China is a country that kind of scares me. Large groups of people make me want to curl into a ball and rock back and forth, and I imagine China would evoke a lot of rocking for me.
Andy Bell does not seem to have this fear (lucky dog). Andy, the chair for Ivy Tech Northeast’s engineering programs (that’s pre-engineering, engineering technology, and electrical engineering technology, if you’re keeping track), is at the beginning of a four-week faculty exchange program in Wuxi, China. He and three other faculty members from other Ivy Tech campuses statewide are visiting the Wuxi Professional College of Science and Technology, which has 10 students.
This is Andy’s first time in China, and he’s excited to learn from his new surroundings.
“I believe Wuxi has a fair amount of solar panel manufacturers, so I am excited to see what they are doing with the technology,” he wrote in an email shortly after landing in China. “The school is like a three-year technical college.”
While he wasn’t sure what he would be teaching as of Tuesday afternoon (well, when he responded it was 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in Fort Wayne, but 4:30 a.m. Wednesday in Wuxi), he hopes to learn how engineering is taught in Wuxi. He plans to explore how technology can be used to improve quality of life and study how people in Wuxi solve problems.
“I am not really nervous about the trip,” he wrote. “I know it is a long way from home but life is all about learning. I am excited about the opportunity to see new things and meet new people.”
During his stay, Andy will chronicle his trip on his blog, Andy in China. Follow along!
Inside Ivy Tech 