Coming a Long Way
A student from Shanghai looked to SDSU for an education in engineering and found a broader world.
“Most students tackle easier projects, but Chenxi did not do that—he chose the difficult ones.”
Chenxi Chu’s most unforgettable moment as a San Diego State University student occurred literally in its final minutes.
Chu came to SDSU from Shanghai in 2015, he said, both to study engineering “and improve my English skills while having the chance to see for myself what the United States truly is.”
Chu delved into electrical and computer engineering and excelled, ending up as the College of Engineering’s outstanding graduating senior of 2019 and valedictorian at his commencement ceremony, where he shared a moment on stage with President Adela de la Torre.
“My most memorable experience as a student is the graduation ceremony and the speech that I made in front of all the graduates and their guests,” Chu said in an interview conducted by email shortly after he returned home to China’s central coast. His remarks began with a series of thank-yous: his parents, SDSU faculty, and teammates on his senior design team.
Chinese and Americans “do not know the views of each other very well,” he said in his valedictorian address, and then added: “Through my own experiences of the past four years here, I see that we are more common than different, and there is more cooperation than competition between us.”
Chu’s father, Xingwu Chu, said he was happy with his son’s choice to seek a college education more than 6,000 miles from home.
“The education that my son received (at) SDSU helps him to see a broader world,” he said in comments translated into English for him by his son, “and be grateful to the people and places which provided help.”
Senior project
A high point of his education at SDSU was the senior design project. It was a glove for use in virtual reality that Chu said provides vibration feedback when the “hand” comes into contact with an object in the virtual world (click here for a brief video clip)
In his graduation speech, Chu said he may have been overly demanding on fellow team members; he said later he was referring to a tendency to “uphold my own opinions firmly when there is a conflict…It is very important to understand that there is no way that we can make our product perfect.”
Ken Arnold, a lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, said Chu “was one of those students who is very easy to overlook and underestimate.”
“The engineering courses he took with me all required non-trivial student projects,” Arnold said. “Most students tackle easier projects, but Chenxi did not do that—he chose the difficult ones. As a result, he learned more than most of the other bright students. His project submissions were consistently of greater complexity and quality, enabling him to gain a deeper understanding of the concepts.”
Chu expects to pursue a master’s degree and has applied to the University of California, San Diego, with an ultimate goal of working either in research and development or as a teacher. Returning to San Diego would have the additional bonus, he noted, of being able to stay connected with his former classmates and professors.
Chu said he would advise Chinese students that an international education is worth the hurdles and the risk.
His experiences at SDSU, Chu said, “make me a different person than I was four years ago. I am more composed and experienced for the challenges and good things in my life in the future.”
