Diving Into the Deep End

Seventeen Baylor students jumped into Chinese business waters in Summer 2008 in a unique technology entrepreneurship experience termed Baylor I⁵, based in Shanghai. Their performance exceeded expectations and professors traveling with the group returned thinking of ways to make the next trip even better.


"Our students are so good at creative problem-solving,"The new program capitalizes on a strength of Baylor's entrepreneurship students while adding the dimension of technology. "Our students are so good at creative problem-solving," said Greg Leman, director of University Entrepreneurial Initiatives who holds the Curtis Hankamer Chair in Entrepreneurship. "For this kind of business, it's all about creating a new path."

The "I⁵" part of the title stands for Immersion Into International Interdisciplinary Innovation. The first "I" takes center stage, Leman said. "The theme is immersion. That's what is different about this."

The program envelops students in two ways that are different from other international programs. First, they work with companies that need answers to business conundrums, immersing themselves in the business while in China. Second, the program includes Chinese students who are hungry for the experience.

Baylor students who went through the program worked on projects tailored for collaborations between business, technology business, and engineering/computer science disciplines. Business sponsors included a sourcing company, a startup organization, and the world's largest producer of silicone.

Baylor professors chose China because of the technology innovation component of its business development and because Baylor already had a relationship with University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. But China's other attractions include new freedoms in governmental and economic structures. 
"Students come back knowing what they have, and they couldn't do that if they didn't have that immersion."
An additional attraction is that China presents the students with a strikingly different cultural venue.

The Baylor team also hopes to collaborate more with other universities that will bring faculty, students and projects. Baylor faculty envisions participants from India, the Middle East, South America and Eastern Europe or Russia over the next five or 10 years.

"Immersion is hard, but students are willing to do it," Leman said. "The students there last summer have tremendous confidence they can do this. Students come back knowing what they have, and they couldn't do that if they didn't have that immersion."