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The International Engineering Program at the University of Rhode Island is built upon the philosophy that higher education must be responsive to the needs of global business, and that this can only be achieved successfully through university partnerships with private business and industry.  For this reason, the IEP has evolved in close consultation with its Advisory Board from the private and public sectors, and in collaboration with many partner firms.

The IEP-Industry Partnership is Clear and Effective:

The IEP recruits and educates high quality, highly motivated young students, who are willing to devote an extra year to their undergraduate engineering program in order to complete a second degree in a foreign language as well internships and study abroad.

The IEP graduates highly talented, highly sought-after engineers each year who are bilingual and cross-culturally competent, and who have completed at least six-months of practical training abroad.

IEP partners support and collaborate with the IEP faculty by:

• providing internships at their facilities abroad

• participating in recruitment and informational campus meetings

• providing scholarship and programmatic support to help internationalize engineering education at URI and elsewhere

• speaking out on behalf of the need for global engineering education

How Businesses Can Collaborate with the IEP:

• Contact us: The IEP welcomes contact with global companies, and is happy to enter into discussion with you.  There is no single formula for collaboration, so mutual visits between your company and the IEP are likely to lead to a special form of collaboration.  Feel free to send an e-mail, or call IEP Director John Grandin to explore opportunities.

• Create International Internship Opportunities:  Since the IEP sends approximately 25 students per year to six-month international engineering internships, company partners typically begin their relationship with the IEP by creating internships abroad.  IEP internships are full-time professional engineering experiences conducted in the language of the host company.  Companies provide a meaningful engineering experience, a mentor, housing, and a subsistence stipend.  The IEP also places many students in domestic summer internships after the sophomore year.  This enables companies and students to get to know each other, and to have a good internship experience before going to the company's facility abroad.  In this way, students will have worked for a given company at least twice before graduation.  Many companies see this as an efficient and cost-effective long-term recruitment strategy.  For more information on the IEP internship program, see our Internships section.

• Become a Sponsoring Partner of the IEP:  Because of the uniqueness and complexity of the IEP, its budget surpasses the ability of the University to support all of its needs.  Consequently, many IEP partners participate in an annual giving campaign to underwrite both programmatic and student scholarship needs.  The most active IEP sponsors are frequent visitors to the IEP House, where they can present information about themselves and their companies, and meet with students close to their internships or close to graduation.

• Participate in the Annual Colloquium:   Each year the IEP sponsors the Annual Colloquium on International Engineering Education, which brings educators together with members of the private and public sectors to discuss and explore issues related to engineering education for a global society.  This is a great opportunity for companies to offer input and to interact with key American universities addressing these matters.

• Consider Membership on the IEP Advisory Board:   The IEP Advisory Board is currently made up of IEP supporters from North America and Europe, generally at the corporate executive level, who are committed to the goals and ideals of the IEP, who donate annually to the IEP, and who are prepared to work with the IEP in an advisory capacity.  The Board usually meets once per year, either in Kingston, or at an international location.