“I have never worked in an engineering laboratory before, so my lab introduced me to the process of product design, from planning to testing, by allowing me to help build sensors and set up climate-controlled rooms.”
Melissa Lu, 2026 Research Assistantship Program Participant
October 19, 2026
This summer was the first time I ever visited China, and it gave me every reason to come back. Through the Harvard China Fund’s Summer Research Assistantship Program, I had the opportunity to partake in health monitoring research at my host university’s Department of Environmental Science and Engineering.
I have never worked in an engineering laboratory before, so my lab introduced me to the process of product design, from planning to testing, by allowing me to help build sensors and set up climate-controlled rooms. I learned about the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that we constantly exhale, and how their chemical composition is theorized to indicate certain health conditions an individual may have, such as diabetes, insomnia, and gastrointestinal dysfunction.
A highlight during this project was the volunteer phase: every day, volunteers came in to have their VOC data collected and processed.
Having only learned Chinese for a year, I saw myself growing more comfortable speaking in Chinese to strangers, learning new vocabulary words on my own in order to communicate more effectively. During this phase, I had not only sharpened my clinical research skills, but my Chinese language skills as well.
Beyond the lab, my labmates were eager to take me around Shanghai and introduce me to places and dishes I would not normally have at home. I tried foods like luosifen and duck blood, and, funnily enough, we even took a trip to Shanghai’s Bikini Bottom pop-up. Some professors affiliated with Fudan University also took me and the rest of the program to Hangzhou, where we visited historical sites like West Lake (Xi’Hu) while also exploring local areas.
It’s disheartening to sometimes hear locals ask whether foreigners are scared to come to China when my own experiences were among the most welcoming and fun. Whether it was chatting with DiDi drivers or conversing with the volunteers, these small conversations were the highlights of my journey. I learned more than just academics here, but also about the culture, history, and everyday life throughout all of China just by talking to my labmates.
I’m endlessly grateful to the people who made my trip to China possible and memorable. It is an experience I will remember for the rest of my life, and if I ever return to China, I look forward to catching up and laughing with my labmates over a meal once again.
To learn more about the Harvard China Fund Research Assistantship Program, click here.