Today included the last two company visits where we traveled to TE Connectivity and then DuPont. I was especially interested in DuPont today because my dad used to work at the Wilmington section, so I wanted to learn more about some of the operations of the company. My dad is a market researcher, which is different than my interest in Chemical Engineering, which means that what I hear from him is more on the business side instead of the engineering side.
The day started with TE Connectivity. I had a hard time understanding the lecture because the English was somewhat broken, but I was still able to take away some of the content given to us. I was a bit disappointed that we weren’t able to see the plating of the metals because we had just learned about that in Chemistry 2, but it was still cool to see the other three processes and how they were linked together. For me, the coolest part was the molding because I have preciously wondered how such intricate plastics could be mass produced. It’s a bit ironic how it takes an incredible expensive and complicated machine to make a piece of plastic that’s only a few inches long.
After the trip to TE Connectivity, we went to go for lunch which was more of a Hong Kong style lunch. I think that this was one of my favorite lunches so far, so shout out to Hillary for choosing the dishes this time. My personal favorite was the duck and the ice cream dessert, both of which were different tasting than duck and ice cream that I’ve had the rest of the trip.
The second company visit was at DuPont and I liked hearing the lecture because they discussed the different individual sectors of work the company is involved in. For example, they work with polymers to create new and more easily washed wallpaper as well as work in safer and healthier food. The lecture was followed by a tour of some of the products of the company including a Kevlar bullet proof vest, but by far the coolest part of the tour was the sound proof room where almost no outside sounds could be heard.
Tonight’s dinner was one of the best yet because of how cheap and tasty it was. The man who spoke after the lecture at Beijing said some of the best restaurants are the ones that you would least expect, and he was absolutely correct. We had stumbled upon this tiny restaurant along the road and were invited in only to be served incredible beef noodles and a beef hamburger. I am considering having a second dinner tomorrow after the farewell dinner. Lastly, I hope the last day in Shanghai is the best day of the trip, and I hope I can make the best of it before I leave.