December 6, 2012

Vol. 42, Issue 9

Searc h I ns ide C hic o State

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International Success: From Chico to China

ICS Home Page Stories:

Forgotte n Storie s: R e Photography of Historic C hico Mak ing It R e al: Inte rnational Stude nts Apply C ognitive Visualization to C orporate C halle nge s Japane se W oodblock Prints Find Hom e at The Turne r Blinde d by Scie nce : The Allure of the Te chnological Fix Afte r Hurricane Sandy The Big Le bowsk i and Philosophy More Than A Fe e Dick and Marian Baldys Im m e asurable

Brian Kobes design for the Shanghai Tower dining room features the petals of the white magnolia on the ceiling. C om pe ting against profe ssional de signe rs at one of C hinas large st inte rior de sign com panie s with your de sign for a se nior ce nte r in Shanghai? Be ing ask e d to de sign the dining room for the ne w Shanghai Towe r? The se proje cts could ove rwhe lm e ve n a se asone d de sign profe ssional, but C hico State inte rior de sign unde rgrads are handling the m with aplom b while inte rning with Gold Mantis C orporation, base d in Suzhou.

C ontributions to the C olle ge of Agriculture Inte rnational Succe ss: From C hico to C hina Gold Fe ve r: Stude nts C re ate Hands-O n Ex hibits

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Since fall 2010, five inte rior de sign stude nts have had the unique e x pe rie nce of se rving for two to thre e m onths as de sign inte rns for one of C hinas large st inte rior de sign com panie s. Gold Mantis, with office s all ove r C hina and de sign jobs all ove r the world, has de signe d such proje cts as the Be ijing Birdcage for the 2008 sum m e r O lym pics, the lux ury hote l chain Shangri-La, and the Shanghai Towe r, which will be the worlds talle st building whe n com ple te d in 2014. Kije ong Je on, profe ssor and coordinator of the inte rior de sign (IDES) program at C hico State , has a frie nd and form e r colle ague who is a de sign dire ctor at Gold Mantis, C haoyi Gao. Je on and Gao m e t for lunch one afte rnoon se ve ral ye ars ago in Monte re y Bay, and Je on pitche d the ide a of an inte rnship for IDES stude nts, e nabling the m to gain hands-on e x pe rie nce in an inte rnational industry. I we nt straight to the point with Mr. Gao, says Je on. I said, This is a globalizing m ark e t, and your com pany is one of the be st de sign firm s in C hina. W hat do you think about tak ing som e of our stude nts for your inte rnship? And, be ing the good frie nd he is, he said ye s. Gao saw this inte rnship as a good opportunity for Gold Mantis as we ll. Applicants for the Gold Mantis inte rnship m ust have a portfolio, which m e ans that m ost of the applicants are juniors and se niors. Je on se nds his stude nts portfolios to Gold Mantis, and de signe rs the re choose a de sign stude nt for the inte rnship. Stude nts typically go in the sum m e r or fall, and the y stay for two to thre e m onths. In the IDES program , we re quire stude nts to have inte rnship units to graduate . Each inte rnship m ust be at le ast 144 hours, says Je on. But our stude nts at Gold Mantis work day and night during the two or thre e m onths the y are the re the y work m any m ore hours than what is re quire d. The y cant le ave the office whe n e ve rybodys work ing. The e x pe rie nce that this inte rnship has offe re d to e ach stude nt has be e n im pre ssive . All five de sign stude nts have flown to C hina on the ir own and have be e n assigne d the ir own de sign proje cts the re . The se are nt just sim ple proje cts, e ithe r. Most stude nts have de signe d and pitche d ide as to the com pany for conside ration, som e e ve n having the ir de signs chose n. The re sults have be e n m uch m ore succe ssful than I e x pe cte d, says Je on. Eve ry stude nt com e s back with a diffe re nt e x pe rie nce . Kristine Gonzale z and Andre a Ne e ly we nt to C hina in sum m e r 2011. The y we re assigne d the task of de signing a se nior citize n ce nte r in Shanghaia proje ct that Gold Mantis also assigne d to the ir profe ssional de signe rs. Gonzale z and Ne e lys de sign was chose n ove r the profe ssional de signe rs de signs, and the y we re e ve n ask e d to pre se nt the de sign to the clie nt the m se lve s. Bryan Kobe inte rne d for Gold Mantis in sum m e r 2012

C re ate Hands-O n Ex hibits for Gate way

Other:
C re dits C SU, C hico Ne ws

Achievements
Shadows in Winter by Jay Fuller, Library Building Manage m e nt and Stude nt Pe rsonne l. m ore achie ve m e nts

Fall Photo Challenge

Vie w the Slide show

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and was assigne d the task of de signing the banque t room for the ne w Shanghai Towe r. R e pre se nting the indige nous culture was the e ntire focus for this proje ct, says Kobe . The final de sign was de rive d from a flowe r that he ld a spe cial significance to the pe ople of Shanghai and the psychological e ffe ct on pe ople who witne ss the shadowy patte rn on the ground from le ave s in tre e s ove rhe ad. I trie d to cre ate a nirvana...in a banque t room . This se t of re sults I achie ve d was de rive d from Heidi Gaeddert and Kijeong Jeon at the Gold Mantis office in Shanghai.

one m e e ting e ntire ly in C hine se (Mandarin) whe re I le arne d what was wante d through only watching the hand ge sture s and he aring the fluctuations in the volum e in conve rsations. It was an im m e nse ly e njoyable de sign proble m to solve .

The language barrie r is one of the m ost challe nging proble m s face d by stude nts in C hina. Many de signe rs at Gold Mantis can spe ak som e English, but m ost busine ss is conducte d in C hine se . Som e stude nts le arn how to com m unicate with the ir cowork e rs ve ry quick ly, lik e Bryan Kobe . O the r stude nts have pre pare d the m se lve s by tak ing language course s prior to going abroad or by le arning the language while the re with re source s lik e R ose tta Stone . Since Je on joine d the IDES program se ve n ye ars ago, he has com ple te ly re structure d the curriculum to m ak e it m ore curre nt with industry standards and practice s. O ur curriculum is to train our stude nts to work with othe r profe ssionals, says Je on. No one in inte rior de sign work s alone we work with archite cts, landscape archite cts, lighting e ngine e rs, contractors. W e train our stude nts to be com patible with othe r profe ssionals. That way, no m atte r whe re the y are , no m atte r who the y work with, the y can com m unicate with and de live r the ir ide as to othe r profe ssionals. I am ve ry happy with the way our program is going. In m e e ting so m any inte rnational de signe rs, I re alize d how m any opportunitie s the re are in the world for som e one with a strong vision, courage , and an adve nturous soul, says He idi Gae dde rt, the first IDES stude nt to inte rn at Gold Mantis in fall 2010. Gae dde rt was scare d to go at firstshe had ne ve r e ve n le ft the Unite d State s be fore . But afte r m uch e ncourage m e nt from Je on, she we nt to Shanghai and had an incre dible e x pe rie nce . Gae dde rt curre ntly work s for a de sign firm in San Francisco. R e ce ntly, Gao contacte d Je on ask ing for he r contact inform ationhe has a frie nd in C hina who is starting his own de sign busine ss and think s Gae dde rt m ight be a good fit and inte re ste d. The be st advice I can give is the advice that allowe d m e to conque r m y fe ars to go, says Gae dde rt. Kije ong said to m e , The re are always going to be a m illion re asons not to do som e thing. My advice is tak e the chance , e x plore and e m brace the unk nown, and you will discove r parts of yourse lf that you ne ve r k ne w we re the re . The inte rnship program with Gold Mantis continue s today and se rve s as an e x am ple of how the de sign sk ills stude nts are de ve loping in the classroom at C hico State translate into succe ss abroad. The faculty at C hico State is dive rse and e m phasize s unde rstanding various culture s, som e thing that is im pe rative to work ing or trave ling globally, says Kobe . I would acce pt this inte rnship any day.

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Cassandra Jones, Public Affairs and Publications Photo C re dits: Brian Kobe and Kije ong Je on Share

P ublic A ffairs and P ublic ations 4 0 0 Wes t Firs t Street C hic o, C A 9 5 9 2 9 - 0 0 1 0 Email: ins idec hic os tate@ c s uc hic o.edu

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