National Leadership
The URI International Engineering Program is distinctive because of its high standards regarding language and culture preparation for its engineering students going abroad. Many colleges and universities now offer international experiences for their engineering students, but very few require language study and even fewer send their students abroad for an entire year. In this sense, URI’s International Engineering Program has become the “gold standard” for the global preparation of American engineering students.
URI has not only worked hard on behalf of its own students, but has become a national leader in helping engineering educators across the country prepare their students to compete better in the global marketplace. The IEP, for example, runs the Annual Colloquium on International Engineering Education each fall, which is now in its twelfth year. The Colloquium brings together engineering and international educators, along with leaders from business, industry and government to share experiences and learn from each other. It is the only regular conference of this nature.
The URI International Engineering Program was selected by the National Science Foundation to organize and run a national Summit Meeting on the Globalization of Engineering Education, which took place in Newport, RI in November 2008. This meeting brought a select group of engineering educators together and resulted in an extensive report, which is available through URI’s Online Journal for Global Engineering Education.
URI faculty are also well known as speakers at engineering and language conferences both nationally and internationally, and are the authors of many published articles and chapters on topics related to the globalization of engineering education. URI faculty publish and manage the Online Journal for Global Engineering Education which includes articles by faculty from many institutions across the country. URI faculty are considered to be experts in this field and often assist other colleges and universities working to develop such related programs.
