Imperial College

Jose's reflections on our visit to Imperial College

We went on a campus tour of the Imperial College of London on July 23. We met with Dr. Andrew Horsfield, Director of Undergraduate Studies and senior lecturer in the Materials Department. We arrived ten minutes before our meeting time. It was rather interesting to learn that it was quite early for him, as he seemed a bit caught by surprise. 

While we waited for the official start time and the PhD students assisting with event, we had a little small talk about the particular things that strike us as different in the British culture. The way he began his presentation was different from what I had seen so far, as he focused on learning about us. He was interested in setting a background by asking where we come from and about NC State. It was a very rewarding experience because we learned about the Imperial first hand, not only from Dr. Horsfield, but the other PhD students involved. 

I met Jing Sheng, a PhD student that hopes to complete his doctorate this coming school year. He works in multiple lab environments focusing on nanotechnology and product design. He was a great person to talk to, very relaxed, knowledgeable, and humorous. We talked about British Culture, life as a student at Imperial College, and other background information. He provided very insightful and in-depth answers to questions, which made the conversation take on a natural feel instead of the common mechanical question-answer sequence. If we don’t know what is our ideal industry job, he suggested to intern at a specific organization, depending of the major.  There, you will gain working experience and potentially find your true career passion, if not you still might meet the person who might know the person that will lead you in the right direction. “No experience is a bad experience”, he said. 

The final event on the schedule was a discussion panel, in which insightful final comments were given by the PhD students and Dr. Horsfield. I confirmed what we have been learning about communicating effectively truly happens in their working environments on a daily basis. They mentioned being able to manage your time effectively and being organized about your daily objectives to keep track of your short and long term goals. Also, communication between people from different career backgrounds is very important because you don’t have specific knowledge of each other’s expertise. That ties in with paying attention to your audience. The level of detail depends on who you are exchanging ideas with about your particular duties. I really enjoyed this visit because I met very interesting people. It also reinforced what we have been practicing in a classroom setting.