Research student exchange consortium proposal

Engineering career advancement is undoubtedly enhanced in the global economy by international experiential learning as part of the graduate's formal education. Such opportunities are imbedded in traditional European Dipl.-Ing. curricula, but few US engineering students avail themselves of similar opportunities. Part of the reason lies in different levels of language abilities and confidence, which are difficult to rectify at the university level due to the constraints of engineering accreditation requirements. The traditional US model for study abroad is based on junior undergraduates in the humanities (languages, history, etc.) embarking on a semester of formal cultural study in Western European universities. The average US engineering student is not equipped for lectures in a foreign tongue, and a different model must be developed if any significant numbers are to be achieved in an exchange program. The first stage of the engineer's educational program that would not require fluent language skills if transferred to an overseas campus is the MS thesis research project. Many research groups in European universities operate in English, and most have sufficient personnel fluent in English for the average US student to survive. For this reason, the paper develops a model of six-month engineering student exchanges at MSEE and Dipl.-Ing. thesis research levels. At the previous ISSE meeting in Hungary, the authors were charged with development of a student exchange proposal for a consortium of ten participating Central European universities and about five in the USA. This paper presents an outline of the proposal.