Taiwan Internship Program Gives Students a Taste of Global Engineering

01/19/2018
By Jill Gambon

Chemical engineering major Ashly Tran came to UMass Lowell with specific goals – namely, getting hands-on lab experience and doing serious research as an undergraduate. One thing that wasn’t high on her list was studying overseas. But when a professor recommended that she apply for a summer internship program at Taiwan’s National Chung Hsing University (NCHU), Tran was all in.

“I don’t think I ever wanted to go on a study abroad, but when opportunity presented itself, I thought, why not?” says Tran, a junior.

Tran applied and was accepted to the program, which brings engineering students from around the world to NCHU’s engineering college for two weeks each summer to collaborate and learn.

Tran, who did her internship in 2016, spent her days in a lab with researchers plating bacteria cultures and using high-performance liquid chromatography to analyze various compounds. She spent her free time soaking up a variety of cultural experiences in Taichung, Taiwan’s second-largest city. She learned how to navigate the challenges of daily living in a foreign city and developed confidence in her ability to adapt and thrive in unfamiliar situations.

For Tran, participating in the program was motivating and whetted her appetite for more hands-on engineering experiences, which she got last year through a professional co-op job at Pfizer. 

“It really opened my eyes to what’s out there,” says Tran, whose goal is to work in the biotechnology sector. “I highly recommend the program. Not only for the perks, but also because coming back, it made me want to gain more experience in the working world.”

UMass Lowell has been participating in NCHU’s internship program since 2013, and eight Francis College of Engineering students have taken part so far. NCHU covers tuition, housing and meals; students are responsible for airfare and spending money. While on campus, the visiting students are paired with a host student who acts as a guide – and sometimes as an interpreter. In addition to time spent in the labs, the students visit area businesses and explore cultural and historic attractions, including the popular night markets and Sun Moon Lake. 

“I learned a lot. I learned how engineering is experienced in a different culture,” says Felix Lao, a senior civil engineering major who participated in the program in the summer of 2017.

“I highly recommend the program. Not only for the perks, but also because coming back, it made me want to gain more experience in the working world.” -Taiwan intern Ashly Tran

Lao worked in a lab with graduate students who were conducting research related to graphene, the ultrathin, ultrastrong flexible conducting material that has potential applications in everything from mobile phones to airplanes. He was impressed with NCHU’s state-of-the-art facilities and equipment and with the level of responsibility students had in managing the lab. He liked the tight-knit community he saw among the students and faculty.

“They stuck together. That was memorable,” he says.

For Lao, a chief benefit of the experience is the global network of friends and colleagues he now has. 

“The most important thing for me was getting to know students from different countries and from other schools. I made a lot of friends,” he says.

In addition to UMass Lowell, student interns have come from the University of Delaware, the University of California, Davis and the University of Washington in the U.S., and from institutions in Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Canada, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and other countries.

Faculty also participate in an exchange with NCHU. Assoc. Prof. Tzuyang Yu of UML’s Department of Civil Engineering has traveled there twice as part of a visiting faculty program that includes teaching a class and leading a research discussion. The experience helps him think about the best approaches to teaching, he says.

“I’ve taken the opportunity to talk to their faculty about what challenges we face in teaching this generation of engineers,” says Yu. NCHU’s faculty includes Francis College of Engineering alumnus Chenju Liang ’99, '03, who is now chairman of NCHU’s environmental engineering department.

For students, study-abroad experiences strengthen their education, Yu says.

“It benefits our students by giving them perspective about how people on the other side of the globe live, how they think, what they eat, how they commute,” says Yu. “This insight will help them decipher myths about different cultures.” 

The experience of an international internship can also open doors to employment opportunities abroad, where a degree from a U.S. university is highly valued, he says.

The university’s partnership with NCHU is one of four with Taiwanese universities; the other schools are the National Taipei University of Technology, Chung Yuan Christian University and National Chiao Tung University.

Lao, who wants to pursue a career as a traffic engineer, believes the NCHU internship may boost his chances as he prepares for the next step on his career path.

“I think the program will help with my applications for graduate school,” he says.