Christy (Shaolan) Wang

Shanghai, China
M.S., Urban Studies & Planning, London School of Economics

Shaolan has always been fascinated by how history, culture and economics influence architecture, infrastructure, and urban design. She received a Bcom in Finance from McGill University in 2015 and a MSc in Real Estate Economics and Finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2016, which has developed her ability to analyze issues from business and social perspectives.

Upon graduation, Shaolan joined Vanke, a leading developer in China, as a management trainee. Her responsibilities during 3 years of rotational program across various property types range from drafting detailed annual residential sales plan of Vanke Shanghai totaling ¥30 billion to managing daily operations of a 30000 square meters office building in Lujiazui Financial Hub. The combination of tasks has enabled her to think of the tension that exists between strategy and operations and ways to reconcile the differences between the two in order to deliver an optimized result. While gaining practical skills and industry insights, she also achieved personal growth by leading colleagues from different departments to develop a paperless reimbursement app, which was adopted company-wide.

At MIT, Shaolan aspires to fill her knowledge gap about engineering, design and technology. She is also passionate about expanding her professional footprint to infrastructure investing, prop-tech and smart city solutions to achieve sustainable urbanization.

Shaolan feels alive when celebrating the fun of Zumba and cooking. She has a culinary certificate from Le Cordon Bleu Paris and is curious if her MIT education could also expand her knowledge of molecular gastronomy.