Yesterday we went back to IIT and met with a professor there and discussed projects that we will be working on. I will be working with someone on Lifecycle Costing Analysis, meaning if you have a light fixture how many bulbs will it use over 15 to 20 years. Another project is working with qualitative and quantitative data so that engineers and architects/designers can work together better. There is also a project dealing with thermal comfort in buildings and material comparisons. Then we ate lunch at a typical Indian restaurant and everyone ordered a different side and we all shared and ate them with naan and it was delicious. I ordered chenna masala which is chickpeas and a tomato spice sauce. Mangos are also in season here so everyone had fresh mango juice. Then we all went to Larsen and Toubro which is a huge construction and engineering firm that has projects all over India and in other countries. The projects that we discussed in the morning meeting will be taking place at L&T. The buildings were really neat, all of them were different geometric shapes and I think that a lot of them were LEED certified as well.
Today we had another meeting at IIT but with a different professor and we visited his lab which was pretty interesting. He does a lot of research with X-rays and microwaves and what not. I am also noticing cultural differences because when we were in the meeting he answered his phone several times which would have been rude to do in the states but is fine here. Also, time is not an exact thing here, they usually give you a 30 minute to 1 hour time to meet somewhere which is strange because if you are meeting with a professor at home you better be on time or else you look like a bad student.
Now we are all back at the hotel cooling off. I don't think I will ever get used to this heat.
4 comments:
Your observations about the cultural differences are very interesting, and kind of surprising. I guess I just assumed that Americans are the epitome of "rudeness", so it odd to me that they don't have time set/answer their phones. Any guesses as to why that is?
Also, seen any sort of Catholic presence around? :)
I miss you, Prudence! Hope you are having a wonderful time!
I think there is a bigger emphasis on authority here than in the states, so the professors can kind of do whatever they please. But I'm not really sure, that's the only answer I've gotten.
There is a cathedral here, somewhere but I do not know my way around well enough to get there. I'm sure I will before I leave though.
Interesting... so professors could answer phones/be late, but not so much the students?
nope, the students pretty much wait on them.
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