Top Chinese students head to USU

Three top Chinese students currently attend USU, where they have started working and doing research with the electrical engineering department as part of a new program by the Chinese government.

In an effort to become more globalized, the Chinese government began a five-year program to send about 5,000 students a year to top universities outside its country, said YangQuan Chen, assistant professor in the electrical engineering department. USU is hosting three of these students this year, two for 12 months and one for 18.

Students are chosen from the top 50 universities in China who then identify a first-class university they want to attend and professors with whom they would like to work, Chen said. The focus of the China Scholarship Council is on the country's future development of human resources and to maintain open communication with other countries, according to its Web site.

"It is an honor to have these students here," Chen said, as there is a large number coming here for the first year and students have the opportunity to attend schools around the world.

Yan Li, Bin Wang and Ying Luo are all working with Chen in the electrical engineering department, each with their own focus - Li with fractional order of calculus, Wang in georesource and Luo with automation and motion control. The students submitted proposals of the research they wanted to do before coming and had it approved through Chen. They praised the amount of time he has put into helping them find projects in areas they were working on that also fit into what the university was already doing.

"It is a value-added experience for both sides," Chen said.

The students are working with many university students on research, and Chen said he sees it as a great way to involve them and have research done for free. They said they feed off of each other's ideas and have had many new ideas since coming to USU. Luo proudly showed off his corner of the students' room in the engineering lab building, full of computers and other electrical equipment.

"Everyone is diligent and hard-working," Li said of the people on campus.

Li and Wang came to USU two months ago and Luo a month ago. Since then, they have been able to visit sites around Logan such as First Dam, the North Logan Pumpkin Walk and see the countryside.

Li was impressed with the irrigation systems used for crops around the valley.

"It's interesting, I never saw (it) in China," Li said.

Luo noted everyone has been very friendly, especially his roommates in Morgan Hall, who let him try new foods, with pizza being his favorite. Hamburgers - Burger King hamburgers to be exact - are Li's favorite new food. Both said they really enjoy cereal and milk for breakfast. Mostly they cook their own food and sometimes travel to Great China Market in Salt Lake City to get authentic Chinese food.

It is a busy time for these students, who are still completing their higher degrees or working on their dissertations, they said. Li and Luo said they feel pressure from work and learning the language.

"It's intense every day," Luo said.

Yet they also said its their pleasure to be here, working with Chen and university students and being ambassadors of sorts for their country. These relations are just one of the ways USU President Stan Albrecht has been forging connections with China. He and a delegation spent time in China last year signing agreements for research and academic exchange with Chinese universities.

-alison.baugh@aggiemail.usu.edu