At the invitation of Peking University (PKU), spouses Dr. Jeoung Soo Lee and Dr. Ken Webb will be teaching this summer in the PKU Globex Julmester in Beijing. Globex offers courses that focus on two core elements: engineering and science and China-focused study. The Globex Julmester website provides this perspective, “Engineering and science generate new knowledge and skills for society to advance and prosper (10 engineering/science courses). Societies everywhere are being profoundly impacted by China as it grows to become the world’s largest economy. Globex offers students an opportunity to study China and its peoples (2 China focused courses).”
Globex aims to promote international academic exchange. It recruits faculty from around the world to offer specialized technical courses ranging from biomedical engineering to robotics to smart materials. It is designed to provide students with a study-abroad experience by allowing them to take 1-2 courses over a period of about 3 weeks in July, getting 3-6 university credits. The program consists of a suite of English-language classes as well as other activities.
Dr. Lee will teach Drug and Gene Delivery in Biomedicine, and Dr. Webb will teach The Tissue Engineer’s Toolkit: Design and Evaluation of Regenerative Therapies. According to Ken, “the Globex program offers a remarkable opportunity to engage with students and colleagues from all over the world in an environment that combines a rich history and culture with a rapidly expanding hi-tech, knowledge-based economy.” In addition to teaching, they intend “to embrace Chinese culture and cuisine,” including a professional tour sponsored by PKU that is expected to include the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.
Describing what they hope students will take from their courses, Dr. Webb and Dr. Lee said “In our teaching, we both try to really convey a fundamental understanding of the state of the art in the field and the ability to critically examine the literature. We want not only to share knowledge and skills, but also a conceptual framework for integrating the potential of newly discovered technologies with the realities of commercial development and clinical translation.”
