Development of a novel interdisciplinary engineering student exchange program

Abstract

As an initiative to prepare engineering graduates for the ever-changing global landscape and a job market that is increasingly becoming more international and competitive, the Whitacre College of Engineering (WCOE) at Texas Tech University (TTU) requires that all undergraduates, starting with the Fall class of 2013, complete an international academic experience before graduation. The WCOE has implemented an international platform model to offer a broad range of flexible programs that accommodate student's interest, goals, and personal situation. In order to diversify the student’s options, a number of different programs have been developed in countries located in Central and South America, Europe and Asia. One of these programs is developed with Universidad del Norte (Uninorte) located in Colombia, South America, and sets a combined model of Study Abroad - Research Experience while providing a cultural engagement. The project model is a novel student exchange program that seeks to reach the WCOE goals of expanding its international programs and diversifying student’s offerings. The program brings engineering students from both universities into an innovative model of exchange agreement that combines the development of an academic, research, and societal study abroad experience related to a sustainable or renewable energy topic. Undergraduate students from both institutions are engaged in a summer course, a research experience for undergraduates, and interaction in local professional contexts related to the selected topics, in order to connect academic and research contents with societal needs from an abroad perspective. During this student exchange, students will take part in classes directly related to the selected research topic, language classes, culturally adaptive events, and a workshop designed to teach students how to approach societal needs and problems from the engineering research perspective. The program will also include development of important skills to conduct research activities and professional presentation of the results. Students in either country have different opportunities to explore and engage the local cultures. A full project design for the eight weeks has been established including the student evaluation and the program assessment. All students participating in this program will receive academic credit related to their discipline and devoted time towards the research experience. Each institution selects students from multiple disciplines in engineering and a group of faculty to coordinate the interdisciplinary activities and assess the entire program. The project will allow a number of results to be achieved: (1) the development of a combined Research-Academic undergraduate student exchange program, and (2) the interaction between both institutions' faculty in academic and research domains. Project results will pave future avenues of collaboration at the graduate level, and increase cultural awareness of students studying abroad to the U.S. and Colombia.