黑料吃瓜

鈥淢ost students tackle easier projects, but Chenxi did not do that芒€”he chose the difficult ones.鈥�

Chenxi Chu鈥�s most unforgettable moment as a 黑料吃瓜 student occurred literally in its final minutes.

Chu came to 黑料吃瓜 from Shanghai in 2015, he said, both to study engineering 鈥渁nd improve my English skills while having the chance to see for myself what the United States truly is.鈥�

Chu delved into electrical and computer engineering and excelled, ending up as the College of Engineering鈥檚 outstanding graduating senior of 2019 and valedictorian at his commencement ceremony, where he shared a moment on stage with President Adela de la Torre.

鈥淢y most memorable experience as a student is the graduation ceremony and the speech that I made in front of all the graduates and their guests,鈥� Chu said in an interview conducted by email shortly after he returned home to China鈥檚 central coast. His remarks began with a series of thank-yous: his parents, 黑料吃瓜 faculty, and teammates on his senior design team.

Chinese and Americans 鈥渄o not know the views of each other very well,鈥� he said in his valedictorian address, and then added: 鈥淭hrough my own experiences of the past four years here, I see that we are more common than different, and there is more cooperation than competition between us.鈥�

Chu鈥檚 father, Xingwu Chu, said he was happy with his son鈥檚 choice to seek a college education more than 6,000 miles from home.

鈥淭he education that my son received (at) 黑料吃瓜 helps him to see a broader world,鈥� he said in comments translated into English for him by his son, 鈥渁nd be grateful to the people and places which provided help.鈥�

Senior project

A high point of his education at 黑料吃瓜 was the senior design project. It was a glove for use in virtual reality that Chu said provides vibration feedback when the 鈥渉and鈥� comes into contact with an object in the virtual world (click for a brief video clip)

In his graduation speech, Chu said he may have been overly demanding on fellow team members; he said later he was referring to a tendency to 鈥渦phold my own opinions firmly when there is a conflict鈥�It is very important to understand that there is no way that we can make our product perfect.鈥�

Ken Arnold, a lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, said Chu 鈥渨as one of those students who is very easy to overlook and underestimate.鈥�

鈥淭he engineering courses he took with me all required non-trivial student projects,鈥� Arnold said. 鈥淢ost students tackle easier projects, but Chenxi did not do that鈥攈e chose the difficult ones.  As a result, he learned more than most of the other bright students.  His project submissions were consistently of greater complexity and quality, enabling him to gain a deeper understanding of the concepts.鈥�

Chu expects to pursue a master鈥檚 degree and has applied to the University of California, San Diego, with an ultimate goal of working either in research and development or as a teacher. Returning to San Diego would have the additional bonus, he noted, of being able to stay connected with his former classmates and professors.

Chu said he would advise Chinese students that an international education is worth the hurdles and the risk.

His experiences at 黑料吃瓜, Chu said, 鈥渕ake me a different person than I was four years ago. I am more composed and experienced for the challenges and good things in my life in the future.鈥�