When you’ve fled China to escape Communism…when you’ve pioneered the science of bioengineering as well as groundbreaking research on the cardiovascular system… when you’ve served as president of four leading organizations in your field…when your work has been regarded as seminal in your field for almost 50 years …and when your office wall is literally wallpapered in plaques and awards – what does a medal matter? Everything, if you are Dr. Shu Chien, founding director of UCSD’s Institute of Engineering in Medicine, especially if it comes from the president of the United States.
Dr. Chien, a humble man, almost to the point of being shy, with a gentle and genial demeanor, recently recalled the experience of being summoned to the White House in October of last year to be among seven scientists receiving the National Medal of Science in a special ceremony. Third in line to receive the award, Dr. Chien watched his first two colleagues as they fixed stares on the military officer reading each citation. When his turn came, he turned to President Obama and as their eyes met, the citation took on a very special meaning.
“It was a great honor and privilege to meet the President and to be so close in a very personal way,” Dr. Chien recalled. “I thanked him for the support he has for science. It is great for our nation to have a leader who emphasizes science.”
Calling science “the foundation of our economy,” Dr. Chien added: “The strength of a nation today is no longer judged by how much military strength you have, but by your economic strength” and “the basis of that is science and technology. If you want a strong nation, you have to build science and technology.”
Looking back at 1948, the year his father, a well-known chemist in Beijing, decided to take his family to Taiwan, being there in the White House would have been the furthest thing from his mind. In fact, it was unthinkable. But Taiwan is where the path began. That’s where he met Columbia University cardiovascular physiologist Magnus Gregersen, who invited him to join the faculty of Columbia University in New York.
By 1967, with an already established reputation in research, he published three papers in the journal Science, which offered insights into how the blood flows. Richard Skalak, a researcher in the fledgling field of bioengineering, read the articles, contacted Dr. Chien, and it was the beginning of a long collaboration that only ended with Skalak’s death in 1997.
Both spent much of their lives studying red blood cells, how they worked, how they delivered oxygen. Eventually, by employing various technologies in relatively new fields such as nanotechnology, biophysics and biomechanics, their work led to an understanding of the physiological paths and mechanisms of the cardiovascular system, as well as how blood cells grow and die.
In 1988, Dr. Chien left Columbia for UCSD, where six years later he founded the Department of Bioengineering. Since then he has served as president of the American Physiological Society, Biomedical Engineering Society, Microcirculatory Society and International Society of Biorheology. Last August, he also received the Asian Heritage Award in the category of health and Medicine.
Melding biology, medicine and engineering into a practice of its own, Dr. Chien’s research for the last two decades has focused on the mechanisms by which mechanical forces such as pressure and flow affect blood cell behavior in blood vessels and how they interact with vessel lining, all of which has led to advanced treatment of the nation’s No. 1 killer, heart disease, and other cardiovascular-related illnesses such as strokes and high blood pressure.
“Shu’s work has been so important in showing us the fundamental things that can go wrong in the cardiovascular system, particularly as it applies to disease,” Frank Martin, executive director of the American Physiological Society, told the San Diego Union-Tribune in a story about the medal.
Dr. Chien’s work is credited with the establishment of bioengineering as a discipline, in itself, by looking at the human body as a series of engineering mechanisms. Studies in the field eventually led to the invention of advances such as the pacemaker, stents, magnetic resonating machines and artificial joints, to name a few.
“Today, bioengineering is becoming very popular,” said Dr. Chien, 80.
A corollary of his science award has been recognition from the Chinese and Chinese American communities.
“Chinese people here say ‘This is an honor for us.’ I go to China and they say the same thing,” said Dr. Chien. “I am honored to get this award not only for myself but for our community.”
DR. SHU CHIEN: Genial Giant : His research on the mechanical structure of the cardiovascular system is at the heart of advances tackling this nation’s No. 1 killer
“It was a great honor and privilege to meet the President and to be so close in a very personal way,” Dr. Chien recalled. “I thanked him for the support he has for science. It is great for our nation to have a leader who emphasizes science.” Calling science “the foundation of our economy,” Dr. Chien added: “The strength of a nation today is no longer judged by how much military strength you have, but by your economic strength” and “the basis of that is science and technology. If you want a strong nation, you have to build science and technology.” Page 28
A wave came, and only one family member remained. It was not a film or television show everyone was watching, but real life as typhoon Ondoy ripped through the Philippines in 2009.
“No one is safe,” thought Danvic Briones, husband and father of two children. With more super typhoons, earthquakes and disasters like the combined earthquake.tsunami that struck Japan a year later, something had to be done. “I was so affected by what I saw, that I made it my personal project to prepare anyone for disaster, no matter how severe,” said Briones. Last year, after many prototypes and sleepless nights, Briones launched his Rescue 72 vest, a floating-receptacle-grab-and-go-vest-bag designed to meet the challenges of climate change and natural disasters. Page 31
“Strategic planning in most companies is a process that merely extends the previous strategy into the future. Even when senior executives invite ‘out of the box’ thinking, most managers do not know how to go about exploring beyond the existing strategic framework.” So write Johnston and Bate.
So how does a leader encourage the kind of true “out-of-the-box” thinking that ends in new and innovative ideas that can not only propel a company or business into the future, but elevate it among its competition? Page 30
Contact information is fundamental to networking and business communications. When you receive a business card, take the time to make sure it ends up somewhere that you can find the information again when you need it. Whether you own your own business or just network a lot, by organizing your business cards, you’ll be able to find people quicker, which can lead to more sales and more money in your pocket. Here are some ideas on how to organize your business cards. Page 24
FASHION HER WAY: Designer brings a bold look to a dainty garment
“Pantyhose are very uncomfortable. I wanted to create a product for women to feel elegant and playful and, at the same time, sexy – a product that women can wear in winter and still be stylish and fashionable,” said Cheung., who founded Vienne Milano after spending two years as executive director of ASPIRE (Asian Sisters Participating in Reaching Excellence.) Prior to that, she worked as a web designer for a dot com company. “My career there went from doing design to on-line marketing, then Page 27
Nothing catches Hong Kong better than its own brand – a dragon with flowing ribbons of blue, green and red.
Since its emergence as a financial center after the Communist takeover of China in 1950, through its transition as a major gateway to the mainland after the British relinquished control in 1997 Page 5
More companies face more difficult decisions
Nothing is as it is cut out to be, goes the saying. And nowhere is that truer than in outsourcing.
For 15 years, farming out low-skilled jobs and relocating countries outside the United states have been heralded by organizations such as the Outsourcing Institute as the only way to meet the challenges of the new global marketplace. While some factors support that notion, more are not.
Outsourcing is a process in which a company contracts with a provided outside the company to perform a particular service that might be performed in-house.Page 6
The southern Thai province of Trang, tucked away on the Andaman Coast between Krabi and Satun on the Malaysian frontier, is rich in history, providing a fascinating showcase for the south’s flourishing Sino-Thai cultural traditions, architecture and food – and the proud locals love to prepare and share it with visitors. Its lovely and unspoiled coastline consists of more than forty offshore islands. Trang is a place to experience the delights of the deep south in an authentic and relaxing atmosphere.
Trang – formerly called Thap Thiang – is a quietly prosperous town with a long history as a trading port dating back more than a thousand years to the time of the Srivijayan empire.
While rural Trang is decidedly southern Thai in character, Trang city retains a distinct Sino-Thai feel. This is manifested in the population, in the architecture of the shop houses, Chinese shrines, and Trang’s distinctive cuisine.Page 48
through the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program, organizations across the country have received federal funding to prepare permanent residents for successful citizenship through citizenship instruction and naturalization application preparation services. Page 8
Message from the Publishers
BOOST-IE can lift this economy
President Obama recently announced a call to action to bring jobs back to America. We, as The Asian Heritage Society and the magazine ASIA, have an initiative to answer that call. Along with community and academic leaders leaders and experts in business, science and technology, we are inviting entrepreneurial talent in Asia to bring their innovative ideas to us and we will nurture and help turn them into finished products and American businesses.
It is our answer to outsourcing, which in the last ten years has shifted thousands of low-paying jobs from America to countries like China and India. We can’t fault companies shifting production to areas where it can be done considerably cheaper. Those jobs, in all likelihood, will not return to America. However, we are recruiting a different commodity – talent – and encouraging that talent to build their dreams here.
The initiative to do this is BOOST-IE™ (Business, Organization, Opportunity, Science and Technology in support of Innovation and Entrepreneurship) to help talented entrepreneurs develop and launch new industries and products in fields of the future while they learn all facets of doing business in America. We call this “insourcing,” a word we coined in August of 2011. BOOST-IE is also the title for a new magazine we are launching and previewing in this issue. While the emphasis in ASIA, The Journal of Culture & Commerce, will continue to focus on the cross-fertilization of Asian and Asian American culture, issues and events, along with features on business, beauty and buzz from an array of columnists, BOOST-IE, the magazine, will provide assistance in those important areas that entrepreneurs need to get their projects off the ground.
Each issue, as outlined in this magazine’s supplement, will feature profiles of entrepreneurs, explore the burgeoning areas and disciplines of science and technology, help entrepreneurs organize and promote their businesses and outline a variety of opportunities to prosper.
“Outsourcing” as a trend has been a major force in devaluing the American economy. The concept encourages business to hire out tasks they believe can be done better, cheaper and more efficiently. We can’t fault businesses for taking the initiative if it helps turn out a better, more efficient product at a cheaper cost . However, many of these businesses have gone further to relocate their entire operation outside the U.S. in China, India and now even Russia to escape taxes and circulating their incomes in the U.S. As the President pointed out in his State of the Union address, the tide is changing. The cost of doing business overseas in China, India and elsewhere is increasing and will continue to increase as the middle class grows in these countries, while companies are finding out that outsourcing business to countries in Asia or elsewhere does not save as much as they thought it would. If the President lives up to his promise to end tax breaks for companies who outsource to foreign countries, it will make outsourcing even costlier.
The world is flat, and we will always be competing more and more in the global marketplace, not with thousands but with millions. We can’t change that, but we can create a new kind of excitement in being the starting point for new ideas. BOOST-IE ™ is one of them.
With BOOST-IE™ , we are encouraging talent from Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, India and, yes, China, to bring their best ideas to America and we will help them create a prototype and launch their product – with one proviso: What’s created here stays here so that the slogan “Made In America” can mean something again. If you want to learn more, email us at editorial@asiamediainc.com
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