PhD student from China takes chance on America, finds ideal Purdue Polytechnic program and community

Like many young professionals in China, Fan Yang found herself in a strange situation in 2021. An economic crisis had swept through the country because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a time of economic contraction in her home country, it was nerve-racking to be in civil engineering.

So, Yang applied to universities abroad, looking to get an advanced degree in a new field but where her skills were still relevant. By chance, she discovered Purdue Polytechnic’s PhD program in technology, run by the School of Construction Management Technology.

Now, Yang is entering the second semester in the program, a level beyond what she’d ever thought possible. She’s working with her advisor Jiansong Zhang, assistant professor of construction management technology and a six-time National Science Foundation grantee, who has assisted Yang in adapting to the varied changes at Purdue.

“I’d never imagined myself going for a PhD until last year, basically,” Yang says.

While adjusting to various aspects of new field, Yang managed to complete her first project for Zhang: correcting a machine learning-trained robotic construction arm’s perception of 3D space. In June, she documented the process in a presentation at the 2023 I3CE Conference (International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering) at Oregon State University.

“After working with him (Professor Zhang), my research interests have finally started to settle on the topic of machine learning-trained robotics,” Yang says.

Between reading a completely new body of scholarly work for the first time, learning how to conduct a proper literature review on her research topics, and learning a new language, Yang says she’s “not at Purdue to sleep in late or just have fun on weekends.”

“To be honest I just have a sense that the research potential in this program is very promising,” Yang says. “It’s not really the conventional path for research, it’s an interesting blend of information technology applications combined with construction, infrastructure and site-level management.”

At the same time, she was worried about being an unconventional learner. Not only is she an international student, Yang considers herself lacking “the normal academic background that so many people going for PhDs now have.”

“Just so you can understand where I’m coming from: I came into the construction management department without a background in how to write scientifically, let alone in English,” Yang says. “I even had to learn to do a literature review — so, for instance, every academic in training here had used Google Scholar; it’s an extremely common tool for most of them. And it was totally new to me!”

Before she could think about specific scholarly endeavors, Yang had to work closely with Zhang to completely shift her understanding of academic research. “There were moments where I was like, ‘I have so much catching up to do, why did Dr. Zhang agree to help me?’”

Professor Zhang clearly doesn’t feel the same way. “She’s an independent thinker and a fast learner. She has been highly motivated and determined in her studies,” he says.

Amid the flurry of activity of her first semester, Yang put a great deal of pressure on herself to progress in all the varied areas where she felt the need to catch up. “I used to get very stressed if I didn’t have immediate progress in my research, partly because I had all of these cultural and educational differences,” she says. “So, I had some pretty bad imposter syndrome for a while.”

Zhang has made an effort to assuage that thinking, too, in part by reminding Yang that she has already made a good deal of progress in a single semester and in spite of complex circumstances. “He’s given me invaluable advice,” Yang says.

Going abroad

Yang’s journey to Purdue actually started in the summer of 2021. Hoping to weather the economic storm and developing expertise in a more stable line of work, she applied to universities abroad to pursue a second master’s degree, taking extra care in selecting her field of study in computer science. She also started watching English-language TV to help improve her language skills in anticipation of leaving home.

Yang says she felt lucky to get an acceptance letter from a Canadian university in January 2022, as her real estate job fell out from under her shortly after. And a master’s degree in computer science, she thought, would be a more secure field with greater flexibility after her experience as a civil engineer during China’s economic downturn.

That is, until news started coming out that these industries in the U.S. also were facing significant instability. Yang felt déjà vu when she heard Google and Meta were in the midst of mass-firing employees in areas worryingly similar to her information systems degree.

Circuitous route to Purdue

By chance, she discovered Purdue Polytechnic’s PhD program in technology. And she was delighted to see that it listed both civil infrastructure and information technology as complementary disciplines — her precise academic background.

“This is a pretty new path for me, or even for some of my former classmates in situations similar to me,” Yang says. “I’m one of the only people from my alma maters back home to go study abroad in America or Europe, or anywhere like that.”

Moreover, Yang has been surprised to hear this level of understanding from her academic mentors. And she thinks Purdue Polytechnic’s School of Construction Management Technology possesses a long-term vision for success and excellence at the graduate level. 

“They have everything you need here. Whether you’re looking to go into industry or advance the research community, there’s a support system for it,” she says.

And when it comes to the personal virtues cultivated at Purdue, Yang thinks the biggest one for her is self-confidence. 

“I want to keep being brave, and to excel as much as possible. And I know there will be people to support me, so I don’t put so much stock in the momentary slow-downs or struggles anymore because I know they’ll pass,” Yang adds. “I remain confident that if I want to take the next step in my work, no matter where it leads me, I’ll get there soon enough.”