From July 1st to July 13th, 2023, the BIM-ZJUI Excellence Summer Training (BEST) program, jointly organized by the Zhejiang University-University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Institute (ZJUI) and the Beasiswa Indonesia Maju (BIM) Scholarship Program of the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology was successfully held at the International Campus, Zhejiang University. Twenty high school students and two teachers from Indonesia gathered in Haining to participate in this program. Led by Associate Prof. Wee-Liat Ong, Assistant Prof. Yang Liangjing, Assistant Prof. Timothy Haw Yu Lee of ZJUI, and Dr. Peng Boyu, a Distinguished Research Fellow of ZJU, they thoughtfully designed the lectures and design project, laboratory and company visits, cultural exchange and other activities for these students. In the recently completed feedback survey, the participating students gave the program almost full marks! All the students have expressed reluctance to leave and hoped for a longer program.
▲ A token of appreciation from the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology
The rich course design and interesting activities have massively benefited the participants. This program provided a broad engineering overview of many fields, including Python programming, mechanical engineering, robotics, sustainable urban transportation and infrastructure construction, machine vision, and integrated circuits. The final design project required the participants to integrate the course knowledge to design an automated targeting and shooting system based on machine vision, fully reflecting its cross-disciplinary, technological, and innovative nature.
▲ Courses
At the same time, to fully demonstrate the unity of knowledge and action and showcase China's modern technology and economic development, the program also included various laboratory and company visits. These participants visited cutting-edge ZJUI research laboratories and toured facilities of top Chinese global companies such as Huawei and Jinko Solar on-site to experience the frontier of technology.
▲ Lab visits
In addition, the program also organized a variety of cultural exchange activities. The Indonesian students and students from the Haining Senior High School showcased the traditional lantern culture of the two countries. Haining Senior High School students also presented the Chinese tea art to the Indonesian students. Both sides were elated with the exchange and collision of the different cultures and formed a deeper understanding and appreciation of the different cultures, promised to keep in touch. At the end of the program, the program participants went to several popular cultural attractions located in Hangzhou such as the China National Silk Museum, West Lake, and the Chenghuang Pavilion, to further explore and experience the traditional Chinese culture and embrace the cultural diversity.
▲ Cultural exchange
▲ Corporate visits
▲ Project design
The BEST program is funded by the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology to strengthen the continuous cooperation between Zhejiang University and the Indonesian government for cultivating talent by exposing students to cutting-edge engineering knowledge, strengthening their experimental and practical skills, and enhancing cultural exchange. As part of a premier education institution in China, ZJUI provides international and innovative engineering platforms for attracting outstanding students from home and abroad to explore cutting-edge research and education.
