The Journey
To My Success

David Hadjichristodoulou: "Success is to achieve the best you can with all the means available to you"

Engineering has always been my passion, my calling I would say, since I was a young child. I was always drawn to anything mechanical and electronic and I was looking for ways to make it work.

I was good at finding solutions even if they were unconventional. For example, if the chair was missing that piece of wood that we put our feet on, I could replace it with layers of adhesive tape. Not very practical, but it worked!

I chose Frederick simply because when asking which university is the best in this field, everyone agreed on Frederick University. And having lived the experience, I can verify that

I grew up in Greece but I am half Cypriot and that’s why I came here to fulfill my military service. I was already 25 years old when I was studying Computer Science in Athens. I decided to transfer my courses to Frederick in Electrical Engineering because that was what I had always wanted to do. I chose Frederick simply because when asking which university is the best in this field, everyone agreed on Frederick University. And having lived the experience, I can verify that.

In my opinion it is due to the lecturers… Each one is specialized and exemplar in their field. Beyond that it is the humane element. We are talking about professors who will help you and will be close to you at all times. Today, as a PhD student, I work at Frederick in the field of research. The field I specialize in is microwave engineering - antenna engineering. That means research on telecommunications hardware and high frequencies, with professors Dr Nikolaou and Dr Vryonidis.

Some very good professors in my field have graduated from Frederick University. The three who were in my position before me teach at universities - Dr Muhammad Ali Babar Abbasi in Belfast, Dr Abdul Quddious at the University of Cyprus and Dr Salman Arain in Pakistan. All three had graduated with my professors.

I was also a tutor for other students, a cooperation that also works very well at Frederick. Through tutoring I met very good students and I found that I enjoyed teaching

At the university I was very lucky because the students in my year were all very close. In general, Frederick's environment greatly promotes collaboration and communication between students and there is a climate of solidarity and mutual aid. I was also a tutor for other students, a cooperation that also works very well at Frederick. Through tutoring I met very good students and I found that I enjoyed teaching.
Research and innovation have been widely promoted in Cyprus in recent years. If we take into account that only in the last ten years has Cyprus really started to expand in research, then I would say that it is growing quite fast. Of course, we are still in the early stages and this means that there are more opportunities compared to countries that have very advanced research programs and find it difficult to get in.

In our field, perhaps because there are few who specialize in it, you may need to pave the way yourself. What matters is what you do and not where you are. If you manage to do the best with the means at your disposal, this is success for me.