Integrating Study, Research, and Internships in a Year-long International Engineering Program Abroad

Abstract

The efficient design and implementation of study-abroad experiences for engineering students is crucial for the success rate and scalability of such a program. In this paper the authors describe how semester-long research experiences can be integrated into the study-abroad experience of engineering students during the fourth year of the five-year dual degree International Engineering Program (IEP) at the University of Rhode Island. While the IEP has for years been a model for integrating engineering with the languages, it has in recent years added the opportunity for students to do hands-on, experiential research before they start their internship in a company. This research experience, if it is carefully matched with the students' engineering discipline, and also integrated into the curriculum they follow abroad, can be an excellent preparation for their internship in a company abroad, which follows the semester of study and research. The paper will discuss  How the IEP and its students go about finding the right match between their major and the appropriate institute at the partner university  What the nature of these research projects is, what students have to submit to get credit and how credit transfer for this experience is being administered  How the “Advanced Technical German” course they take at the partner university helps students integrate into their institute and make the most out of their technical and linguistic development  Why this crucial research experience is an excellent preparation for placing students into competitive internships in companies and also for further graduate studies  How applying both technical and linguistic skills in an applied real-world context prepares students for 21 st century skills  How graduates of the program and current IEP students who completed a year abroad assess learning outcomes and skill/proficiency gains