As many students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have realized, studying abroad can be a rewarding experience they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Whether it be for a semester or a year, learning a new culture and interacting

with citizens of foreign countries in a new environment can be invaluable in preparing students for an increasingly globalized world.

But for one group of Illinois students, a novel approach to the study abroad concept found them hitting the ground running in a dash to solve real-world problems, with the clock starting to tick as soon as the plane landed.

This group of Illinois students, 16-strong, travelled to Hong Kong in November 2007 to participate in case competitions with students at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (UST). A reciprocal group of students from Hong Kong returned for a similar competition in Chicago in January 2008.

Unlike many study abroad programs, this group spent not a full semester but rather a highly intensive week in the Asian nation.

The students, part of the Hoeft Technology and Management program, worked in Hong Kong with the students from UST in looking at Light Emitting Diode (LED) technologies to come up with more efficient sources of lighting. And while working on such a technical problem in a distant land, students had to not only struggle with the tasks at hand, but also the introduction of an unfamiliar culture, according to John Clarke, managing director of the Hoeft program.

"Some teams struggled to adapt, but others performed very well and very quickly," Clarke said. "I think the judges were impressed with the caliber of students."

He said the teams were given only 30 hours to work together to come up with solutions. The recommendations the teams came up with were then presented to an actual panel of real businesses in Hong Kong. Though the students enjoyed the trip, it also served as an invaluable experience, Clarke said.

"The students had a great time. There was a real challenge to hit the ground running," he said. "Quickly forming functioning teams with the UST students was difficult. There were obvious differences between the approaches of the Hong Kong and Illinois students. I think that the real benefit is that this is representative of the real world."

In the Chicago case competition, where the UST students were subjected to the same jet lag that plagued the Hoeft group in November, the topics revolved around focusing on ways to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in Chicago as part of C40, an active program of environmental improvements to which a group of the world's largest cities have committed.

Clarke said the Hoeft program does a superior job of preparing students for their future vocations in the business and technological worlds. While some institutions offer similar programs and curriculum, Illinois' provides a higher level of engagement to further explore real challenges in a true analytical setting.

"This is a real world experience. Students entering the workforce today will be expected to collaborate with individuals from around the world, participate on teams, become team leaders and successful team members," Clarke said. "The ability to quickly form effective working relationships is a very important skill set for the students to develop."

The students themselves said the experience they received in Hong Kong will be invaluable in preparing for a career in their respective fields. The ability to gain such hands-on experience while visiting a new country only added to the benefit the Hoeft students received from the trip.

But it was not solely the experience of coming into contact with a new country that students brought back from Hong Kong. The opportunity to work closely with the Hong Kong UST students gave them an eye-opening experience into the work habits and ideologies of their foreign peers.

One Hoeft Technology and Management student, Buddy Erickson, said that while the opportunity to study abroad was appealing, the chance to experience the habits and culture of the Chinese students was the highlight of the trip.

"The most rewarding experience was the opportunity to interact and work with the students from Hong Kong," said Erickson. "Learning to adapt and make the most of our different cultures was both challenging and exciting."

Another Hoeft student, Stephanie Jones, agreed, saying the chance to travel internationally was a primary reason she was interested in going but not the only factor in her decision. She said the opportunity to work with people from a different culture played a big role as well in her choice to participate.

"I wanted to see if the stereotypes were true about the differences [between Chinese students and Americans]," Jones said. "[I also] gained more knowledge about something I probably wouldn't have been exposed to otherwise."

She pointed to networking, gaining international exposure, and an “increased knowledge of green technologies' as key components she derived from the case competitions.

Clarke said it is no surprise that the students benefit from their interaction with their Chinese counterparts. In an increasingly global world, employers are looking for their new charges to hit the ground running in a fashion similar to the experience the case competitions provide.

"I think the students benefited from working with other students who have a very different educational background," Clarke said. "[American] students operate differently in the classroom and have a different relationship with their faculty.  The students also have a different perspective and outlook on a range of topics, which is very useful for the students."

Jones agreed, admitting the Chicago competition seemed much more familiar than its corresponding experience in Hong Kong.

"I was much more comfortable in America," she said. "I was not out of my comfort zone. I did not have to deal with jet lag [at the Chicago case competition]. I was more relaxed because we had done it once before [in Hong Kong]."

Considering the success of the program, Clarke said he would like to continue the program in coming years. We're looking for a partner school in Europe for next year," Clarke said.

The Hoeft Technology & Management Program is a course of study leading to a University minor in which undergraduate engineering and business majors learn together in an integrated program without sacrificing disciplinary depth in their major fields of study.
The program addresses companies' need of business majors who have technical knowledge and engineering majors who understand market forces and their financial implications. It provides undergraduate students a working knowledge of the fundamental elements of their cross-disciplines and the opportunity to exercise this knowledge by working together on project teams that mirror those found in most companies today.