These are more pictures of PolyU's campus. The first picture is a Hong Kong orchid tree (whose flowers can be seen on the Hong Kong flag). This week was eventful because I learned a lot about the Hong Kong business/professional culture. There are many subtle differences between American professionalism and Hong Kong/Chinese professionalism.
For instance, in Hong Kong, hierarchy is everything. It is unacceptable for you to approach your boss's boss unless they approach you first. You should approach only your peers and your direct report. Also, handshakes are a form of art here. You must apply the perfect amount of pressure to your counterpart's hand; too little, they may take offense, too much, they will surely take offense. The handshake requires slightly less pressure than an American handshake, but slightly more pressure than you would use to handle a loaf of bread or an egg. After a few tries, you will get a feel for it. It is respectful to use two hands when handing items from one person to another. Likewise, you should accept items with two hands to show mutual respect. The work day in Hong Kong is generally a few hours later than in America, with most people starting work around 9 or 10am and ending work between 7 and 8pm. This is probably to account for the long morning commute times for the majority of Hong Kongers. In order to compensate for the long work day, lunch breaks are typically longer as well, spanning from 1 to 2 hours. Since language barriers are not uncommon in most companies, English is the preferred business language. As a native English speaker, it can sometimes be hard to understand people speaking in their second language, and you must have a keen ear. These are just a few of the differences between American business culture and Hong Kong business culture. I am learning everyday and becoming more and more culturally aware in a business sense. It is fascinating to observe how another culture functions in a professional setting, and it is easy to see why Hong Kong is such a financial superpower in the world - everything is extremely efficient! When people work, they WORK. There is a very fine line between business behavior and casual behavior, and the two are never mixed up because it could be fatal to your job.
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This week I began my lab work. However, the lab work was accompanied by a large deal of literature review. I spent a large portion of the week reviewing research papers and gaining a fundamental understanding of the bioprocessing industry. I began my own research by designing an experiment to test different parameters of lignocellulosic biomass fermentation. The purpose of this is to find better ways to harvest energy from organic waste. Once my experiment is done, I will have a better understanding of the fermentation and saccharification processes and I will be able to join my colleagues on bigger and better projects. I look forward to what the rest of this semester has in store for me!
My first week of work at Hong Kong Polytechnic University has been a great one. I work in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at PolyU. Hong Kong is practically bursting at the seams and is running out of space to develop. This means that there are limited options for waste management. There is simply not enough room for waste incinerators, and certainly not enough room for a landfill. My department is currently conducting research to divert waste streams from the landfill and incinerators to make for a more sustainable city. The goal of this research is to create new biorefinery techniques that yield valuable end products from organic waste. The valuable products we are after are ones that can be used in biofuels and biodegradable plastics. A few years down the line, the ultimate goal is to create edible matter from inedible organic wastes. This will have the potential to solve world hunger and eliminate organic wastes completely. Until then, we will continue to lead the way in researching new biorefinery techniques. Hong Kong PolyU does a fantastic job of integrating beautiful green spaces into modern urban architecture. Plaques throughout the campus identify different trees and plants found throughout southeast Asia. The campus covers roughly the same area as the University of Cincinnati, so adjusting to the size has been easy.
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