Globalization 101: Emily Mcdonald spends summer in China

2013 Jun 26

Emily Mcdonald, a Management Information Systems major from Kings Park, N.Y., was one of 19 University of Dayton students who spent six weeks in China this summer studying at the new University of Dayton China Institute.

The students -- nine American, nine Chinese and one Kuwaiti -- took three engineering, business and communication courses from UD faculty members, while conducting hands-on projects with multinational partner companies in Suzhou Industrial Park, near Shanghai, China.

"When I heard about the program, I knew I wanted to go," said Christian Stuck, a sophomore industrial engineering major. "UD brings a lot of international students here, and they seem to enjoy themselves and learn plenty. I thought the same would happen for me if I went to China."

In addition to the classes and projects, guest speakers from the companies offered lectures, and professors from Nanjing University and other partner universities provided seminars on topics that ranged from how to do business in China to appreciating Chinese music, art and tai chi. On the weekends, the students explored other cities in China.

Last summer, in a part of eastern China that was rice fields and farmland less than two decades ago, the University opened a stand-alone center in the ultra-modern Suzhou Industrial Park. In a section of the park called BioBay, home to 275 high-tech companies, the University occupies a modern, renovated building that's outfitted with eight specialized science and engineering labs and classrooms.

Zhenghang Gu, a sophomore electrical engineering major from Suzhou, spent last summer interning for Delphi Thermal in the park and taking weekend courses at UDCI. He made a presentation at this spring's student research symposium about the experience.

"You get a chance to work with real engineers on real problems," he said. "You're not going to get that experience anywhere else."

The University of Dayton is a top-tier national, Catholic, research university and Ohio's largest private university. Founded by the Society of Mary (the Marianists), the University of Dayton educates students for excellence in scholarship and practical wisdom, grounded in faith and reason, to build community and partner for the common good.