This year, six students of Central Academy of Fine Arts participated in the project, and they enhanced the strength of design team from art perspective. In the Central Academy of Fine Arts, a series of lectures and seminars given by professors and media people from Tsinghua University and Central Academy of Fine Arts were arranged for Stanford teachers and students. The topics included design, the Chinese elements, and demand survey and so on. Stanford University professors gave instructions in the specific issues as regard to "intercultural" communication, interview, understanding and cooperation. Then, under the guidance of teachers, each team visited nursing home, hospital, community hospital, school for the children of migrant workers, the elderly family to collected data and idea for their own design projects.

PKU College of Engineering, Office of International Relations, Stanford University, and the Central Academy of Fine Arts lent strong support to the project. And when the exchange program was launched in Beijing, Prof. Chen Shiyi, Dean of PKU College of Engineering, visited the students and showed his appreciation as well as expectation for them. Hereafter, according to the project schedule, the design team will enter into the project design stage. In early June, there is going to be a joint oral defense through teleconference in their universities respectively.

The two-stage activities broadened the student’s vision enormously with fresh information and ideas, discussions where students from both sides have to communicate efficiently to complete the tasks together. Moreover, these design projects are all related to China, and designed to meet the demand of development in China. It is believed that the interaction of ideas between Chinese and American students will bring new knowledge and strategies to the Chinese market.

From Jan. 28 to Feb 2, Prof. Han Pingchou of PKU College of Engineering led 12 undergraduate students, to take part in the first stage of the workshop at Stanford University.

This year's program includes three stages, involving 24 undergraduates and graduate students of various majors from Stanford University and Peking University. They spend four months to research and design for six projects of five institutions and companies, which are American Heart Association, Wm Wrigley Jr. Company, Herman Miller Healthcare, Nokia, and Intel. The first phase was held at Stanford University. In the five-day event, the design team first conducted at the Stanford School of Design, the design cross-cultural training programs, and then conducted project design in Palo Alto, San Francisco, Berkeley and other places. Stanford University arranged Professor Michael Barry and Professor Pamela Hinds, who had extensive experience in design, engineering and cross cultural communication, to teach students knowledge about culture, design and teamwork. Afterwards, based on their project requirements, the students went to Nokia and Intel for a visit, and carried out the project design by telephone conference, household survey, interview appointments, market research and many other means of investigation, which laid the groundwork for further project design.

PKU-Stanford Cross-Cultural Design Workshop is an excellent example of cooperation and exchange projects between PKU College of Engineering and top universities in the world. It also offers the high-level exchange and cooperation platform for students. In 2009, during the first stage of the workshop, students successfully accomplished six product designs for Apple, Panasonic, Google and TCL, all of which were highly appreciated by the companies.