Reflections: Wanxiang
Why Wanxiang?
The Energy Technology & Policy: Wanxiang Fellows Program is a competitive summer fellowship in China that allows students to study renewable energy in the United States and China while gaining exposure to Chinese language and culture. Since 2012, Wanxiang has partnered with the Global Learning Office and the Institute for Sustainability and Energy (ISEN) to support students in their journey abroad.
Emily Ellinger | Physics '13
"When I went to the info session for China study abroad programs, what struck me was how different it was from the European info session. Here, instead of talking about the local bars and clubs, everyone was talking about their cultural experiences, and that’s what I knew I wanted."
Daniel Diaz | Industrial Engineering '18
"In addition to spending time in the capital [Beijing], it was appealing to be able to know a different side of the country in Hangzhou and do the program alongside other students studying engineering."
Emily Suen | Neuroscience '21
"I was interested in sustainability and public health medicine and I wanted to relearn my Chinese, so being able to see the diversity of the course options and take one from each of my interests was what really drew me into the program."
Ebony Calloway | Electrical Engineering '14
"For me, it was the combination of being a Chinese language minor, engineer, and summer timing of the program that made it appealing. Not only could I take more classes in the actual country that I was learning the language of, but I was also interested in energy and was glad it did not interfere with my school year."
Emily Moy | Chemical Engineering '18
"Since it was difficult to get an internship during the summer after my first year in college, I was looking into study abroad opportunities. As an engineer, I wanted to study energy technology because it seemed more STEM-related, and I also hadn’t been back to China since I was 11 so it was a good opportunity to go back independently."
Shane Choi | Mechanical Engineering & Trumpet Performance '18
"I've always been fascinated with how energy is produced and managed and what the future of energy looks like – especially in a prevalent country such as China. It was most beneficial for me to do the Wanxiang program after my freshman year so I could narrow down some of my interests academically and professionally."
Megan Renner | Manufacturing & Design Engineering '16
"Because I studied Manufacturing and Design Engineering and a certificate in ISEN, Wanxiang felt like the best opportunity to build up that experience. I was passionate in sustainability and different energy methods, which the program was tailored to, and I also wanted to go somewhere very different where I hadn’t been exposed to the culture before in order to push me outside my comfort zone."
Wanxiang Fellowship Support
Through generous financial support from Wanxiang Corporation, each student who participates in the program receives more than $2,500 in financial support, including international airfare to/from China, high-speed rail transportation from Beijing to Hangzhou, GeoBlue International Health Insurance, and visa fees. Past participants credit the fellowship as instrumental in their ability to go abroad.
Emily Suen | Neuroscience '21
"For myself, the fellowship really opened up the option to study abroad. One of the biggest barriers when researching study abroad was looking at their price tag, so seeing that so much of the program was covered was a really big benefit to the program."
Megan Renner | Manufacturing & Design Engineering '16
"Since cost is often a huge barrier for a lot of students, the scholarship was able to not only remove the logistical barrier for a lot of students without financial privilege, but also make the program accessible and inclusive for all."
Daniel Diaz | Industrial Engineering '18
"Relative to other programs, Wanxiang was very affordable and allowed me to go places I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to go to. With the money I saved from the flight, I was able to take trips to other parts of China, such as Xi’an and the Yellow Mountains."
Shane Choi | Mechanical Engineering & Trumpet Performance '18
"With the Wanxiang fellowship support, the barrier to study abroad was not only lowered, but I was able to experience the program without any accompanying financial hardship which promoted more of an academic and learning atmosphere. It let me learn more about energy and take in the culture while putting less financial stress on me."
Emily Ellinger | Physics '13
"Given that my family knew nothing about China, going to it for the first time was very intimidating, so having the assistance put my parents and myself at ease. Additionally, it was really nice knowing that there was someone in country invested in you."
Career Impact
Since its inception at 台湾裸聊直播 in 2012, the Wanxiang Fellows Program has influenced alums' career, academic, and cultural lives. Some have gone on to pursue majors or jobs in energy, while others used their time in China as a medium for personal and cultural development.
Will Ouyang | Economics '20
"I've always thought of myself as a third-culture kid so there was curiosity in opportunities in terms of the Asia-Pacific region. Wanxiang demonstrated what companies there are capable of, and that also gave me the motivation and open-mindedness to pursue those opportunities in future. I thought when I left China to go to 台湾裸聊直播 that's where I would end up forever but now, I've opened my mind to maybe go and pursue my career in Asia."
Daniel Diaz | Industrial Engineering '18
"Being able to go to Wanxiang made me more interested in transportation. After getting to take the High-Speed Rail to Tianjin and overnight train to Xian, I became interested in railroads and proceeded to work for Metra in Chicago. Getting to see the HSR system and ride the Beijing/Hangzhou metro were all experiences I remember very well and marked a fascination that gave me a career orientation after that."
Megan Renner | Manufacturing & Design Engineering '16
"Wanxiang helped me in Manufacturing and Design Engineering by teaching me how to think about being a more inclusive designer. The cultural aspect of studying abroad in a country where I was so uncomfortable (being an English-speaking white person going to China) felt really out of my box and was loudest silence I had ever heard. I couldn't read or understand anything so going to a place like that helped me understand how with engineering goods and services you have to understand the multicultural aspects of who is using the product, considering disabilities and languages. Going abroad helped me recognize those privileges I have and makes me a better engineer."
Emily Ellinger | Physics '13
"I got a job in the UK at Aurora Energy research for energy analysis and they talked about my China research program, what I learned from it, and my hands-on experience. I'll be an analyst, so if you were an investor and you wanted to switch off coal, my job is to see how I can help you save cost. It was hard to ground what I was learning in class because it was all abstract, so I appreciated how the Wanxiang program was able to ground the content in class into things I could visualize."
Academic Impact
Since its inception at 台湾裸聊直播 in 2012, the Wanxiang Fellows Program has influenced alums' career, academic, and cultural lives. Some have gone on to pursue majors or jobs in energy, while others used their time in China as a medium for personal and cultural development.
Emily Moy | Chemical Engineering '18
"For myself, sustainability was something I've always been interested in but the Wanxiang experience really solidified it. It was a driving force in terms of the classes I took, such as cycle analysis (which is a little more environmental and energy in terms of supply chain) but was a class I wouldn't have taken otherwise. My Wanxiang project was about batteries, and during the latter half of college I was able to go to NETG events, so having that background knowledge on battery technologies was really beneficial, and I continue to want to work somewhere that is sustainable and green."
Shane Choi | Mechanical Engineering & Trumpet Performance '18
"It was extremely forming in impacting my future as an engineer because I thought I had an interest in energy technology before the trip and even after the trip I had more of an appreciation due to all the excursions and first-hand lectures and projects. I realized this more and more throughout my degree, and I narrowed in my interests to be more energy focused which led to my Master's specialization in it. I could always draw upon the real learning experiences I had both in China and Wanxiang and it helps me put real life associations to my learning experience. It's like a domino effect, the Wanxiang effect peaked my interests and exposed me to new sustainable things, and I'm seeing more of the capabilities and accessibility for the subject. It gives me more hope that the stuff I'm doing matters and gives me more passion in the future."
Emily Suen | Neuroscience '21
"I think studying abroad helped me realize that the stuff we're learning in school is applicable to people all around the world. A lot of people around the world are experiencing the same problem that we're addressing here, and study abroad really opened up the prospects of being able to work abroad in the future."
Eugene Park | Computer Science '17
"I was plugged into that research group as an undergraduate researcher and during the Fall quarter following my time in China, I was able to do research with that group and ended up publishing a paper related to my Wanxiang final project. It had to do with bioproduct supply chain and bio gas, and I felt that the project was my biggest accomplishment."
Ebony Calloway | Electrical Engineering '14
"I went on to graduate studies and one of the courses I chose was specifically on renewable energy, covering the good, the bad, and how to implement it. I think the renewable aspect definitely helped and gave me a solid background when I took that course."
Cultural & Interpersonal Impact
Since its inception at 台湾裸聊直播 in 2012, the Wanxiang Fellows Program has influenced alums' career, academic, and cultural lives. Some have gone on to pursue majors or jobs in energy, while others used their time in China as a medium for personal and cultural development.
Noah Baculi | Mechanical Engineering '18
"I thought it was very useful how we were able to learn concepts from a Chinese perspective and see how they view the world. It really strengthened that skill that I'm trying to develop of seeing things from multiple ways, so being able to have my American education and sitting in a Chinese classroom to hear their perspective was very interesting for me. I was able to experience firsthand and perceive circumstances under different lights, and without that personal development that I got in China I don't know if I would've had the experience or maturity to recognize what was going on in my head. As a Mechanical Engineer, it's also really nice to study abroad but still have a meaningful learning experience that can translate to your major, and without Wanxiang I may have started off in a field I wasn't particular about, so I'm grateful for that."
Megan Renner | Manufacturing & Design Engineering '16
"I have lived with anxiety and some mental health issues and by going abroad it pushed my boundaries and helped me stretch who I was as a person. To this day my mom still says to me "I can't believe you went to China with your anxiety", and I still use the experience to this day as a benchmark for my strength and capability. Last week I had to go on a work trip by myself and at first I got that panicky feeling, but then I used Wanxiang and study abroad as a benchmark and was like "I went to China and thrived there for two months with people". It really has created for me this sense of strength and ability that something that seems so far away and different can be so beneficial physically and mentally down the road."
Kathy Tian | Economics & Psychology '19
"Cultural wise, Wanxiang had an impact on me. There were some aspects I really liked, such as the tea ceremony and dumpling making that really inspired me to learn about culture from a more formal perspective. Having grown up in a Chinese household, you learn these things as small day-to-day activities, so Wanxiang gave me a desire to learn more about that."
Eli Cohen | Computer Science '18
"I came back a different and more worldly person. There were a lot of experiences that I had not been put in beforehand, and although it was out of my comfort zone, it was a very safe environment to experience new things."
Will Ouyang | Economics '20
"Accepting optionality and variables in life is something I learned and appreciated from the program. I have always been a pretty conservative one-path person and went along with what I had to do, but this experience was different. I went to Wanxiang at a time when I was more lost in terms of what I wanted to do, but study abroad really gave me the opportunity to be okay and explore my options. In the past I always said you have to make a decision with a clear goal in mind, but now I can still be happy and pursue something in future even though in present I may not know what I want to do."