Graduate
International Engineering at the Graduate Level
Although the IEP was founded first and foremost to provide strong intercultural communication skills for engineers at the undergraduate level, the rapid pace of the globalization of research in recent years has intensified the importance of this program for graduate students as well. As a result, the University of Rhode Island is leading the way with important new initiatives for students at both the Master’s and Ph.D. levels.
German Dual Degree Master's and Doctoral Programs
The Dual Degree Master's Program was founded in collaboration with our partner university in Germany, the Technische Universität Braunschweig, and enables students to complete simultaneous master's degrees from both institutions over a two-year period. This project was jump-started by the generous support of the Transatlantic Program of the Federal Republic of Germany with funds from the European Recovery Program of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). It is currently supported in part by the Max Kade Foundation.
Both initiatives at the graduate level were sponsored in the past by a $2.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation through its new program in support of Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE). NSF underwrote collaborative research at URI in the areas of Microfluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip Technologies and provided tuition and stipends for several graduate students over a number of years.
Because students in these two programs are carrying out a portion of their study programs at the Technische Universität Braunschweig in Germany, these opportunities will be particularly attractive to students with strong engineering undergraduate backgrounds and capability in the German language. Students who do not have any background in German can get trained by enrolling in the six-week German Summer School (DSSA), as well as by taking German for Engineering classes at URI.
Here is a description of the dual degree URI/TU Braunschweig program for students from "the other side" where the exchange is managed by TU-BS's International Office:
Technische Universität Braunschweig - International Office
Please consult the pages of this website for more details and feel free to contact:
Dr. Sigrid Berka
Executive Director,
International Engineering Program
Director, German and Chinese IEP
Associate Professor of German
University of Rhode Island
61 Upper College Road
Kingston, RI 02881
Tel: (401) 874-4700
Fax: (401) 874-7088
Email: sberka@uri.edu
http://www.uri.edu/iep
student voices
Kelly Cook
Dual Masters Program
For her URI Master's degree, Kelly conducted experimental studies aimed to realize a Lab-on-a-chip biosensor that could detect beta-amyloid proteins in whole blood. These proteins are found in the plaques formed in the brains of people or animals with Alzheimer's disease and are thought to be the cause of these plaques forming. The principle goal of the research was to determine the ability of a lens-free detector, based on a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) image sensor, to function as a quantitative monitor of the concentrations of the beta-amyloid proteins. This interdisciplinary work involved pharmacology, microfluidics and image processing.
For her Master's degree from the Technische Universität Braunschweig, Kelly conducted her research at Siemens in the area of mass spectroscopy and multivariate date analysis. She is currently employed at Siemens' Corporate Technology in Munich, in the Metals & Ceramics Department. Kelly's work includes FEM simulations accompanied by experiments to validate the theoretical results.
Ahmed M. Fadl
Dual Doctoral Candidate,
sponsored by an NSF PIRE Grant
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Ahmed is joining NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Wallops Island, VA. He will be focusing on solving safety issues for long range rockets destined for the International Space Station. He states that “the opportunity of graduating with dual doctoral degrees from universities in two different countries is a great experience. In conducting an international research project, I learn different approaches to problem solving, and a new teaching philosophy. Speaking a foreign language and adapting to a new culture will prepare me for the "flat" world. I encourage all students to take advantage of this opportunity to become global citizens, as it will positively impact your lives and future careers!”
For More Information
Dr. Sigrid Berka
Executive Director
International Engineering Program
p: 401.874.4700
e: sberka@uri.edu
