Ni Hao, I’m John Christiano, a freshman chemical engineering student in the Swanson school. I am originally from Rockville Maryland, just outside of DC. I am super excited to visit China!
In Rockville, I graduated from Wheaton High School’s Engineering Academy. While I did a variety of activities in high school the two most influential and my favorite were technical theater and Boy Scouts. I was the Student Technical Director (STD) for 3 years and worked a total of 9 shows. I was a Boy Scout for 8 years and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. With Boy Scouts, I did Sea Base Out Island twice. Out Island consists of rowing 5 miles out through open ocean to a Florida key and living on the island for 5 days with no running water or any way to tell time.
At Pittsburgh, I have continued both technical theater and engineering. I currently work for the scene construction shop as a carpenter and have worked on nearly every show this year. I loved working on the most recent production, Into The Woods, It was a great opportunity and I learned a lot. At Pitt, I have also been able to branch off into lighting which is a whole new realm. In my personal life at Pitt I have enjoyed my continued hobby of dumpster diving and scavenging (some great finds this year have been working lamps and extension cords!). I enjoy tinkering and repurposing the things I find. I am an adamant anti-consumer activist and try to find or fix instead of buy. This a key reason I wanted to go to China.
The “Right to repair” is extremely important to me, we as consumers need the right to be able to open our electronics without punishment from companies. This is the reason I was specifically interested in China for Plus 3. I am incredibly excited to learn even more about the smartphone industry, especially from a business perspective. I am especially excited to see how the consumer operates within the capital framework of the supply chain and the brand that sells it.
I have traveled internationally before. I have been extremely lucky to have grandparent(s) who value travel over much else. With them, I visited England, Italy, and Turkey. Even though I have traveled internationally before China will be something new. I am interested to learn some Chinese, Eat new cuisine and explore new places. I am very lucky for this opportunity, especially at this price!
In high school, I fell in love with chemistry even as I hated the classes. This combined with my love for engineering helped me find a new home at Pitt. Chemistry to me is like having a toolbox and trying to figure out how to fix a problem by applying the “tools” I’ve learned. As a chemical engineer, I am specifically interested in the chemical processes used in smartphone manufacturing. How do they waterproof phones? What kind of clean environments are required in manufacturing? I have questions and cannot wait to find answers. Also, Drew, everything is going to be fine.