Students in the News

Students See Globalization in Action

Last spring, nine Rice students got a lesson on how some companies are facing the challenges of globalization when they participated in the 2004 Global Leadership Technology Symposium (GTLS), a program designed to prepare engineering, computer science, business, technology, and architecture students for real-world leadership in the 21st century.

Businesses and governments around the world are more interdependent than ever before, and globalization has changed the rules of leadership and management and introduced new challenges to the mix—differences in cultural norms, communication styles, work ethics, and more.

“Globalization defines the industries in which these students will work after they graduate,” says Cheryl Matherly, assistant dean of student affairs and director of international opportunities. “Effectively working in a multicultural work place is not an option but a requirement.”

The Owls were among 55 student delegates from five continents, seven countries, and 12 universities who took a 10-day trip to Singapore and Japan. There, they met and networked with, among others, representatives of the Singapore Economic Development Board, who discussed the U.S.–Singapore Free Trade Agreement and Singapore’s economy; the dean of engineering at Nanyang Technological University, where they toured research labs; and researchers at NEC, the biggest phone supplier in Japan. They also toured such sites as the wafer fabrication facilities at ST Microelectronics, one of the top semiconductor suppliers in the world, and the Nissan auto factory in Opama, Japan.

The symposium gave students a glimpse of real-world issues that go beyond what can be found in books on leadership, says senior Jessica Kaminsky. She learned to look at the bigger picture, noting, “These days ‘leadership’ means ‘global leadership’—it’s practically one word.”

Venmathy Rajarathinam, a senior in civil engineering, says she saw that America and Asia need to be able to understand one another, their goals, and their cultures. “It’s vital to the success of a company,” she explains. “The GTLS just gives me a better perspective on how everything works and the totally different approaches they take.”

The Global Leadership Technology Symposium was originally developed by Arizona State University in partnership with the University of Waikato in New Zealand, RMIT University in Australia, and Rice. It has evolved into a program for multiple universities from many countries. This was Rice’s second year to participate. The 2004 student delegates from Rice were Kaminsky, Rajarathinam, Linda Lee, Tamar Losleben, Stephanie Lin, Jurek Rokicki, Amy Askin, Amit Mistry, and Liz McDonald. Co-director of the program Patrick Frantz also accompained the students.