A delegation of staff and students from the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT) visited Queen Mary to meet with colleagues from the Joint Programme with BUPT (JP) and other QMUL staff in January-March this year.
BUPT staff meet QMUL Executive and Joint Programme (JP) teaching colleagues.
The focus of the visit this year, led by Prof Zhang Xiaoyan (Vice Dean of the International School of BUPT), was on teaching Signals and Systems Theory. The BUPT staff, Dr Liang Dong, Prof Liu Danpu, Prof Luo Tao and Dr Yang Daquan, who are all involved with related modules, participated in a lecture and lab observation followed by a workshop with academic staff who teach Signals and Systems at the Mile End campus. Other activities during the visit included a TNE Teaching and Learning workshop conducted by Dr Carole Davies (Head of Educational Development at QMUL), with the presence of two representatives from the UK HEA. The workshop was attended by other QMUL staff, and provided an excellent opportunity to share teaching practices in the two institutions and across the two continents. In addition, the visiting delegates participated in the JP Industrial Advisory Board, attended by several members from industry and QMUL staff, where the JP curriculum and industry opportunities were discussed. The BUPT staff also met with the London-based JP students, who are currently undertaking their final year in EECS.
The trip was led from the QMUL side by Dr Jesús Requena Carrión (JP Lecturer) and Dr Vindya Wijeratne (Director of Teaching for the JP).
“The visit is an annual event, attended by different BUPT staff each time, and has proved to be very fruitful. From this year we have been augmenting this annual event by holding further TNE workshops in China. We are currently organising a TNE conference in Beijing in June 2018, in conjunction with the Educational Development Unit of QMUL” confirms Dr Wijeratne.
As well as a staff visit, fifteen students and one member of staff from the Joint Programme (JP) with the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT) visited Queen Mary in February to experience life overseas and to enhance the mutual understanding of the two universities, especially on aspects of culture, teaching and learning experience, and campus life.
The fifteen Year 2 EECS students, who are based in Beijing, successfully completed two tough rounds of selection in November 2017 to win the fully funded trip to QMUL. In doing so, the students enjoyed a visit to The Institution of Engineering and Technology (The IET) in London, a guided day out in Cambridge and a trip to Bletchley Park and The National Museum of Computing. On campus, the participants attended a lecture by Rachel Appleton on Business Technology Strategy, and talks on innovation and entrepreneurship by Mr Zhijun Chen (BenevolentAI Ltd) and Prof Joshua Reiss (QMUL Centre for Digital Music/Co-Founder of LANDR).
Tianshi Hu, studying BSc(Eng) Telecommunications Engineering with Management, said,
“I had a really wonderful time in London. It is a great city and I couldn’t get enough of it! I look forward to returning soon”. Several London-based QMUL students, along with Sophia MacBlain from the Queen Mary Students’ Union, joined the group to act as mentors and to provide assistance with the final presentations on the last day of the visit. Daniyaal Beg, studying BSc Computer Science at QMUL, said "it was an amazing experience meeting the students and learning about how their lives differ from ours. Their presentations were wonderful, bringing things about London to my attention that I had otherwise missed. Now I really want to visit China in the future!"
The winter trip is an annual event within the JP, open to Second Year students who demonstrate significant academic performance, have strong English language skills and a passion for cultural exchange. The trip also gives the students a much better understanding of what it would be like to undertake their final year or their postgraduate studies in London.
Photo 1: BUPT staff meet QMUL Executive and Joint Programme (JP) teaching colleagues. L-R: Dr Michael Chai, Dr Yasir Alfadhl and Dr Ling Ma (QMUL JP with BUPT Programme Leads), Dr Vindya Wijeratne (QMUL Director of Teaching for the JP with BUPT), Prof Liu Danpu, Prof Yue Chen (QMUL Director of JP with BUPT), Prof Simon Lucas (Head of School for EECS, QMUL), Prof Zhang Xiaoyan (Vice Dean of the International School, BUPT), Prof Colin Bailey (President and Principal of QMUL), Dr Liang Dong (Lecturer, BUPT), Prof Wen Wang (Deputy VP for S&E, QMUL), Prof Luo Tao (BUPT) and Dr Yang Daquan (Associate Professor, BUPT).
Photo 2: The 15 Beijing-based EECS students who visited QMUL and London for a week of teaching and cultural activities. Back row (L-R): Zemeng Tian, Xin Xia, Yanni Zhang, Jiaxi Yang, Meiqi Song, Yu Jiang, Yue Zhao, Ruining Tang, Yingying Zhuang and Xiaoyu Fan. Front row (L-R): Boning Zhu, Zhaoxing Zhang, Yue Pan, Tianshi Hu and Yang Peng.