August 07, 2014
In a paper published in Science, Erica Fuchs says sending U.S. products overseas to be manufactured may be cheaper, but it also may stifle innovation depending on the technology and the constraints facing firms. The associate professor of engineering and public policy suggests that differences across technological and business contexts make it critical to avoid one-size-fits-all policy on manufacturing. In the case of high-end electronic components for communications, firms make rational short-term decisions by moving overseas and reducing costs, but they may be overlooking long-term benefits, such as gaining access to larger markets with new product technologies. Read more.
Sue-mei Wu, teaching professor of Chinese Studies in the Department of Modern Languages, Gang Liu, assistant teaching professor of Chinese Studies, and Haixia Wang, adjunct faculty of Chinese studies, participated in the 2014 summer Chinese pedagogy workshop for the University of Pittsburgh’s Confucius Institute. The workshop, held July 16-31, helped to train and orient 27 new teachers from China who will teach Chinese language and culture in K-12 and college level programs in Pennsylvania. Wu presented perspectives on Chinese language teaching and how to teach Chinese characters and pronunciation in U.S. classrooms. Liu talked about the integration of cultural content with language teaching, and Wang helped organize the workshop and helped the new teachers get settled. Wu (founder and president), Liu (treasurer) and Wang are all members of the non-profit organization CLTA-WPA (The Chinese Language Teachers Association of Western Pennsylvania, http://clta-wpa.org). CLTA-WPA aims to serve the community by promoting quality Chinese education for K-16 in the western Pennsylvania region.
Personal Mention
Chuck Bartel, director of Global IT Services, has announced he will be leaving Carnegie Mellon on Aug. 15 to become assistant vice president and chief information officer at Duquesne University. Bartel has served the university for the past 35 years in various capacities in Computing Services. His responsibilities have included oversight of network services, desktop support, the Help Center, information security, data center operations, computer repair, the Computer Store, documentation and Web services, campus outreach and classroom technology. Prior to his current role, Bartel was director of operations and director of network services. His most prominent accomplishments include being project director for Wireless Andrew and project director for CRUNCH, the campus-wide upgrade of the university’s core and edge wired networks. Bartel received an Andy Award in 2005 as a member of the CRUNCH team.In a paper published in Science, Erica Fuchs says sending U.S. products overseas to be manufactured may be cheaper, but it also may stifle innovation depending on the technology and the constraints facing firms. The associate professor of engineering and public policy suggests that differences across technological and business contexts make it critical to avoid one-size-fits-all policy on manufacturing. In the case of high-end electronic components for communications, firms make rational short-term decisions by moving overseas and reducing costs, but they may be overlooking long-term benefits, such as gaining access to larger markets with new product technologies. Read more.
Sue-mei Wu, teaching professor of Chinese Studies in the Department of Modern Languages, Gang Liu, assistant teaching professor of Chinese Studies, and Haixia Wang, adjunct faculty of Chinese studies, participated in the 2014 summer Chinese pedagogy workshop for the University of Pittsburgh’s Confucius Institute. The workshop, held July 16-31, helped to train and orient 27 new teachers from China who will teach Chinese language and culture in K-12 and college level programs in Pennsylvania. Wu presented perspectives on Chinese language teaching and how to teach Chinese characters and pronunciation in U.S. classrooms. Liu talked about the integration of cultural content with language teaching, and Wang helped organize the workshop and helped the new teachers get settled. Wu (founder and president), Liu (treasurer) and Wang are all members of the non-profit organization CLTA-WPA (The Chinese Language Teachers Association of Western Pennsylvania, http://clta-wpa.org). CLTA-WPA aims to serve the community by promoting quality Chinese education for K-16 in the western Pennsylvania region.