Before moving to Lithuania from Sakartvelo, Shorena Gudzhabidze already had a clear vision of what a modern study environment should look like. That vision was influenced by listening to the stories of students from universities across Europe, whom she met while participating in her school’s STEM academy. The Civil Engineering programme at Vilnius TECH ticked all the boxes, and it didn’t take long for her to decide and move abroad. This is a story about one young engineer who discovered her passion at the crossroads of architecture and engineering.
The road to Vilnius
As a high school student, Shorena participated in international engineering competitions—including Intel ISEF and ECUSYS—where she met students from universities all over Europe. “Hearing firsthand about their labs, courses, and research environments genuinely raised my expectations for what a university experience could be,” she recalls.
When it was time to decide where to study, Vilnius TECH emerged through her school’s Alumni network. The Civil Engineering programme met all her requirements. Shorena applied, received a scholarship, and made the move. “At that point, it felt like a straightforward decision,” she says.
Learning to think like an engineer
Soon, Shorena realised that Civil Engineering is larger than most people think. “What surprised me most wasn’t the difficulty — it was the scope,” she explains. “A bachelor’s degree is about training your mind to think in a certain way. For me, that was engineering thinking — learning how to approach problems, break them down, and develop solutions.”
Two experiences had the greatest impact on her. The first was her thesis project: “It was the moment when four years of knowledge finally came together into something clear. You don’t fully realise how much you’ve learned until you have to use it all at once.”
The second was her mentor, Dean Dr Remigijus Šalna. “What I learned from him was professionalism in the truest sense — deep expertise and a genuine attention to detail. In engineering, and in any technical field, the difference between good work and great work often lies in the details. That’s something I carry with me.”
Living in dormitories, adapting to a new country, and overcoming the challenges of starting an independent life also left their mark. “There were moments that felt truly overwhelming,” Shorena admits. “But looking back, that’s just part of starting an independent life, and those moments shaped me as much as anything else.”
Between studies and early career
By her third year, Shorena’s curriculum required a professional internship. She chose Staticus — one of Europe’s largest façade contractors — despite façade engineering not being part of her career plans. It didn’t take long for that to change. “You’re exactly at the crossroads of architecture and engineering,” she says. “And it turned out to be more compelling than I expected.”
Shorena was employed before she finished her studies. Balancing her final-year coursework with a professional role was challenging, but Shorena sees it practically: “That’s where you learn real-time management, not just the theoretical kind. You quickly figure out your priorities because you have no choice. I wouldn’t call it easy, but I would say it’s worth it.”
Joining the Staticus team initially meant having limited domain knowledge. However, engineering education provided her with the essential tools to fill that gap. “What my studies truly gave me — and what mattered more in that scenario — was an engineering mindset. The ability to examine something unfamiliar and work through it methodically.”
The moment of pride: the Landspitali project
Shorena spent her first three years at Staticus as a 3D Design Engineer specialising in Building Information Modelling (BIM). She developed complex façade models in Revit and created parametric building components used directly in manufacturing and installation. Her project portfolio expanded to include the Oxford Life and Mind Building Campus, Høsnord Hospital in Denmark, and the Hero project in Lithuania.
But one project stands out the most: Landspitali, a 30,000 m² hospital in Reykjavik, Iceland. “The challenges it posed were on a whole different level,” Shorena says. “Beyond the massive scale, Iceland’s extreme weather and seismic activity added layers of engineering complexity that most projects don’t face.” The façade alone included static seismic testing to meet American AAMA standards — a first for Staticus. “Seeing how a project of that complexity gets coordinated and delivered across different disciplines teaches you things that smaller projects simply can’t.”
Taking a fresh direction
After three years, Shorena experienced a surprising career shift. She took on the role of Product Manager at Staticus XD — the company’s all-in-one, cloud-based façade project management platform designed to offer full project visibility and seamless collaboration from bid to handover.
“Construction and façade engineering, in particular, remains a rather traditional industry — many processes could be smarter, more connected, and more transparent, but they still aren’t,” she explains. “That gap is actually exciting when you’re in a product role because the potential is huge.”
What motivates her is seeing real impact: when something the team produces genuinely changes how someone in design, production, or project management performs their role. She also mentions that the role draws on everything she has developed. “It’s not a role where you can fake one or the other — the engineering background or the product thinking. I find that combination truly interesting to work in.”
The right call
If you ask Shorena where she sees herself in five years, she’ll answer honestly. “If you had asked me the same questions three to five years ago, my reply would have been completely different from where I actually ended up. I didn’t picture myself in product management or façade engineering, and yet here I am, and it all makes perfect sense now.”
The advice she would share with her younger self — and any student facing similar challenges — is grounded in that hard-won self-awareness: “I believe the one thing that carried me through was always trusting myself and my abilities. Not that there weren’t difficult moments — there were many — but I never truly lost that core confidence that I’d figure it out. Trust yourself sooner and more often than you might feel natural. The rest usually falls into place.”
For students from Sakartvelo or elsewhere considering the leap to study abroad, her message serves as both a warning and an invitation: “It’s probably the hardest decision you’ll ever make — and also the best one. Both can be true at the same time. There will be moments when you’re homesick and question everything. But you’ll stay — because deep down, you’ll know it’s the right call.”
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