UQ engineering-arts student wins Chinese speaking contest

A University of Queensland student has won the inaugural Chinese speech contest for tertiary students organised by the Lions Club of Brisbane Chinese Inc.

Jeremy Bienkowski, who won a trip to Beijing and $200 spending money, is completing parallel bachelor of engineering (honours) mechanical and space/bachelor of arts degrees.

Mr Bienkowski had to write and prepare a three to four-minute speech and tell a joke in Mandarin Chinese.

A student of Chinese since Year Six, he previously won several Chinese speaking contests while studying Chinese at Melbourne Grammar, including a Chinese speaking contest while an exchange student at Northfield Mount Hermon, Massachusetts, US. He is currently taking a double major in Chinese.

Mr Bienkowski has a very full schedule. Apart from a heavy engineering assignment workload, he is a research assistant to the head of the Mechanical Engineering Department, Professor Klaus Bremhorst, on a project investigating flow-affected corrosion.

He attends singing lessons, sings in a few small groups, is a member of the St John's Cathedral Choir and the University's early music choir, Concentus.

Concentus will perform Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt as the finale for the Brisbane Early Music Festival, on October 18 at St John's Cathedral at 8pm. Bookings are through Dial 'N Charge.

For further information, contact Mr Bienkowski, telephone 07 3870 7677.