XINLI WU, Ph.D., P.E.
COURSE SYLLABUS
FAQ
PENN STATE EDUCATION ABROAD PROGRAM
Class Summer 2009
Class Summer 2010
Class Summer 2011
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• Videos
Penn State pride at the Great Wall At GE Shanghai Wonderful Dinner in Dalian
• Photos
• Experience from some of the students who took the course in the summer 2009.
WILLIAM STAFFORD LAND II <wxl180@psu.edu>: Earlier this year I was
asked by my professor, mentor, and good friend, Xinli Wu, if I would be
interested in taking his newly created, international engineering class
taking place throughout China. At first, I was slightly hesitant about
spending nearly a quarter of my summer away from home in a place where I
didn’t even speak the language. However, I had had no real
international experiences yet, and this proposed class seemed like a great
way to remedy that situation and gain some foreign exposure; so I agreed to
come. I have never been happier with any other decision. At the
onset of the class I was full of apprehension, doubt, and some inane desire
to remain at home enjoying my free time with my family. At the
conclusion of the class the only emotions I can remember are the desire to
stay in China longer, and an increased confidence in Xinli’s ability to make
every situation educational, interesting, and, perhaps most importantly,
fun.
Since my return from China, I have faced many questions and inquisitions
about the trip, including, “So what did you learn while in China?” It
is by far the most difficult question to answer and is, of course, the most
frequently asked. I was able to experience and learn so much while in
China that when asked, the answers actually get stuck on the way out of my
brain stem like three oversized men trying to fit through an undersized door
simultaneously. As a result, my words tend to come out garbled, and in
fact now, when asked, I like to respond with, “Which day?” Each day of
the class was so full of information and splendor that the question is a
legitimate and necessary part of fully answering a person’s inquiry.
However, now that I’ve had several weeks to mull over my excursion in China,
I’ve been able to condense and organize what skills and knowledge I gained
on the trip into three major categories, social, cultural, and professional.
When planning or reviewing any educational experience, often times the gains
in social skill sets and knowledge are widely overlooked by authority
figures, yet more often than not they are some of the greatest benefits of
participating in an educational event. Teamwork, self-confidence, and
the mutual acceptance and respect of others are all extremely important
lessons to learn in order to be successful in anything in life, especially
in the career of an engineer. Mr. Wu’s class took fourteen
young adults from all over the world, all with different backgrounds,
upbringings, ethnicities, beliefs, and styles, and stuck them together, 24
hours a day, for a month. As an inherent result of this diversity and
forced interaction, the entire class was able to work on and hone their
different social skills, whether they realized it or not. Throughout
the trip’s entirety, one was forced to listen to other peoples’ views and
their ways of thinking about different situations, while not holding one’s
own ideas and viewpoints as accepted truth. With such diversity as was
found in the class, there was often disagreements in beliefs and opinions.
In order to keep the peace, one had to learn how to fully listen to what
others had to say and respect other peoples’ stances on different topics,
while still being able to intelligently discuss and defend your own
positions. On top of everyday conversation issues, there were the
added difficulties of sharing a living space with a stranger. Living
in close quarters with someone you don’t know fully yet can lead to some
very awkward, frustrating, and unexpected disagreements. However,
nothing provides a better opportunity to work on tactfulness, politeness,
and one’s ability to compromise. Without practice at dissolving a
confrontation or disagreement it would be an impossible feat to work with
someone you didn’t like for a few years, compared to sleeping in the same
room as them for a few days. These are just a few of the social skills
that the trip to China was able to sharpen, and none are easily or quickly
developed, especially in young adults. Their difficulty to hone yet
importance in life is why I consider the social skills gained through the
ENGR197 class the most under acknowledged, yet beneficial pieces of
information taken away from my experience.
In addition to building social skills, the trip to China was also able to
greatly increase one’s knowledge of how international business is conducted.
As was said before, I had little to no international experience when I
started Mr. Wu’s class, and as a result, I really had no idea what went into
globalizing a company or maintaining an international company. I
thought I did, but in actuality, I knew only a small portion of a company’s
considerations and worries when competing in international venues.
During this trip, our class was able to have candid sit downs with executive
staff members of many different companies, foreign and national, including
Boeing Shanghai, Armstrong, and GE, just to name a few.
Through these interviews and relaxed Q&A sessions, the group was taught a
significant amount about how companies deal with such a challenging and
diverse problem set as is found in international enterprise. These
companies had to face challenges such as dealing with new and different
government regulations and standards, training and managing a completely
culturally different work force and meeting their needs, competing with
local and national companies that have governmental support, even keeping a
stable executive staff can be a challenge when in a foreign country. I
feel very privileged to have been given to opportunity to meet with the
representatives of the companies we visited, and to have learned some of
what it takes to successfully practice business while outside of the
country. One day my career path may take me off shore, and the
knowledge I gained in China will help me remain professional in a different
country, deal with and get past cultural differences in the work place
efficiently and properly, and recognize and utilize the advantages of
international business in order to sustain a successful business.
Finally, the most obvious and largest category of knowledge gained in China
is cultural. It is impossible to go to China and not learn about their
rich and ancient culture. Before leaving for Beijing, I had realized
that there would be a lot of traditions and social mores to learn as well as
a little history along the way. What I didn’t realize though, was how
much “a lot” was until I was back in the states. Now I realize that it
is ignorant to even use the words “a lot” in reference to the amount of
historical and cultural knowledge there is to be gained in China.
China is by far the oldest nation and technological civilization known to
mankind, and I could fill up a small book with what I learned about the
country and its people in just a few short weeks. To capture the
country’s entire essence would take more words than have been written, and
to attempt to condense and summarize the Chinese culture in a few short
sentences seems dastardly. Therefore, I will forgo the
explanation of my cultural enlightenment and replace it with a request.
Please at some point in your lifetime, if ever possible, travel to China.
I entered China with a completely different vision of what it and its people
were going to be like than the view I have now, and I feel fortunate to have
had to chance to formulate a more educated and unbiased opinion about China.
Not only did I learn a great deal about Chinese culture, but about cultural
acceptance and respect in general.
All things considered, my trip to China was nothing but a positive
experience full of great adventure and pure enjoyment. My two biggest
regrets upon coming home were not being about to stay in the country longer
and not being able to retake ENGR197 again. I cannot wait to return to
China, and have no doubt that the experiences I went through during the trip
have improved me not only as an engineer, but as an individual as well.
William Land II
Mechanical Engineering
The Pennsylvania State University
wland@eoc.psu.edu
Stephen C. Dobosh <dobosh@psu.edu>:
College, as many might describe, is a time of self-exploration, a time
to shape career goals that take years of thinking (and rethinking) to
establish. Coursework is where much of this thinking is done; however,
it is usually the instances in which we step outside our comfort zones that
we do the majority of our self-exploration. This summer semester in
China has truly been more rewarding than I originally imagined. Many
of the conceptions and previous ideas of the Chinese culture instilled over
years of western media’s influence have proven to be false. China is
the new “Land of Opportunity” in my opinion, and I feel it is my goal to
embrace the growth and development of this nation in my future.
From Beijing to Dalian, Shanghai and Huangshan, ENGR 197 covers a great deal
of China in a few short weeks. With a seemingly countless number of
temples and palaces, there was much to see and do. Nevertheless, I
found the experiences with the locals, for instance through bartering, and
the trying of different foods one of the most enjoyable and interesting
aspects to the trip. Looking back on some of the things that stand
out, here is just a short list of some favorites:
· Duncan and Tiananmen
Square, the Great Wall (especially singing the “We Are…” chant at the top),
the acrobatic show and the nightlife with my newly acquired friends in
Beijing
· The lavish “billionaire”
dinner in Dalian that lasted well into the night
· Walking the Old Street in
Huangshan
· Getting stuck on
Shanghai’s “Green Island” and enjoying snails
· Touring GE and the other
companies
· Visiting my professor’s
brother’s house and getting an idea of a typical Chinese house-setting
These experiences and many others have inspired me to take Mandarin studies
this fall at Penn State.
My future plans are not the same as they were when I left the US on May 6,
2009. My degree work in meteorology has laid a solid foundation of
analytic analysis and logical problem solving. Yet for some time, my
plans have been to go into the corporate leadership realm of the commercial
aviation industry. Never, however, did I imagine that I wanted to
concentrate on the international realm of business that was until my
travels outside of the United States, specifically China, refocused my life
plans. This preconception of what I want to do with my life has opened
my eyes to the world of opportunities that exists. Typically, a
graduate in the U.S. might get a 9:00am-5:00pm job and accept a rather
simplistically organized life. However, I do not see this in my
future; instead, I want to be at the forefront of the economy as we, a
global society, emerge from this recession. I understand this goal
must be accomplished one step at a time. Through the experiences I
encountered while traveling across China, I have further developed the focus
of my career strategies. China is increasingly becoming a major player
with the economic powerhouses of the world, with communism and the Chinese
way of life making some leaders rethink the way business is done. (A
good example being the Chinese method of “deals-over-the-dinner-table.”)
Many U.S. and other western nations have strong investments in the future of
China. If I am to succeed in my international endeavors in the future,
I must have first hand comprehension in this aspect. Previously, the
thought of expatriating in Asia was one with little consideration.
However, after I have thrown out the old notions on Chinese culture with
these experiences, I am not only interested in working in Asia, but
determined in doing so.
Stephen C. Dobosh
The Pennsylvania State University
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
Undergraduate Meteorology Studies
Weather Risk Management
Global Business Strategies
Shruthi Baskaran <sib5151@psu.edu >:
China was a country unlike any other country that I’d ever seen in my
life so far. Culture and history seemed to form as much a part of life as
technology and innovation. Relentless determination to better their living
conditions, along with unbeatable progress, China impressed me greatly the
very minute I set foot there.
Starting from centers of great world heritage such as The Great Wall and The
Forbidden City in Beijing, to new architectural achievements such as the
Birds Nest, every structure in China amazed me in some aspect or the other.
Environmental friendliness seemed to play a huge role in Chinas progress.
The Chongming Island, with the Dongtan Eco-city project was truly one of a
kind. Though its not yet complete, it seemed amazing because the idea of an
island that’s completely self-sufficient really is appreciable.
Simple things like color marked indicators for traffic congestion on streets
to elevators that travelled at 9 meters per second, China had it all. In
today’s world, Chinas political set up combined with a capital driven
economy makes it a truly competitive and fast developing country. But
despite the advent of large industries, China has managed to retain its
history and culture in its every part.
But that said, what struck me very uniquely in China was the hospitality of
the people. The mannerisms and the behavior of the people within themselves
and towards foreigners define a great part of what China really is. The
Chinese ideologies of saving for the future and planning ahead also
impressed me greatly.
On the whole, I think that this trip to China was truly a life changing one.
I’d definitely like to work in China at some point of time in the future, or
at least stay there a bit a longer and explore the places and immerse myself
in the culture.
Shruthi Baskaran
Civil Engineering
Wanlinyi He <wih5033@psu.edu>: I benefited a
lot through the China field trip class organized by college of engineering.
This class helped me learn a lot of knowledge beyond normal indoor classes.
It provided students outdoor and practical learning. As a business college
student, I really cherished this great opportunity to come to China, my home
country, to learn the impact of history, culture, society and environment
and engineering design in China. It was a brand-new topic for me as a
finance major student. Throughout this course, I gained knowledge on
engineering design in China, realized the advance of engineering design on
people’s daily lives and also clearly saw the development of Chinese economy
In the first week, we visited Beijing and Dalian. Beijing as we all know it
is the capital of China. It has 3000 years of history. There are many
traditional and tremendous engineering projects in Beijing. We visited
several famous engineering designs, such as the Forbidden City, the Great
Wall, the Ming Tomb, the Old Summer Palace, the new CCTV tower, the Temple
of Heaven and the Birds Nest. They are all Chinese representative
engineering designs and well known all over the world. Some of them showed
ancient royal construction. The Great Wall showed the defensive wall design
in the time of war. Also, some modern construction appears the impact of
Chinese engineering design to the world. To me the most impressive
structure, the Forbidden City is one of the most magnificent structures in
China. The area of Forbidden City takes up to74000 square meters. It is
surrounded by tall walls and a large moat. The large walls and moat
protected many dynasties over the years. The placement of the Forbidden City
was organized and symmetrical which shows Chinese culture.
In the second week, we flied to Shanghai and drove to Huangshan. On the
road, we saw a lot of renewable energy use, such as the solar energy. Every
house has a solar panel on the top of the building. Named after the Yellow
Mountain, Huangshan City is located in the southern part of China. It is a
great place to understand Chinese culture and ancient buildings design. We
visited Huangshan Mystical Grotto, one of the places the ancients lived. The
grotto is all manmade and it really attracts my eyes to see those amazing
construction. Later, we headed back to Shanghai and we visited several
companies there and the Dongtan Eco-city. We visited the Boeing Shanghai
Company which mainly provides aviation services including modification,
maintenance, repairing and overhauling solutions. Armstrong Shanghai was the
second company we visited. It is a high quality and services company to
produce floors and ceilings. They told us about the company's objectives,
successful experience and business development issues. We also visited its
factory in the suburb area. They have done very well in workers safety
issue. The last one is the GE Company. The GE offers a wide range of
applications. Their innovative products cannot be separated from their
scientists hard work and efforts. GE provides two large technology parks to
offer resources for scientists researches. From all these companies, we can
see that many companies are based on the culture, environment and society to
provide particular engineering designs in China and they have obtained great
success. The Eco-city in Chongming Island consists of ecological zone and
energy zone which provides wind power. It is a large area using renewable
energy and persisting nature environment.
After this course, I realized that Chinese economic are developing rapidly.
Financial crisis has got controlled. People are having more and more wealth.
Secondly, many famous foreign companies entered into Chinese market. They
are developing their own business meanwhile they are constructing a lot of
unique style buildings. Thirdly, many structures inherited Chinese local
residential styles. This makes the modern and traditional constructions
exist in perfect harmony. Finally, some advanced environmental protecting
materials and technologies have been launched in Chinese constructions,
although better city layout is needed and some structures functions need to
be proved.
Wanlinyi He
Business Administration
Greg Brulo <gsb155@psu.edu>: The Best Experience of My Life Spending
three weeks in a different culture on the other side of the world can teach
a person a lot more than a text book can. My experience with ENGR 197,
the Impact of History, Culture, Society, and Environment on Engineering
Design in China, taught me countless new skills to better understand another
culture along with learning the impacts on Chinese engineering.
Before I went
to China I had a picture in my mind of what I thought China would be like.
I thought the Communist Party of China controlled everything. I
pictured the day time being somewhat darker than the United States because
of pollution. I told myself I would see trash and litter everywhere.
My stereotype of China was wrong. The Chinese people were very
welcoming of us. A lot of Xinli’s class friends treated us to dinner.
I do not think that there are Americans who would take twenty students to a
fine restaurant for dinner. Although Beijing was smoggy, it was much
cleaner than I thought it would be. I was able to walk from the hotel
to a restaurant a few blocks away and not see any litter on the streets.
Since China has such a big labor force they can afford to pay a lot of
workers to sweep the streets. Once I realized my stereotype was wrong,
I became more open to new ideas about China. If I would have kept
stereotyping the Chinese, I would have learned very little, if anything at
all.
Beijing was
my favorite city we visited. Beijing has a lot of history and culture.
My favorite day in Beijing was when we visited Tiananmen Square and the
Forbidden City. I had already learned much about the history and
culture of these two landmarks in high school when I took World Cultures.
I knew that these places were going to be big, but I did not expect them to
be the size that they were. Our tour guide in Beijing was Dunkin.
Dunkin was his American name which was easy to remember because of Dunkin
Donuts. When we were in Tiananmen Square he told us, this square can
hold one million people, one million Chinese people! Now Americans are
much bigger so maybe 750,000 Americans. He made us all laugh. It
seemed to me that the Chinese did not mind putting on a show for us.
In Tiananmen Square a lot of Chinese people would take pictures with us.
We were told Chinese people visit Beijing because of its history and
culture. These Chinese people, who would take pictures with us, most
likely came from small cities or towns in rural China and have never seen
someone of a different race before in person. The Penn State students
did not mind posing with them. While in Beijing I learned that text
books, classes and movies can teach you a lot about a different culture or
landmark, half way around the world, but going to see it in person can teach
you things that are impossible to learn through a text book or class in a
different culture.
When China is
mentioned to any young American they probably think of the Great Wall.
I had the opportunity to climb the Great Wall of China. I did not
expect it to climb over the mountains like it did. When I was walking
along Great Wall I noticed how steep some sections were and how scary it was
climbing up and down the steep ramps and steps. I began to imagine how
hard it would have been to build the Great Wall hundreds of years ago before
machines and modern day construction techniques. We were told that
many people died on the job and were buried in the wall. The Great
Wall is also known as the longest cemetery in the world because of all the
workers buried in the wall. It is hard to figure out just how many
people were buried in the wall because of the time period and poor records.
The Chinese
government has a lot of power over its people in some ways more than others.
The Three Gorges Dam could not have been built if it was not for this power.
The dam forced over 1.5 million people out of their homes since the water
level of the Yangtze will be higher than before. Whole towns and
communities will be submerged. Many critics say the dam is not a good
decision since a lot of people are being forced to relocate. I think
the relocation of these people is an investment in their better interest
because in a 1998 flood 14 million people were left homeless. The
United States does not have the power to force a relocation of this
magnitude and thus a dam this size could never be built in America.
When I came
back to my hometown everyone asked me what China was like. I had and
still have a hard time explaining it to them because words cannot describe
what I learned. The most important things I learned could not have
been taught in a class room in the United States. Overall I think if
anyone gets the opportunity to study abroad in a culture so different than
their own, they should seize it. They can learn things they never knew
or thought they would not need to know and experience how visiting another
culture helps them understand other cultures better.
William Finney, wwf112@psu.edu
During my three weeks traveling in China I was given the opportunity to
visit places that most people will only see in pictures. Having the
chance to visit these places and experience the history behind how and why
they were developed gave me an even greater appreciation. I was able
to experience ancient and modern engineering first hand. While touring
the country we were able learn how Chinese history, culture, society and
environment played a role in engineering design both in the past and today.
We visited many ancient structures such as the Ming Tombs, the Great Wall of
China, and the Forbidden City. The first thing I notice that affected
the engineering of all three places is the society of old China. This
old society gave the emperor God status and the right to do whatever he
wanted with his people. The fact that so many slaves were available
gave the emperors the ability to build such things. The society of
slave labor could have quite possibly been the most important resource in
the engineering of the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. It is estimated
that 500,000 slaves may have died building the wall. They had to work
in treacherous conditions through the mountains and desert. If this
labor had not been available the design, size, and location of the wall
would have been drastically different. The Ming Tombs also required a
large amount of labor. The engineering design was also affected by the
environment and available materials. Large rocks had to be transported
from miles and miles away. This affected the size and quantity of
rocks that could be moved. Once again because of the emperors absolute
power, the engineering of the tombs benefited. If stone masons,
laborers and engineers did not do their jobs properly they would be killed.
This led to very efficient work and design in the structure and durability
of the tombs.
We also were able to visit some spectacular examples of modern engineering
projects and learn about how Chinese engineering design has evolved.
One factor that has effected engineering design in modern China is the fast
growing economy. Chinas fast growing economy has led to a large increase in
the size of its cities. These highly populated cities have caused
China to build upward. High-rise apartment buildings and offices are
everywhere and continue to be built. It has also led to the
construction of countless infrastructures. New highways are being
constructed all over the country. Elevated tracks for high-speed
railways are now being built from city to city. All of this seems
essential to alleviate and prevent the traffic that can easily occur around
the cities.
Another affect on engineering design is actually the Chinese culture.
It seems that they are very focused on appearance. In the same way
that the Chinese Circus would shock us, and the Great Wall would amaze us,
the Chinese engineers and architects want to show their talents with hundred
plus story buildings, massive highway infrastructure and countless other
building sites. There are many examples of this tremendous
engineering skill such as the National Performance Art Theatre, the Birds
Nest, the world’s longest bay bridge and the CCTV tower. The Chinese
people like to achieve greatness in whatever they do. They are very
prideful and put tremendous effort into the task at hand.
It was an amazing opportunity to visit and study in China. I have
learned that China is a quickly developing country and that its engineers
are working hard to meet the demands of the business and personal lives of
its citizens. The engineering field is rapidly growing and changing
and China is certainly doing its best to stay competitive in the worldwide
market. I am grateful that I was able to experience a foreign country
at such an early stage in my college career. This class will certainly
enhance my future studies and undoubtedly broaden my overall knowledge of
the engineering world.
CESAR MORENO <cjm5404@psu.edu>: If
one was to measure the experiences gained through my travels in china, he
would run out of measuring tape. Recently I had been able to participate in
a life changing experience and I truly feel that this course has had a
valuable impact on my life. Through the amazing history behind this great
nation, I was truly able to see China and experience its many joys.
Every day I spent in China, I was always greeted with a smile by the
welcoming locals. Being around these people I could not help myself but
smile back and become as happy as they were. Whether they were trying to get
me to buy something or simply helping us find our way around, their
hospitality was always present. This was a huge shock to me because back
home in New York, everyone is self centered and are more isolated than the
people of China. I truly loved the social setting in place as well as the
idea of togetherness especially in the eating arraignments. Back home
everyone would eat by themselves and we rarely ever spoke to each other
while eating. However, I quickly grew fond of this new setting where
everyone was together, sharing, conversing, and enjoying each other’s
company.
Along with the food, the work ethic truly was one to surprise me. I have
seen many buildings being built at an alarming rate. I can assure you that
by the time I finish this paper, another thirty buildings will be completed.
The Chinese truly take pride in their work and if something needs to be
done, you can be certain that it will be completed swiftly. Whether it’s the
Three Gorges Dam, or an entire city preparing for an expo, there will be
more than thousands of people working on it. This is where companies such as
Boeing, Armstrong, and GE are able to thrive in China. With many people
willing to work and the current rise of China economically, opportunities
are now being given to many.
Whether you are walking to Tiananmen Square, the Temple of Heaven, or simply
eating in a small restaurant, you cannot help but be submerged in its strong
culture. Songs can be heard from far away in the Temple of Heaven where
everyone can just join in. Others play a game similar to hacky sack and
anyone who wishes to join is welcomed. Some of us are even pulled aside by
locals simply because they want to take pictures with us. It was through all
the passion and excitement radiated by the people that we were able to
experience the best China had to offer. This was one experience I will truly
never forget.
Mike Batko <mvb5062@psu.edu>: … …
All in all, the areas we visited in China are very beautiful. I would
probably never have an experience like that again more so because if I were
to go by myself, I wouldn’t know what to do. Having taken this class I
learned a lot about the culture and I would recommend this class for anyone
remotely interested in it.
Sponsorship Opportunities:
If you or your company is looking for a way to help our students become
educated about this ever-challenging world of globalization, please contact
the professor of this course for information about sponsoring this course.
Your sponsorship will greatly benefit both our students and your company!