Today we went on my favorite company visit, which was to the American Chamber of Commerce. But that also makes me wonder, where are all the smart phones at? The China Plus 3 Program was advertised as a trip that would explore the smart phone industry. Only one of the companies we visited has been about smartphones, which was Xiaomi.
Anyway, we actually went on two company visits today, the first of which was Delphi. This company designs and produces engines for cars. The speaker from the company had actually received his PhD from Pitt, which was kind of cool. Overall, I feel that these companies are more geared towards explaining to us the whole business side of things instead of the engineering side. I’m not saying this is a bad thing. I have learned so much about the business aspect of creating a product, which are things that I normally would never have thought about, but I am also an engineering student and there is only so many business lectures I can take before I start losing interest. Luckily, Delphi was different and delved into a little bit of both. I enjoyed when the speaker started talking about electric motors. I think it was Dr. Lee who asked the speaker when he thought electric motors would be predominantly used in vehicles. The speaker replied that once we figure out the battery problem, electric cars would be here in no time. I remember learning about this in AP environmental science my senior year of high school. Electric cars themselves are not hard to build, its just finding an inexpensive battery that has the lifespan to go the distance is still not a feasible technology. After the speaker finished talking to us, we were split up into two groups and had a chance to tour the factory. We got to see some of the labs where they test their engines in a variety of different environments.
Once we finished our tour, we got back on the bus and drove the hour back to the city where we had lunch in this very cramped restaurant. We were pretty much shoved in the back of this place, so there wasn’t a lot of elbow room. After lunch, we drove about ten minutes to the American Chamber of Commerce. This presentation held my attention the entire time. The two guys who were presenting were Americans, and both of them had been living in Shanghai for a while. Their perspectives were so unique because they knew the ins and outs of both American and Chinese cultures. From this trip, here is what I’ve learned about China: China is an up and coming country, and the United States should be aware of this. I did not realize until this presentation the full potential that China has. I don’t think people in the U.S realize just how much China has progressed in the past twenty years alone, and I think in a lot of ways, China is better than the U.S. Public transportation, for example, in the United States is horrendous. You can’t get from point A to point B without a car, which absolutely sucks. Honestly, when I’m older, I have no desire to own a car. I would rather ride my bike to work or take the subway like people do in China, and then on the weekend take the bullet train somewhere. It would be awesome, but the U.S. doesn’t have this user-friendly infrastructure, which infuriates me. Having public transportation makes so much sense for so many reasons. It would save people money, if it is done right it is faster, and it is better for the environment. Also, China is way ahead of the game in terms of E-commerce. They have fully embraced it. It is the future. On the other hand, the U.S. is hesitant, and although it is used a great deal, it is not utilized to the same extent. After listening to this presentation, and from just being on this trip, I am seriously thinking about trying to learn Chinese. I think China is the country that will shape the how the world in the 21st century will look, and I want to make sure I understand those that will make such an impact on the future.