Pupils visit XJTLU and explore future career paths

On 16 April, about 100 pupils from Grades 1 to 5 at the Canadian International School of Kunshan (CISK) visited Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. They took part in activities that offered them insights into various career possibilities.

Canadian International School of Kunshan (CISK) students visiting XJTLU

Founded in 2012, CISK is a K-12 international school and the only international school in Kunshan licensed by the Education Bureau of Jiangsu´s provincial government. CISK offers International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes for students from kindergarten to high school, with English as the language of instruction.

Students toured the XJTLU Museum and explored the civil engineering labs, Design Fab Lab, and industrial design labs at ths University’s Design School. During the lab tours, students saw the lab equipment in action and asked the lab staff questions.

A CISK student observes equipment in the Design School lab

After the visit, Dr Marco Cimillo, Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching at the Design School, used short videos and demonstrations to introduce the students to the Design School’s strengths, key features, and plans.

Students also experienced activities in three different fields that were designed specifically for their visit.

At the Civil Engineering laboratory, students made shapes with concrete using standard construction materials like cement, sand, and water. They also observed the patterns water makes when it flows through a small-scale flume, or water channel.

Students make shapes with cement

Kimvi Nguyen and Dr Jose Remón from the Department of Architecture guided the students to design and model buildings using clothes pegs while they learned about building and construction principles.

Students make buildings with clothes pegs

Emanuela Corti from the Department of Industrial Design provided a hands-on workshop for students to tap into their creativity through the art of collage.

Students express their inner visions with collage

Students in different grades also took the stage to share how they felt about the visit and what they gained from it.

Students tell the audience about their visit

Ella, a fifth grader from CISK, said she enjoyed the collage session and was inspired by the visit. “Today’s visit offered me fresh insights into the design industry, and I want to pursue a career as a pianist and artist,” she said.

Eoin Thomas Marsh, the coordinator of the Co-curricular Activities module at CISK, said he felt the connections made at XJTLU benefitted the students. “Today, we are very honoured to visit XJTLU, and I hope this tour can inspire our students to actively explore their future career paths,” he said.

The career-exploration activities were leed and coordinated overall by Dr Ominda Nanayakkara, Head of XJTLU’s Department of Civil Engineering.

By Yaxin LiuTranslated by Xueqi Wang

Edited by Catherine Diamond and Tamara Kaup

Photos by Jingwei Wang and Yaxin Liu