Whether you work in the United States, China, or anywhere in between it is important to be aware of how you carry yourself professionally. This includes being aware of the ethical issues in your profession and how it may influence your work. Specifically, in the field of engineering one must be especially responsible for their…

This morning as we left the hotel I was a little disappointed that our trip was coming to an end but at the same time I was starting to look forward to going back home. Our first activity of the day was a trip to the beautiful Yu Garden, an epitome of natural beauty filled…

After taking yesterday to relax, I woke up feeling energized and ready to enjoy my last few days in China. Our first stop of the day was TE Connectivity, a company that manufactures the parts for the small electrical connectors used in devices. The visit started with a presentation about the company given by one…

Today was an overall uneventful yet relaxing day. The program itinerary for the day was the shortest of all the days thus far and we spent an overwhelming majority of the scheduled time traveling on the bus. Our destination of focus today was Yangshan Port, the largest shipping port in the world. The port is…

After a much-needed good night’s sleep, we began the day with a bus ride to Donghua University, our destination for today. When we arrived at the school, the first thing I realized was that the school had much more of an urban feel than Central University of Finance and Economics back in Beijing and the…

We woke up at 5 am for the second time on this trip to catch our high-speed train to Shanghai. The train was identical to the one we took from Beijing to Xi’an. A lot of the students in our group were excited to leave the heat of Xi’an in favor of the cooler temperature…

This cool and rainy morning we visited the famous Terra Cotta warriors located in the massive tomb of the first Chinese Emperor. We saw three different pits that made up the entirety of the collection of warriors, most of which were destroyed during the transition out of the first dynasty. Due to the number of…

Our first activity of today was a visit to the Children’s Village, which is an organization that cares for kids ages 3 to 20 whose parents are in prison. We got the see the rooms in which the 61 kids currently live in the village. The kids lived in the rooms of 16 a piece…

We woke up bright and early at 5 am this morning to catch a train from Beijing to Xi’an. I was really excited because our train is one of the high-speed trains that slightly levitate above the track because of magnets. I’m not 100 percent sure but I think so. There was a speedometer displayed…

Our group started the day with a visit to the Forbidden City near the center of Beijing. On our way to the Forbidden City, we passed through Tiananmen Square, the political center of Beijing. The square was a large open area of about 100 by 80 meters complete with a small garden on one of…

Today consisted of two visits to companies based in Beijing: Cheetah Mobile and the Beijing campus of Microsoft. I expected today to be boring and drag on for a long time but I was thankfully proven wrong. When we arrived at Cheetah Mobile, we were greeted with the site of a glass complex with a…

Day two of our trip began with a visit to Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing. At the university, we attended a lecture on the smartphone supply chain from Dr. Kai Yao, a Ph. D in the business field. His lecture highlighted the rapid growth of the smartphone market in China and the…

My first full day in China was a day filled with beautiful views. The day started with a program orientation held by our trip coordinators at the Asia Institute. The orientation was a presentation that outlined our entire two-week field study in China which mentally prepared us for our first excursion: the Great Wall visit….

My current international experience is primarily a result of vacations with my family. My family and I have traveled to Mexico and the Caribbean island of Aruba. However, during these vacations, we stayed in resorts with other tourists and the activities in which we took part did not provide significant cultural immersion. I want to…