{"674713":{"#nid":"674713","#data":{"type":"news","title":"GT-Europe Alumnus, Louis Chen, Carries the Olympic Flame in the Paris Olympics Torch Relay","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/louischenrx\/\u0022\u003ELouis Chen\u003C\/a\u003E, an alumnus of Georgia Tech-Europe\u2019s dual-degree master\u2019s program (MS ECE 2014, Georgia Tech and ENSEA), had the honor of carrying the Olympic flame during the torch relay leading up to this summer\u2019s Paris Olympics. Chen was a torchbearer in the seventh leg of the relay on May 12 in Istres, France.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EChen excitedly watched on TV as the Olympic flame made landfall in Marseille, France, on May 8, after a 12-day journey from Athens aboard the \u003Cem\u003EBelem\u003C\/em\u003E, a three-masted sailing ship, christened in 1896.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBetween the Patrouille de France (France\u2019s version of the Blue Angels), the setting sun, and a dark sky that dissipated into a rainbow, the Olympic flame\u2019s arrival in Marseille was larger-than-life,\u201d said Chen. \u201cIt was simply magical!\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EChen\u2019s connection to the Olympics runs deep. His father was the flag bearer for the Chinese team during the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremony of the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. It was only fitting that Louis was selected as a torchbearer for the Paris Olympics, running his leg of the relay in the south of France, where he grew up.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere are less than six degrees of separation between Georgia Tech-Europe and the Olympics. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/sam-shelton\u0022\u003ESam Shelton\u003C\/a\u003E, now a professor emeritus in Georgia Tech\u2019s Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and director emeritus of the Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute, was tapped to design and engineer the Olympic torch for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis groundbreaking design prompted the Olympic committee to invite him back to engineer the torch for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah! (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/youtu.be\/WyuWSPeGTXk?si=6F9z3iddMSc4zUTe\u0022\u003EHear Sam Shelton speak about designing the torch for the Atlanta Games, on the 20th anniversary of the games in 2016.)\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECut to the Paris Olympics, where Georgia Tech-Europe\u2019s corporate partner, ArcelorMittal, rolled the steel for the relay torches and Olympic cauldrons in its plant in Florange, France, near Metz, home of Georgia Tech-Europe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAnd, this brings us back to Louis Chen\u2026\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EChen, who lives near Paris, ran his leg of the torch relay in the south of France, surrounded by family, minus his beloved father, who passed away when Chen was preparing for the entrance exam to the French \u201cgrandes \u00e9coles,\u201d the French equivalent of the Ivy League.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was a very moving experience,\u0022 he said. \u0022I did not expect such fervor and so many people in Istres.\u201d He continued, \u201cIt was a great honor, it was a lot of fun, and it was beyond everything I could imagine. I felt like a tiny spark in a fire much greater than me, and I felt blessed, empowered, and connected.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELouis Chen \u2013 \u201cIn one word, this event was \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOlympissimo\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E!\u201d\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EChen will be busy as a member of the protocol team for the Olympic mountain bike, BMX, and track events at France\u2019s national velodrome, with the events held in and around Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, just southwest of Paris.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf you missed Louis\u2019 memorable Olympic moment in Istres, France, there is still time to join the festivities with a Georgia Tech-Europe connection \u2013 \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/olympics.com\/en\/paris-2024\/olympic-torch-relay\/stages\/moselle-metz\u0022\u003Ethe torch relay will pass through Metz on June 27th!\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs head of sales engineering, France, for \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pricer.com\/\u0022\u003EPricer\u003C\/a\u003E, a Swedish company that provides\u0026nbsp;in-store digitalization via an electronic shelf labeling system, Chen fondly reflects on his time at Georgia Tech-Europe. \u201cDespite freezing in my Metz apartment when the gas company neglected to turn on the heat in the dead of winter, I enjoyed my semester at GT-Europe. The curriculum and the faculty were top-notch, although the courses were more difficult than I expected,\u201d said Chen.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETraveling to the Atlanta campus for his final semester was a revelation. \u201cIt was more than just a study abroad experience. I discovered a new country and developed a taste for entrepreneurship at the Atlanta campus,\u201d said Chen, adding, \u201cPricer\u2019s U.S. headquarters is in Atlanta, for those who might be interested.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMeanwhile, it could be some time before Louis comes down from his Olympic high. \u201cThe festivities in the small town of Istres, where I ran in the torch relay, were just as crazy as they were in Marseille.\u201d Returning to Aix-en-Provence to continue celebrating with family, Chen said, \u201cLa flamme met le feu \u00e0 la f\u00eate!,\u201d which roughly translates to \u201cthe flame ignited the celebration!\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor those readers who understand French, a few words penned by Louis in alexandrine verse (IYKYK).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u00ab Amiti\u00e9\u2026 Fraternit\u00e9\u2026 c\u2019est comme l\u2019Amour,\u003Cbr\u003EC\u2019est une flamme qui s\u2019entretient chaque jour.\u003Cbr\u003ESi mienne fut l\u2019honneur de relayer la Flamme,\u003Cbr\u003ETous, ce jour, relayaient ses valeurs et son \u00e2me !\u0026nbsp;\u00bb\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELouis Chen, a GTE dual-degree master\u0027s program alumnus (MS-ECE, 2014) will likely remain on an Olympic high the entire summer. After watching the celebrations on TV when the Olympic flame arrived in Marseille, France on May 8th, Chen was a torchbearer on May 12th in Istres, France. He\u0027ll volunteer throughout the summer as a member of the protocol team for select cycling events during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"MS-ECE alumnus fulfills his Olympic dreams as a torchbearer and volunteer for the Paris Summer Olympics."}],"uid":"28490","created_gmt":"2024-05-14 14:47:44","changed_gmt":"2024-07-05 13:06:05","author":"Andrea Gappell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-05-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-05-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"673996":{"id":"673996","type":"image","title":"GTE\/GT alumnus Louis Chen running in the 2024 Paris Olympics torch relay","body":"\u003Cp\u003EGTE\/GT alumnus Louis Chen running in the 2024 Paris Olympics torch relay.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1715697208","gmt_created":"2024-05-14 14:33:28","changed":"1715697471","gmt_changed":"2024-05-14 14:37:51","alt":" Photo of Louis Chen running in the 2024 Paris Olympics torch relay.","file":{"fid":"257459","name":"LouisChen-flame.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/14\/LouisChen-flame.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/14\/LouisChen-flame.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1683387,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/05\/14\/LouisChen-flame.jpg?itok=9YEEJm_q"}},"673994":{"id":"673994","type":"image","title":"GTE\/GT alumnus Louis Chen showing his Yellow Jacket pride with the Olympic torch.","body":"\u003Cp\u003EGTE\/GT alumnus Louis Chen showing is Yellow Jacket pride, after carrying the Olympic flame in the 2024 Paris Olympics torch relay.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1715695894","gmt_created":"2024-05-14 14:11:34","changed":"1715704782","gmt_changed":"2024-05-14 16:39:42","alt":"GTE\/GT alumnus Louis Chen showing his Yellow Jacket pride with the Olympic torch.","file":{"fid":"257457","name":"LouisChen-GThat.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/14\/LouisChen-GThat.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/14\/LouisChen-GThat.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":146152,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/05\/14\/LouisChen-GThat.jpg?itok=OHiJK5iv"}},"673995":{"id":"673995","type":"image","title":"GTE\/GT alumnus Louis Chen with a commemorative ring from the 2024 Paris Olympics torch relay.","body":"\u003Cp\u003EGTE\/GT alumnus Louis Chen with a commemorative ring from the 2024 Paris Olympics torch relay.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1715696794","gmt_created":"2024-05-14 14:26:34","changed":"1715697165","gmt_changed":"2024-05-14 14:32:45","alt":"Photo of Louis Chen with a commemorative ring from the 2024 Paris Olympics torch relay.","file":{"fid":"257458","name":"LouisChen-ring.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/14\/LouisChen-ring.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/14\/LouisChen-ring.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":145828,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/05\/14\/LouisChen-ring.jpg?itok=sYgYnklH"}}},"media_ids":["673996","673994","673995"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/europe.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech-Europe"},{"url":"https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/archive\/features\/20th-anniversary-atlanta-games.shtml","title":"Georgia Tech and the Atlanta Olympic Games"}],"groups":[{"id":"54809","name":"Georgia Tech-Europe (GTE)"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"191566","name":"Georgia Tech-Europe"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto: andrea.gappell@europe.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAndrea Gappell\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Program Manager, Georgia Tech-Europe\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["andrea.gappell@europe.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}