Zhang Yu, a civil engineering student at ZJUI, won first place in the China Division and fourth place in the world as part of the Competition of Engineering Ethics Papers held at the 2019 ASCE Mid-Pacific Student Conference.  The competition evaluates the abilities of participants in critical thinking and oral presentation. The participants write papers discussing engineering ethics on the basis of their understanding of the code of ethics, and then present and discuss their ideas with the judges. Zhang Yu’s paper started from the status of equal rights in the United States, and then explored equality issues in civil engineering. She stood out from participants with her fluent English expression and excellent defense skills.  She credited ZJUI Professor Ryan Falangan for his guidance. The ASCE Student Conference is a long-standing event founded by the American Association of Civil Engineers. The competition this year was held in April at San Jose State University. There were six events in the competition, including retaining wall design, concrete boats, water treatment, transportation, sustainable design, and papers. Fifteen universities participated, including the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, Davis, Zhejiang University, Tongji University, and Southwest Jiaotong University.

Zhang Yu said, ”The English teaching mode of our institute contributes a lot to my success because the environment makes it easier for me to understand American culture and to analyze and think from a more fundamental point of view. In Prof. Flanagan’s classes, I learned how to write an English paper and how to make it logical and novel. Thanks to our classes, I’m a lot more confident with myself on the world stage.”

Photo: Zhang Xiaodi, Li Yipeng

Translator: He Yanqi