The Media School

Beijing students’ Dreamlab visit to BU

4 October 2010

Beijing’s winning Dreamlab students are inspired by Bournemouth University (BU) visit.

Students from the Beijing Institute of Fashion and Technology are heading home after an interactive tour of BU’s high-tech facilities.

The students won the visit back in November for their outstanding entry into the Dreamlab Challenge; a project aimed at engaging young people in science and health issues across the globe.

Stephanie Allen is the Media School’s Project Manager for China. She said: “Education in the widest sense is about cultural and social exchange and understanding as well as sharing techniques and tools and we were honoured to be part of the Dreamlab project.

“We are living in an increasingly digital world where old geographical barriers to communication are breaking down. Events like Dreamlab are important because they allow individuals and institutions to come together and share their different perspectives and inspirations, hopefully generating new ideas and outlooks.”

The group, whose original visit in April was rescheduled due to the ash cloud, enjoyed a tour of the Media School and the School of Design, Engineering and Computing. They were interviewed by Stephen Jukes, Dean of the Media School, in the high definition TV studio, visited the radio studios and experimented with the high-tech MoCap animation suite.

Di Mengmeng, 22, from Beijing said: "It was really amazing and very interactive. It was very impressive to get a backstage look at how to make TV, radio and animation. I was particularly interested in the process of making animation and creating broadcast programming."

The Dreamlab challenge was hosted by BU in China, along with Kingston University, the London’s Science Museum, The Design Museum, The Wellcome Trust and the British Council – China. The prize also included a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum, the London Science Museum and a boat trip around Poole Harbour.