “Detox Foot Spa with Basin Ion Machine” are not working as advertised. I tried a few times then one day (without attendant checking on me) I tried removing my feet at the very start until the end of 30min, the result came up the same.



Engineering Institute of Technology