Wojciech Kowalski
Wojciech's personal website
Wojciech's personal website
I am an Aeronautical Engineering student at Imperial College London aiming to make a tangible change in the world around us. I am a keen public speaker, team leader and a lifelong learner. In my free time I devote myself to my two passions - flying and sailing.
Timeline of awesome stuff from my life.
In my second year at Imperial I joined the organizing team of TEDxImperialCollege as the Production Manager. I managed tasks within the team, contacted speakers and sponsors as well as made executive decisions with regards to various aspects of the event. I was also the host during the event itself, which meant that I was the face of the event, managing everything that was happening on stage and behind the curtains. Being the host of such a big event was certainly another milestone on my path to become a great public speaker.
I was chosen to take part in the PwC Tech Academy in London, where I had a chance to shadow PwC consultants on real client work and learned a lot about the industry, which sparked my interest in cyber security and the future of IT. It was a great experience and I can't wait for my full internship there in summer 2018!
I joined Imperial College London as an MEng Aeronautical Engineering student. I am proud to study at such a well renowned institution, be able to meet amazing people and learn how to become a rocket scientist! Imperial is tough, especially because you're surrounded by very smart people, but that's what makes it such an incredible learning environment. And, in case you have doubts, airplanes are awesome.
I gradutated from Danube International School Vienna with 45 points on my International Baccalaureate Diploma. It was a result of hard work, great teachers in my high school and definitely some good luck! It was not easy to leave Vienna, because so many great memories and cherished friendships were made there. But I promised myself that, no matter what, I will always keep in touch with the people I truly value.
I gave a speech at the TEDxYouth@2SLO event in Warsaw where I talked about making important life choices. I drew an extended metaphor of a glider flight and shared three stories from my life that influenced who I am now. It was an important milestone in my public speaking career, because I was able to prove to myself that with an idea worth sharing and a lot of hard work anyone can forget about stage fright and become a great speaker.
I was awarded a full scholarship to study at Danube International School Vienna by the United World Colleges organization. Attending a high school in Austria became a milestone in my international education and changed my life in a way I didn't think was possible.
When I was in secondary school my team and I won the Odyssey of the Mind competition in Poland and were invited to the World Finals in the United States. Little did we know that our props and the amazing shopping-cart-human-powered-vehicle contraption we made would be lost in France and would never reach the States in time. Long story short, we rebuilt stuff worth months of hard work in less than two days and won 4th place in the world! I will never forget this experience, because it changed the way I approach problems and made me think of them as challenges to be overcome - not obstacles to be scared of.
After leaving Bytom and moving to Vilnius, Lithuania for two years my parents finally settled in Warsaw - a city which later became on of my favourite places in the world. There I spent my early childhood and attended both primary and secondary school.
I was born on 16th of January 1996 in Bytom, Poland. Although this is the place where my grandparents live, my family left the city when I was only one year old, so I never really got to know it well.
I am a second year Aeronautical Engineering student at Imperial College London aiming to jump-start my career in technology, management consultancy or engineering business sectors. I am passionate about solving complex problems with a twist of a creative approach, which for me forms a central part of engineering. At the same time I strive to make a positive impact on the environment around me as a Year Representative at Imperial, Industrial Liaison Officer in the Aeronautical Society and TEDx Imperial College Production Manager. Not only I enjoy my responsibilities but also learn invaluable lessons about leadership and managing tasks, time and people. Between attending lectures, working as an educational consultant for university applicants and training running I dream that one day I will be leading my own start-up company.