Senior NDSU interior design students Sheyenne Weber, a Fargo native, and Michelle Lynch of Maple Grove, Minnesota, spent five weeks interning at an interior design firm in Shanghai, China, during the summer semester.

The students were introduced to all aspects of the Chinese interior design industry and used the experience to exchange ideas, explore Chinese history and engage in Chinese culture and business.

They worked at CJ2, an international office that focuses on corporate and retail projects. Whether the students worked in the CJ2 design library, developed design concepts, reworked floor plans, adjusted CAD documents, visited showrooms to collect new product information or attended project meetings, Weber and Lynch developed new skills that will stay with them long past their internship.

In addition to design projects, they visited several sites in China, including a trip to Mount Huangshan, hosted by CJ2 during the Dragon Boat Festival. They also visited the Great Wall outside of Beijing.

The international internship experience was coordinated through the collaborative efforts of the interior design program and NDSU alumna Sandy Strand, BS '77, who has spent the past 16 years in China doing corporate interior design. Her company, Strand and Associates, is housed within Shanghai-based CJ2 Design Associates.

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