Photo: Bart van Overbeeke
On December 11th the Society of Chinese Scholars and Engineers in the Netherlands (VCWI) held its annual meeting at TU/e. In addition to serving as a social network the non-profit organization also promotes cooperation between the Netherlands and China in the fields of business, research and education. Chinese ambassador madam Xue Hanqin attended the meeting, which included presentations on Sino-Dutch educational exchange and research collaborations. Sponsored by TU/e’s department of Industrial Design the meeting was also attended by many TU/e staff and students. Many of the VCWI’s 210 members work for companies in Eindhoven and the surrounding area.
“The sum of one plus one makes more than two”, said prof.dr.ir. Jeu Schouten, dean of the Industrial Design department, in his welcoming speech, to explain why international cooperation is a very important objective at TU/e.
The collaboration between TU/e’s Biomedical Technology department and the Engineering School of Northeastern University in Shenyang (NEU) is an
excellent example of such cooperation. Prof.dr.ir. Bart ter Haar Romeny gave a presentation on this collaboration, which includes a Chinese Bachelor program based on the program taught in Eindhoven, summer courses taught by TU/e professors, and a research collaboration that focuses on the development of medical imaging equipment and also involves Philips in Eindhoven and Neusoft in Shenyang.
Guangwu Tong, first secretary of the Chinese Embassy’s educational section, noted that Chinese higher education offers immense possibilities for international cooperation: “There are 1552 institutions of higher education in China, 644 of which offer Bachelor and Master degree programs. China has 11 million undergraduate students and 0.6 million graduate students”.
Understanding
To further increase Sino-Dutch cooperation Tong urged Dutch universities to increase their understanding of Chinese students and their specific needs and to offer high-quality education. In order to achieve a good reputation abroad, he argued, a university has to turn out high quality students.
The Eindhoven branch of the Association of Chinese Students and Scholars in the Netherlands (ACSSNL) provided volunteers to help with registration and organization at the VCWI meeting. Ting Wang, chairwoman of ACSSNL and a PhD candidate with the department of Technology Management, joined VCWI last year: “It is a great chance to meet Chinese people from across the Netherlands and exchange information on living here and adjusting to Dutch culture and society”.
Although all VCWI activities are open to students, members are required to hold at least a Bachelor degree and to be employed with a company or institution in the Netherlands. In fact, most members hold a PhD degree and work for universities, research institutions, technical and industrial companies, and government departments.
Bridge
The VCWI also elected a new board at its annual meeting. Jun Hu, assistant professor in the Industrial Design department, was elected as general secretary. He feels that VCWI serves as a bridge between China and the Netherlands: “The members have a dual cultural background. They know China and they know the Netherlands”. As a new member of the board Hu proposes to increase attention for educational cooperation: “Many of my Dutch students ask me about internships in China. They want to go there and learn about Chinese culture and society. With their many contacts in the Chinese business world, VCWI members can serve as intermediaries”.
Hu also proposes to strengthen the ties with the Chinese community in the Netherlands: “Many Chinese people living in the Netherlands are not highly educated. Many of them run Chinese restaurants, but they do not want their children to keep working in the kitchen. I would like VCWI to organize lectures and seminars for the 2nd and 3rd generation to show them what we Chinese can do. We can do so much more than cook good food!”./.
For more information about VCWI see: www.vcwi.nl.
|
