LU partners with East China University of Science and Technology
5/21/2009
Lamar University welcomed several administrators from East China University of Science and Technology to campus this week for a discussion of a developing partnership and exchange program between the two schools.
East China University of Science and Technology, which is in Shanghai, is considered one of the top engineering schools in China. The president of the university, Xuhong Qian, was a post-doctoral fellow in chemistry at Lamar University in the 1989-90 academic year.
During their visit to Lamar University on Monday, the six administrators from the Chinese university toured campus, learned about LU’s College of Engineering and other programs, and discussed an exchange program between the two schools that began this past fall.
Three undergraduate chemical engineering students from East China University of Science and Technology just completed an academic year at Lamar University. Those students gained much from the experience and are now preparing to graduate, said Hua Bao, deputy director of the international affairs office at the Chinese university.
“From Lamar’s point of view, it’s valuable and beneficial to both programs,” said Thomas Ho, chair of chemical engineering at Lamar. “It attracts good students who raise the level of competition in the classroom. It also provides opportunities for these students to attend our graduate program after they receive a bachelor’s degree from East China University of Science and Technology.”
This summer, LU will send its first student to Shanghai to study. Rajiv Jaini, a chemical engineering major from Baytown, will assist a professor at East China with research on surfactants.
Ho said he expects the partnership to help attract students to LU’s graduate programs in engineering. Two current students in LU’s Ph.D. program in chemical engineering are East China graduates who participated in a similar exchange program through the University of Houston, Ho said.
“Partnerships are important to us. We believe we are stronger working with other people than we are alone,” said Steve Doblin, LU provost and vice president for academic affairs, during Monday’s visit. “We value our new partnership with your university and look forward to its maturation.”
