Growing up in a Taiwanese family, Kalvin Cho ’19 spoke Mandarin Chinese. He watched Chinese cartoons. He grew to have an appreciation for the complexity of the language but never learned how to read or write in Chinese.
When it came time to apply to college, Cho’s decision was easily made. “When I heard that URI offered a program in which I could get an engineering degree along with a Chinese degree, I knew exactly what I wanted to do,” said Cho, who is pursuing bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering and Chinese through the University of Rhode Island’s International Engineering Program. “I have the opportunity to earn two bachelor’s degrees in five years, to study abroad at Zhe Jiang University in China and to have an internship in the second semester during my year abroad.”
Another IEP opportunity: real-world experience. This past summer, Cho worked as an intern for the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority in Jamestown, RI.
“This internship entailed a lot of work with AutoCAD, observation of present rehabilitation of the Newport Pell Bridge, and organization of past blueprints of Rhode Island’s four largest bridges,” said Cho. I learned the basics of AutoCAD through CVE 205, a course that I took the first semester of my sophomore year. I was able to utilize the skills I learned in the course and develop more skills through the projects I was assigned.”
A College of Engineering ambassador, Cho educates fellow students about resources available to them.
“We want to let the students know that there are so many great resources like the career fairs, workshops,” Cho said. “There are many students interested in applying for internships, but they just don’t know where to start.”
