Dean of the Lally School of Management and Technology David Gautschi traveled to China over Spring Break to meet with leaders at universities and economic development institutions. The trip was part of the Lally School’s initiative to increase its number of global partners in innovation. It also marked the start of a summer exchange program called the “Summer Cultural Institute” at RPI.
Gautschi visited a total of five universities during the trip to China, including Zhejiang University, Tianjin Institute of Urban Construction, Renmin University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. Gautschi was accompanied by Assistant Professor Hao Zhao and graduate student Hongda Zhu.
Besides the universities that Gautschi’s team visited, the group also met with senior executives at the Tianjin Economic Development Authority, which is Northern China’s first state-sponsored economic development area for high-tech industry.
In addition, Gautschi and TIUC President Shihe Zhu announced the launch of the “Summer Cultural Institute,” an exchange program that will come to RPI beginning this summer.
Over 20 TIUC undergraduate students will join with students from other institutes from around the globe to learn more about U.S. culture, business, and style of classroom education.
While in China, Gautschi also visited Zhejiang University, which has already signed a five-year agreement with the Lally School to strengthen the global reach of both partners’ entrepreneurial business and technology programs. The core of the agreement is a research collaboration linking Zhejiang and Lally’s Severino Center for Technological Entrepenuership. Gautschi and Zhejiang School of Management’s Executive Dean Zhongming Wang unveiled the Rensselaer office in the Zhejiang Center for Entrepreneurship Research.
The team delivered a presentation at each stop, titled “Perspectives on the Global Financial Crisis and the Role of the Business School.” Gautschi also discussed potential collaborations with each university in the future.
“The current global economic recession and the financial crisis have pushed China into a prominent role that will very likely transform it into an even stronger player among the major political economies of the 21st century,” according to Gautschi. “We are very likely at a turning point that should encourage Americans, in particular, to redouble their efforts to learn about this remarkable and rapidly emerging phenomenon.”
