The University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and Shanghai's Jiao Tong University (SJTU) will partner on a new program for SJTU's engineering students.

Under the pilot program that starts in July, four engineering students will study accounting concepts in China. Then they will enter a nine-month program at the Ross School in Ann Arbor with Ross students, exposing them to the culture of American learning and training that they can take back to China, said Brian Wu, an associate professor at the Ross School and faculty director of the school's China office.

At the end of the nine months, they will return to China for a three-month course that places them in multinational corporations for real-world learning, said Wu. When they complete the program, students will earn a masters in management from the Ross School.

"Because they are from one of the best engineering schools in China and our education is in business, this kind of cross-disciplinary training is most useful in helping them become managers for the new age," Wu told China Daily.

"Nowadays you see a lot of convergence of industries and competition, meaning that competition is not only coming from manufacturing or engineering, but intersection of business and engineering. Many ideas require solid understanding from both sides," he said.

Wu said that the program with the engineering students may eventually increase to 15 to 20 participants and both schools hope to have US students study in China in the future.

"As a global business school, partnerships such as this are key to providing a world-class business education and giving our students direct experience in the global economy," said Ross' dean Alison Davis-Blake on May 22 in Shanghai at a ceremony announcing the partnership.

"This new partnership will benefit Michigan Ross and Shanghai Jiao Tong University by broadening international engagement for our students and faculty and providing a unique, cross-disciplinary educational experience for the Joint Institute students to leverage their engineering experience with business fundamentals," she said.

Wu said that the schools hope that the program can create leaders from the students so they can better face competition within China as the country's economic reforms require more innovation and creativity.

"The government no longer just wants 'Made in China,' they want 'Innovated in China,'" he said. "To achieve that goal, students need to understand not just engineering, but how to commercialize their engineering outcomes. I think that's not just R&D, but designing and marketing, and high-value added services and activities."

The Ross School has enrolled more Chinese students in the last several years, and the school's admission team has been promoting the school's programs to Chinese executives and connecting its alumni with prospective students.

The business school has long had a partnership with the Shanghai Jiao Tong University and is looking to ramp up its joint-research opportunities, particularly with studies on China's supply chains, the school told China Daily in an interview in March.

"China is such an important part of the global landscape," Davis-Blake said, "that whatever line of business you're in, you're probably going to be dealing with Chinese customers or dealing with Chinese financiers."

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com