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It is one of those moments of poetic beauty, that there is a place in far-northern New South Wales called Come By Chance. Ellen Ash grew up on a grazing property nearby in the 1940s, when people made a living on the land with toil, and a little luck.

鈥淚 did correspondence school lessons for most of my primary schooling,鈥� remembers Ellen. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 see many other people.鈥� Eventually, Ellen came to Sydney to study at the Teachers College. She always had a sense that it was harder for country people to realise their ambitions.

Ellen is thrilled that through the Stanley Chisholm Ash Scholarship in Engineering, she has helped her first young person from regional Australia to study at Sydney and build a future in engineering.

鈥淕rowing up, my main hobbies were tinkering with electronics and reading,鈥� says Sandin Jayasekera, who came聽to Australia from Sri Lanka when he was eight and now lives in Wagga Wagga, five hours southwest of Sydney. 鈥淭hen I discovered computer programming and the incredible things you could do when you mixed programming and electronics.

鈥淚 still clearly remember the moment I found out I had the scholarship. The first emotion was disbelief. The change it has meant for me is truly momentous.鈥�

The scholarship is named in remembrance of Ellen鈥檚 husband, Stanley. In some ways, Sandin is following in Stanley鈥檚 footsteps. As a child, Stanley was fascinated by how things worked. At the age of three, he dismantled a clock and knew how to put it back together, but couldn鈥檛 鈥� his little fingers didn鈥檛 have the power to compress the springs.

Ellen and Stanley met through a bushwalking club, and over many happy years together, Ellen watched Stanley become a highly respected engineer.

His career started with an apprenticeship at Qantas, where he designed tools and constructed parts for the flying boats, which took off from Rose Bay. He was made an Engineering Fellow in 1999, and later finished his working life in charge of the Test Branch of Sydney County Council, checking the complicated mathematics of new inventions before they were accredited.

Upon retirement, Stanley became something of an inventor, and designed the house where Ellen still lives.

鈥淪tanley had a strong sense of values, a real love of engineering and an enthusiasm for learning,鈥� says Ellen. When Stanley sadly passed away in 2016, she wanted to establish a scholarship to聽represent his life. She contacted the University, and was offered聽a guided tour of the University鈥檚 Faculty of Engineering.

鈥淭his was a wonderful experience,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 was thrilled to see a demonstration of agricultural robots. Also, I鈥檇 always wondered how 3D printing works and it was great to see this process. Another highlight was seeing students assembling a full-sized kit plane. It reminded me of Stanley鈥檚 early career.鈥�

For all the things that have changed since Ellen and Stanley studied, one challenge has remained 鈥� country students being able to afford to live in the city.

Thanks to the Stanley Chisholm Ash Scholarship in Engineering, Sandin doesn鈥檛 need to find work to pay his way, so he can focus聽fully on his studies.

鈥淢y degree has already been a greatly rewarding experience,鈥� Sandin says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 giving me a deeper understanding of something I鈥檝e been passionate about most of my life. I鈥檓 looking forward to applying my skills beyond university to build things that improve the world.鈥�

Written by聽George Dodd for the聽donor publication. Photography supplied.