麦克尔•迪奇展示镓合金制作的天线。 (Courtesy Michael Dickey)

中国青岛的朱舒（Shu Zhu，音译）7年前来美国留学，与许多外国学生一样打算为将来进入工商界做准备。她前往北卡罗来纳州州立大学（North Carolina State University），发现了美国高等教育体制的一大优越性：本科生可以探索各种选择并转换专业。

入学不久她就得到一个机会，在一位工程学教授的指导下，与研究生和博士后一道在实验室工作，寻找化学和生物医学工程领域的突破。

朱舒很快就转入化学工程专业，现在正在位于费城（Philadelphia）的常青藤盟校宾夕法尼亚大学（University of Pennsylvania）攻读博士学位。她说，她求学历程的精彩之处就在于她可以改变自己的专业。

她感谢工程学教授麦克尔•迪奇（Michael Dickey），因为教授鼓励她追求卓越。她说，即使有时她的“想法有些疯狂”，“他也从不会说，‘你不能那样做’，而总是说，‘你应该试试’。”

迪奇是化学和生物分子工程系（Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering）的副教授， 2012年被评为北卡罗来纳州最优秀的教师之一。他经常让本科生参与实验室课题，包括开发新型纳米制作技术，以及将液体金属抻拉成在室温下不变形的各种形状。

他还有讲解的天赋。在解释铝和铜为何是一种优良导电体时，他说，那是因为它们“具有优良的热传导特性——当你坐在露天看台的金属长凳上时，感觉很凉，就是因为金属长凳会快速散发你的体温。”

他最青睐的金属之一是镓，这是一种浓稠均匀度类似于涂漆的液态金属。迪奇发现，镓与铟混合后生成的合金可以拉成电线。他的小组在镓上做过无数次试验，用3D打印，用橡胶材料包裹，把它扭成不同形状并加以抻拉。

该小组制作出可伸长10倍于原来长度的耳机。迪奇说：“因为它是如此好的电导体，所以音质丝毫不变。”

迪奇注重新材料。尼龙曾是材料科学上的一大突破，硅也如此。而迪奇的镓合金可能被证明是下一个突破。它的潜在用途包括天线、衣服、壁纸，甚至报纸。

迪奇的实验室已经引起企业界的注意。这样的实验室在美国高等教育的STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学）学科中很典型。

除新材料外，学生热衷的STEM学科还包括计算机科学、环保、3D打印以及为地球提供粮食和能源的相关领域。

国际吸引力

根据国家科学委员会（National Science Board）的资料，对于中学毕业后有志于在科学和工程学领域深造的外国学生来说，美国是留学的首选国家。

在本科阶段，33%的外国学生进入STEM相关领域。在研究生阶段，则有约57%的外国学生攻读STEM学科的学位。其中三分之二来自印度和中国。教育专家认为，外国学生来美就学，主要是看中高质量的教育并有机会在最先进的实验室从事有意义的研究。

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美国的大学使学生有机会在本专业之外选修政治科学、创业以及人文学科的课程。纽约克拉克森大学（Clarkson University）教务长查尔斯•索普（Charles Thorpe）说：“我们在STEM领域有专业深度，还能融入文科教育。”他说，住学生宿舍、领导学生团体和参加体育活动都是美国教育的重要经历。

23岁的朱舒在中学学了不少物理和数学，但并不很喜欢。为了准备中国严格的大学入学考试，学生花费大量时间作习题和其他作业。她认为，那些不属于有趣的科学知识。她的看法在麦克尔•迪奇的实验室里发生了变化，她的人生轨迹也从此改变。

STEM领域的佼佼者

美国提供学习科学、技术、工程和数学的大量机会。以下是冰山一角——大量选择中的几个例子。

圣奥拉夫学院（St. Olaf College）

圣奥拉夫学院位于明尼苏达州诺斯菲尔德（Northfield, Minnesota）。该校有一个著名的合唱团，但也以培养工程师和科学家的摇篮著称。在培养未来博士的全美4年制学院中，该校排名前10位。全校3,000名学生中，40%攻读数学、化学、生物、计算机科学或心理学专业。

与STEM学科并举的是，圣奥拉夫同样重视环境保护。学校的各方各面，从学生饮食、校舍建造到课程设置本身，无不遵循崇尚科学和减少人类对地球影响的原则。这里的科学家还尽可能减少试验活动产生的有毒废料。

环保努力成就的最高体现是瑞金茨大楼（Regents Hall），这是一座达到了美国绿色建筑理事会（U.S. Green Building Council）最严苛标准的最先进的科学建筑。

学院要求所有学生至少修2门科学课程。一门新近开设的课程致力于使非理科专业学生对当前社会热点话题的科学背景得到明确的认识。

主管自然科学和数学的副院长马修•里奇（Matthew Richey）说：“我们具有双重最佳优势”，既有培养未来博士的精尖课程，又能为其他学生提供一般大学文科生不可比拟的更深厚的数学和科学知识。

加利福尼亚大学圣地亚哥分校（University of California, San Diego）

在加利福尼亚大学圣地亚哥分校戴伦•利泊米教授（Darren Lipomi）的纳米工程实验室里，研究小组的成员包括来自白俄罗斯、泰国和墨西哥的学生。这个小组正从事太阳能研究——具体而言，是在寻找如何制作出成本更低和更结实的太阳能面板。

这位年轻的化学工程师说，这种多样性在尖端研究领域很普遍。他说：“具有不同文化背景的人对同一问题有不同的处理方式，如果大家在一起共事，总有人能提出解决方案。”

一般的太阳能电池是由硅制成的，在恶劣天气中极易损坏。利泊米正试图用一种更结实、更经济的塑料材料代替硅。

克拉克森大学（Clarkson University）

克拉克森大学位于靠近加拿大边境的纽约州波茨坦市（Potsdam, New York），以工程学科闻名，同样出名的是，该校毕业生的起薪高于哈佛大学同专业的毕业生。

2012年，在校3,604名学生中有10%是外国学生，其中很多人攻读STEM学科，在进行科研的同时也学习创业。

施普利创新中心（Shipley Center for Innovation）高级主任马修•德雷珀（Matthew Draper）说：“我们的模式是引领创新者走过整个商业化过程。”该中心在知识产权、市场调研、打造品牌、beta测试、融资以及创收方面为学生提供帮助。德雷珀说，这些是搞科学的人难以驾驭的方面。

自2010年以来，中心已经协助发起116个创新企业，还有350个正在酝酿中。该中心帮助达米•阿德普居（Dami Adepoju）——一位来自尼日利亚阿布贾（Abuja）的克拉克森毕业生——打入制鞋行业。阿德普居设计了一种可四面拉合的拉链，一双鞋可以呈现三种式样，经济条件有限的人穿一双鞋就可以展示更多的式样。

施普利中心的专家协助阿德普居为他的创新设计建立了3D模型并打开了市场。他们为他联系了皮匠，照他的规格做出了拉链，并在公司注册和合伙协议方面为他提供帮助。现在，阿德普居在尼日利亚经营菲尼制鞋公司（Fini Shoes）并准备在世界各地销售。

你还可以了解其他外国学生留学美国的体会。如果希望为留学做准备，请访问 EducationUSA 网站。

本文由自由撰稿人Lucy Hood撰写。 

Shu Zhu came to the United States from Qingdao, China, seven years ago planning to prepare for a career in business, as many international students do. But at North Carolina State University she discovered one of the glories of the U.S. system of higher education: the ability undergraduates have to explore options and change majors.

She got an early opportunity to work in a research laboratory under the tutelage of an engineering professor, alongside graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, all searching for breakthroughs in chemical and biomedical engineering.

Zhu soon switched majors to chemical engineering and now is pursuing a doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school in Philadelphia. She said the beauty of her educational path was that she could change her mind.

She credits the engineering professor, Michael Dickey, with encouraging her to excel. Even when she had “some crazy idea,” she said, “he would never say, ‘You cannot do this.’ He would always say, ‘You should try.’”

Dickey, an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, was honored in 2012 as one of North Carolina State’s outstanding teachers. He regularly puts undergraduates to work on lab projects, which include developing novel nanofabrication techniques and stretching liquid metals into forms that can hold their shape at room temperature.

He also has a gift for explaining things. Discussing why aluminum and copper make such good electrical conductors, he said it’s because of their “good thermal properties — when you sit on metal bleachers it feels really cold because they are removing heat from your body really fast.”

One of his favorite metals is gallium, a liquid metal with a thick, paintlike consistency. Dickey has found that if gallium is mixed with indium, the resulting alloy can be stretched into electrical wires. His team has put gallium through myriad tests, printing it in 3-D fashion, encasing it in rubbery materials, twisting it into different configurations and stretching it.

The team made earphones that extend 10 times their original length. “The sound quality doesn’t change at all,” Dickey said, “because it’s such a good conductor of electricity.”

Dickey focuses on new materials. Nylon was once a major breakthrough in material science, as was silicon. Dickey’s gallium-based alloy could prove to be the next. Potential applications include antennas, clothing, wallpaper and even newspapers.

Dickey’s lab, which has captured the attention of private industry, is typical of American higher-education programs in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM.

In addition to new materials, popular STEM fields for students include computer science, environmental conservation and 3-D printing, as well as fields related to providing the planet with food and energy.

International attraction

The U.S. is the Number 1 destination for foreign students interested in studying science and engineering at the postsecondary level, according to the National Science Board.

At the undergraduate level, 33 percent of international students are enrolled in a STEM-related field. At the graduate level, roughly 57 percent of international students are pursuing STEM degrees. Two-thirds of them come from India and China. Foreign students seek out U.S. programs, educators say, for the high-quality education and meaningful research in state-of-the-art labs.

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U.S. college life affords students opportunities to branch out and take courses in political science, entrepreneurship and the humanities. “It’s both the technical depth of what we do in the STEM fields,” said Charles Thorpe, provost at Clarkson University in New York, and “embedding that in a liberal arts education.” Living in dorms, leading student organizations and attending sporting events, he said, are important parts of a U.S. education.

In secondary school, Zhu, 23, learned lots of physics and math, “but wasn’t really enjoying it.” Students spent long hours solving problems and other exercises in preparation for China’s tough college entrance exam. “It wasn’t interesting scientific knowledge,” she said. Her attitude changed in Dickey’s lab, and so did her life trajectory.

STEM standouts

The U.S. offers rich opportunities to study science, technology, engineering and math. These schools are the tip of the iceberg.

St. Olaf College

Located in Northfield, Minnesota, St. Olaf College has a renowned choir but is also a prodigious incubator of engineers and scientists. It ranks in the top 10 among four-year colleges in producing future Ph.D.s. Forty percent of its 3,000 students major in math, chemistry, biology, computer science or psychology.

In tandem with its STEM programs, St. Olaf emphasizes environmental conservation. Everything, from the food students eat to the construction of buildings to the curriculum itself, is guided by an appreciation for science and an effort to reduce man’s footprint on the planet. Scientists there work to reduce toxic waste associated with lab work.

The crown jewel of the environmental efforts is Regents Hall, a state-of-the-art science building that meets the strictest criteria established by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The college requires all students to take at least two science classes. A newly developed course promises nonscience majors an understanding of the science behind issues at the forefront of public debate today.

“We have the best of both worlds,” said Matthew Richey, associate dean for natural sciences and mathematics, with an elite program that prepares those future Ph.D.s but also provides other students a deeper understanding of math and science than the typical liberal-arts student gets in college.

University of California, San Diego

In Professor Darren Lipomi’s nanoengineering lab at the University of California, San Diego, students from Belarus, Thailand and Mexico are part of the research team working on solar energy — specifically, the pursuit of less expensive and less brittle solar panels.

That diversity is the norm in cutting-edge research settings, said the young chemical engineer. “People from different cultures have different approaches to similar problems, and if you’re in the room together, somebody will come up with a solution,” he said.

A normal solar cell is made of silicon, which is easily damaged in inclement weather. Lipomi is taking the silicon out and replacing it with a plastic material that’s not only more robust, but more economical.

Clarkson University

Located near the Canadian border in Potsdam, New York, Clarkson University is known for its engineering programs and for graduating students who make higher starting salaries than their counterparts from Harvard University.

In 2012, 10 percent of the school’s 3,604 students were foreign nationals, many enrolled in STEM programs and learning entrepreneurship along with scientific research.

“Our model is taking the innovator by the hand through the commercialization process,” said Matthew Draper, executive director of the Shipley Center for Innovation. The center helps students with intellectual property rights, marketing research, branding, beta testing, fundraising and revenue generation. These are daunting steps that scientists find difficult to maneuver, Draper said.

Since 2010, the center has helped 116 startups, with 350 more in the pipeline. It helped Dami Adepoju, a recent Clarkson graduate from Abuja, Nigeria, break into the shoe business. Adepoju designed a four-way zipper that transforms one shoe into three, giving people with limited resources diverse styles.

Experts at the Shipley Center helped Adepoju come up with a 3-D model for his invention and build a market. They connected him with cobblers, built the zipper to his specifications and helped with pre-incorporation and partnership agreements. From Nigeria, Adepoju now runs Fini Shoes and plans to sell worldwide.

Learn what other students have to say about studying at U. S. colleges, and visit EducationUSA to get your education started.

This article is by freelance writer Lucy Hood.