Undergraduate GEARE Program: Purdue University’s School of ME Contribution to Educating Globally Sensitive and Competent Engineers
Posted 24 Sep, 2008 in Publications
| Contributor(s) | Eckhard Groll, Edwin Hirleman Purdue University |
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| Abstract | There is widespread agreement that engineering education must transform itself to produce global engineers. Global engineers must be able to function effectively on global teams in distance and face-to-face project work, as well as be fluent in how effective engineering solutions vary with culture. In 2001, Purdue University, in collaboration with the University of Karlsruhe in Germany, started to develop a strategic partnership network that now also includes Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, IIT Bombay in India, and Monterrey Tech in Mexico. These five universities have come together to realize the required transformation in global engineering education. The resultant Global Engineering Alliance for Research and Education (GEARE) includes faculty exchange, research collaboration, and reciprocal graduate and undergraduate education experiences for equal numbers of students from all partner universities. The undergraduate education component is a unique 24-month program that integrates: language education; cultural orientation; 3 month domestic and 3 month international internships at the same partner company or organization; one semester of study abroad; and a two semester face-to-face-, multinational design team project, with one semester abroad and one at home. Curriculum articulation is such that courses are transferable and offered so that there is no negative impact on time to graduation. Global industry partners are crucial to the success of the program as they provide the integrated domestic and international internship opportunities for all students, as well as supplying design projects. The first group of Purdue students went abroad in 2003, with 74 students either having gone abroad or are slated to go abroad in 2008. The Purdue participants are 23% female, compared to approximately 12% women overall in the ME program. Since 2002, the percentage of Purdue ME students participating in international experiences has grown from 3 to 10%. The placement experience of these graduates indicates that the global education provided by the undergraduate GEARE program is in great demand. |
| Credits | The authors also acknowledge the help and contributions by faculty and staff from the partner universities to create and sustain the program. Furthermore, the authors would like to acknowledge the contributions by Professor Beate Allert of the Foreign Language Department at Purdue University and Dr. Dianne Atkinson of the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University with respect to the assessment of the GEARE program. Finally, the authors acknowledge the contributions by Jerry Matthews with respect to the administration of the program and valuable conversations with colleagues Chuck Krousgrill, Peter Meckl, Eric Nauman, and Aman Yadav at Purdue University. |
| Sponsored by | The authors acknowledge the financial support from strategic industry partners including Cummins, DOW, Ford, GM, John Deere, Siemens, Shell, and United Technologies, and through the Thomas J. and Sandra J. Malott Fund for International Educational Opportunities. |
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