The Board of Directors of Perkins Eastman is pleased to announce that architecture students from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) have been selected as the recipients of the firm's second annual Shanghai Scholarship Program. Students were chosen jointly by the universities and the firm based on their design strength, academic merit, and personal achievement.
 
Under the mentorship of Shanghai Managing Principal Ron Vitale, AIA, the students—Jared Friedman from CMU and William Viglakis from WUSTL—will spend eight weeks working in Perkins Eastman's 20-person Shanghai office on projects located mainly in China. Their accommodation and travel expenses will be covered as part of the internship.

Friedman, 20, is in his penultimate year at Carnegie Mellon University where he expects to graduate in 2010. A US native studying architecture, with a minor in photography and digital imaging, Friedman has a particular interest in sustainable design and new digital fabrication technologies and their application to the architectural industry. No stranger to the challenges of working in China, Friedman spent last summer in Changsha conducting research on bamboo construction techniques.
 
Viglakis, 25, is in his final year of graduate study at Washington University St. Louis. He expects to receive his Masters of Architecture in December 2008. A first for Viglakis, the internship provides the means to further develop his understanding of the architectural and urban developments underway in China, and balancing the needs of a rapidly urbanizing society without compromising Chinese identity in the process. Also a US native, Viglakis is from Boston where he attended Boston University as an undergraduate majoring in American history.
 
Perkins Eastman Principal and Director Aaron B. Schwarz, FAIA—under whose leadership the program was created—says, "It gives us great satisfaction to provide this opportunity to two outstanding students from two of the most prominent architecture programs in the country. We feel strongly that it is our responsibility to help foster the next generation of design talent in a globally relevant way."
 
Vitale, who has been working in China since 1998, says of the program, "With nearly 10 million sq. ft. under construction in China across a wide range of projects and practice areas, we offer these students a chance to spread their wings through the mutual exchange of design, technical, and cultural information."