After four years’ study at the Sino-British College in Shanghai, Zhou Xinqiao graduated with a First-class Honours Degree awarded by the Liverpool John Moores University in July 2012. Xinqiao was accepted by to Imperial College London for postgraduate study on Control Systems. This October, Zhou Xinqiao completed his master’s degree in London, earning a distinction. Upon learning of this exciting news, Zhou Xinqiao agreed to an interview for the first time and shared his inspiring story with us, in the hope that many SBC students could benefit from his experience. Imperial College London is one of most prestigious universities in the world. It ranks 3rd in Europe and 10th in the world overall according to The Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2013–14.
Q: You graduated from SBC with a first-class degree – an excellent academic achievement. After one year of study in Imperial College London, you have received a Master’s Degree with distinction which, again, is quite an academic achievement. Is there any connection between what you learned in SBC and what you achieved in Imperial College? Did what you learned in SBC help you in some ways when you studied in Imperial College?
A: I majored in Industrial Electronics and Control Engineering in SBC. I learned a lot about control systems and how to use related computer software, which was very helpful for my postgraduate study in Imperial College. In addition, courses in SBC, taught to guaranteed standards of academic quality at the participating degree-awarding UK universities, made adapting to the learning environment in the UK much easier. I also benefited from all-English teaching environment in SBC: I had already acquired strong language skills. So I had a better understanding of courses and a better communication with teachers in UK.
In addition, inspired by my experience of working in SBC Student Union, I joined Chinese Students and Scholars Association in Imperial College soon after I got to UK, and met many friends there.
Q: As one of SBC’s most successful graduates with superb academic achievements so far, do you have any suggestions for students now studying at the SBC?
A: As for the engineering course, students may have a false impression that British science courses are much easier than Chinese science courses. However, the difficulty of British science courses increases progressively in both postgraduate study and doctor study. You cannot overlook the importance of what you learn in every class. You may also find it becomes much harder to catch up at a later date with what you should learn at the time.
As for postgraduate application, students now studying at SBC just need to believe in themselves – from my experience, SBC graduates, especially engineering students, have distinct competitive advantages when applying for postgraduate programmes in UK.
Q: Would you like to share something about your future plan? What do you plan to do next?
A：Actually, I want to find a job back in China. The internationalization of Chinese manufacturing industry has created a huge demand for talents with engineering specialty and global perspective. Besides, the SBC Career Development and Service Centre (CSD) offer various professional advice and support for students’ career planning, and has been praised extensively by SBC graduates. I would like to hear the CSD teachers’ advice about my future career development.
Q: Finally, would you like to describe your student life in in London? It’s quite an exciting and amazing city to live in.
A: Except for the wonderful academic atmosphere at Imperial College, having the opportunity to live in London was another exciting thing during my study there. Near to South Kensington Campus of Imperial College are many fabulous exhibitions to visit – the Science Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Natural History Museum. I also made many friends in London. For my foreign friends, I was a kind of Chinese cultural ambassador to them. They got to know more about China through me.
