“I started my studies at Beijing Normal University’s Department of Electronics. Following that, I came to Belgium in 2003 and studied Electronic Engineering at Group T for two years. Immediately after that, I found a job as Expert in China Affairs with COBLO, also in Belgium. I stayed there for two years. Currently, I am working at SQA Asia, Atlas Copco. I would like to comment on the difference between the approach to education at Group T and that at Chinese universities.”
Easy entrance
“First of all, there is a difference in the higher education-policy in that in Belgium entering higher education is easy, but, as a result of thorough screening, fewer students actually graduate. I heard that less than a half of the students who set out to study at Group T actually make it to the final year."
Tough process
"Obviously, this caused quite some stress during our first two years in Leuven. In China, it had always been quite easy for me to obtain scores of 80 or 90% at university, but in Belgium we risked not passing, even with enormous efforts."
Cramming
"I worked very hard during my first year at Group T and barely received a distinction (70%). In the second year, the study load became even heavier. More than half of my classmates had to redo their exams in September. They went over the courses day and night for two months on end.”
Emphasis on practice
“Secondly, there is the mode of teaching, i.e. theory is always taught in relation to practice. Group T expects her students to feel at ease in a professional environment upon graduation. This is achieved by emphasizing practice during the educational activities. Almost every theoretical course has corresponding practical sessions and these take up a large proportion of the credits. Chinese and Belgian students are encouraged to form project groups to enhance teamwork and international collaboration."
Team effort
"I will not forget what it was like to work on my graduate thesis; we had to go to a company everyday like regular professionals. Our project was set up from scratch, but owing to the efforts of the whole team, it even became commercialized in the end. But even more important to us is that we learned how to work properly and how to develop products successfully.”
Back to Alumni Enter the Spotlight.
