Chinese Visitors Enjoy Visit at Adams State College (01-25-05)
Ten Chinese business and government representatives explored technology usage in rural America during a two-day visit to the San Luis Valley, hosted by Adams State College and Denver-based CAST (Chinese Association of Science and Technology.) The group spent January 9 through the January 11 seeing local attractions, touring Adams State College, the San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center, and learning about how businesses in a rural area use technology.
Mary Hoffman, Director of Adams State's Office of Community Partnerships spent most of their three day visit with them. They toured the Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve, the National Park Research Lab, and reviewed technology use in management of the park. Monday, the group was given demonstrations of technology used by the San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center (SLVRMC), the SLV GIS/GPS Authority, and Adams State. The group will spend a total of three weeks in the U.S., also visiting New York, Denver, and San Diego.
Special guests were the co-founders of CAST, Xuewei Wang, M.D., and his wife, Yingbei Zhang-Wang, M.D. Their son, Wendal Wang, is Executive Director of CAST. Other guests included: Mr. Di Shaowei, Manager, China Services International; Mr. Liu Jianhong, Deputy Superintendent/Senior Engineer, Corp No. 15 Research Institute, CETC; Ms. Zhou Rong, Deputy Director/Engineer, CETC; Mr. Xu Yue, Deputy Research Director/Senior Engineer, CETC; Mr. Yu Fei, Vice President, Jiangxi Wireless Technology Radio Factory; Mr. Luo Xianfeng, Asst. to the President, Jiangxi Wireless Technology Radio Factory; Mr. Li Jun, Research Director/Senior Engineer, CETC; Mr. Wang Chaolin, Deputy Director/Senior Engineer, CETC; Ms. Zhang Donglian, Deputy General Manager/Senior Engineer, SANYI Corp.; Ms. Xu Liying, Asst. Director/Engineer, CETC; Mrs. Jenny Sherry, Tour Guide/Driver/Interpreter; and Mr. James Sherry, Tour Guide/Driver.
On Sunday afternoon, January 9 the group enjoyed seeing the Sand Dunes, listening to how the dunes were formed and exploring the dunes themselves. They also had a chance to speak with Andrew Valdez geologist at the Dunes.
They stayed busy Monday, touring the Adams State College campus with tour guides Melissa Moeller and Aaron Ford from the Admissions Office. The group was especially interested in any of the technical aspects, wanting to see how fast the institutions internet server was, software and computers available for student use, etc.
Ford and Moeller took the Chinese visitors to the San Luis Regional Medical Center and left them in the hands of Kathy Rogers, Director of Development, who introduced them to Russ Johnson, CEO and Paul Thompson, biomedical engineer.
Johnson briefed them about the hospital, and Thompson took them on a tour visiting the intensive care unit, radiology, and other areas of the hospital. The blood pressure machine was of particular interest to many of them, and more than one checked his/her blood pressure. After lunch they went back to the ASC campus and heard a presentation from Computing Services.
Mike Nicholson, CIO, gave a run down on the technical resources available to the campus and the challenges and benefits of being a rural school. Next Patrick Roybal, IT Professional, gave a demonstration of the Smartboard, which caught the interest of the entire group. They all took turns drawing on the Smartboard and learning about the latest advances for its use. Dr. Mark Manzanares, Web CT Administrator, ended the presentation by speaking about the distant education program.
Hoffman then lead them all downtown to meet briefly with Dr. Pete McGee, SLV GIS/GPS Authority, who demonstrated how his office uses technology to aid in economic development and disaster relief planning.
Later that evening community members, the Chinese visitors and the college campus community relaxed in the atmosphere of Luther Bean Museum for a reception.
Tuesday morning the group met back on campus for breakfast and CAST & ASC Certifications presentations by Dr. Wang and Dr. Wueste.
