Carlos Acosta, the Cuban dancer considered to be one of the world's greatest performers, fearlessly depicts his journey from adolescent troublemaker to international superstar in his captivating memoir, No Way Home.

Carlos was just another kid from the slums of Havana; the youngest son of a truck driver and a housewife, he ditched school with his friends and dreamed of becoming Cuba's best soccer player. Exasperated by his son's delinquent behavior, Carlos's father enrolled him in ballet school, subjecting him to grueling days that started at five thirty in the morning and ended long after sunset.

The path from student to star was not an easy one. Even as he won dance competitions and wowed critics around the world, Carlos was homesick for Cuba, crippled by loneliness and self-doubt. As he traveled the world, Carlos struggled to overcome popular stereotypes and misconceptions; to maintain a relationship with his family; and, most of all, to find a place he could call home.

This impassioned memoir is about more than Carlos's rise to stardom. It is about a young man forced to leave his homeland and loved ones for a life of self-discipline, displacement, and physical hardship. It is also about how the heart and soul of a country can touch the heart and soul of one of its citizens. With candor and humor, Carlos vividly depicts daily life in communist Cuba, his feelings about ballet -- an art form he both lovesand hates -- and his complex relationship with his father. Carlos Acosta makes dance look effortless, but the grace, strength, and charisma we see onstage have come at a cost. Here, in his own words, is the story of the price he paid....

As the world becomes increasingly globalized, today’s companies expect to hire engineers who are effective in a global business environment. Although you can find many books covering globalization, most of them are aimed at business, management, or social sciences. Developed with engineers in mind, Global Engineering: Design, Decision Making, and Communication covers the theory, models, and decision making tools for incorporating globalization into engineering work.

Written by a multidisciplinary team of experts in industrial, mechanical, and manufacturing engineering and organizational communications, this book is a primer on how to improve designs, make better decisions, and communicate more effectively in an international working environment. The contents of the book reflect the authors’ multidisciplinary perspective and their experience in working on projects around the world. The book presents globalization as a phenomenon affecting the way companies operate and their engineering functions. It uses a case study format based on system improvement projects and real industrial projects, ranging from design to supply chain and logistics problems. This case study format allows for a natural presentation of critical technical and non-technical concepts and their complex interactions.

The challenge that engineers face in a global environment results from the need to be aware of interdependencies and to be able to determine which ones are most important in each situation. Unique in its focus on engineering, this book provides a framework for how to better design, make decisions, and communicate in the new era of global competition.

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