International horizon is important for young people, especially for those living in a metropolitan city like Hong Kong. The annual MIT China Educational Technology Initiative (CETI) summer workshop is one of the most popular programmes among the IVE Engineering students, since it gives them a connection with elites from one of the world’s prestigious universities, enabling a friendship that transcends borders and cultural differences.

This year, this inspirational workshop was led by seven students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who acted the role as instructors, taking charge of curriculum design and workshop delivery. Workshop had branched out from core engineering and science topics into other subject areas, such as business strategy, product design and ethics discussion, and of course the American culture.

“Basically this is a programme which immerses students in a pure English speaking environment, enables them to learn from advanced technology to different cultures. The IVE students can have a fun time to interact with the youth of MIT.” said Andres Perez, MIT student instructor who studies Computer Science and Engineering.

Everybody in the workshop was ready to explore knowledge out of textbooks. This programme does not just benefit the local students, everyone can gain some ponderable thoughts as well. Ian Reynolds, another MIT majors in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science pointed out, “When we discussed the ethics of bioengineering, they inspired us some ideas which we had never thought about because of our western perspective only.”

Under the fierce competition brought by globalization, learning is not just a passive way anymore. “MIT student instructors emphasised the importance of self-learning and provided some useful sources for our own exploration.” said Yeung Chi-pang, student of Higher Diploma in Mechanical Engineering. Problem solving is definitely indispensable in applied science and our daily lives. “When we were tasked with something almost impossible, MIT student instructors encouraged us to use all the ways we had in our mind to solve the problems.” said Wong Ka-yue, student of Higher Diploma in Surveying. This was exactly one of the skills that the MIT student instructors wanted to share with. “Problem identification is very critical for all of us, we hoped that the IVE students can understand how to learn for themselves and how to make what they want to make.” Mario Martinez, a Mechanical Engineering major at MIT stressed that.

All the MIT student instructors appreciated the IVE students’ creativity and eagerness in learning, as well as their proficiency in English. “Their English skills are actually quite good, even on the first day.” Ian Reynolds commented. Given their contemporaries and similar technical background, they have become friends speedily. “MIT student instructors have a strong enthusiasm in teaching, no matter how many times we asked, they are willing to response to us.” said Ng Chun-him, another Higher Diploma student majoring Mechanical Engineering shared.

Culture exchange is certainly two-sided. The IVE students happily became the hosts, who welcomed and took their visitors to some popular attractions in Hong Kong. They left their footprints in Sheung Wan, wet market, bowling court and Chinese restaurant and enjoyed some local delicious food, such as Dim Sum and egg waffles.

Needless to say, the MIT summer workshop 2015 was intellectual stimulating. The cultural exchange and the friendship across the distance were the two key elements which have made this programme more meaningful, inspiring the youth of the two institutes to explore their potentials.