Many of the world's most pressing science and engineering challenges are trans-national in nature and some of the leading scientific and engineering facilities, resources, and expertise are found outside the United States. Moreover, many of the great opportunities in the sustainability field are located abroad. In order to remain at the forefront of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the United States needs to nurture a globally-engaged STEM workforce capable of communicating and performing research in an international environment.
To help address this need, our NSF International Research Experiences for Students program supports development of globally-engaged U.S. science and engineering students capable of performing in an international research environment. These projects involve students in meaningful ways in ongoing research programs or in research projects specifically designed for this program. Such experiences expose U.S. students to the international research community at a critical early stage in their careers.
Through this grant, our institution has developed an international research program focused on the multidisciplinary area of sustainable green building design and construction. So far, this program has taken place during the summer of 2015 and during this past summer of 2016. Eight undergraduate and graduate students have participated each year. The 2015 program encompassed two weeks in the Netherlands and two weeks in Egypt and the 2016 program consisted in two weeks in the United Kingdom and two weeks in Egypt. The students benefited from experiencing, learning, and contrasting sustainability efforts in a developed country with those in a developing country; as well as from being exposed to both the Middle Eastern and European work force and cultures.
This paper describes the entire process of establishing and developing an international research program and the key elements needed to make it successful. There are several phases that are involved in the development of an international research program and this paper aims to cover them all, including student team projects, travel planning process, program logistics, resources needed, student selection, communicating with international partners, lessons learned and methodology to assess the success of the program among others.
Key Words: Engineering Education, Sustainability, Globalization, Research
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