No one does engineering and languages together like URI.
Our one-of-a-kind, dual-degree undergraduate international engineering program has been a national model for more than two decades. Most recently, it was recognized as one of just four programs selected nationwide as part of President Barack Obama’s 100,000 Strong in the Americas initiative. Today, our International Engineering Program is proud of more than 400 graduates working around the globe for such engineering titans as Bayer, BMW, Boeing, BP, Dow Chemical Co., Pratt & Whitney, Sensata Technologies, Siemens, Volkswagen, ZF and more.
The five-year program offers a lot, starting with two degrees—a B.S. in the engineering field of your choice and a B.A. in Spanish, German, French, Chinese, or Italian. And that language degree comes with a level of fluency that’s unmatched in similar programs at other schools, because you’ll spend a full year abroad, half studying at one of our partner institutions in Germany, France, Spain, Mexico, Chile, Italy, or China, and half working in a paid internship with a leading engineering company.
Fluency in a foreign language has become the competitive edge for URI international engineering students when it comes to getting an engineering job.
But don’t think that foreign language and engineering are two separate disciplines here. We graduate truly international engineers. During your year abroad, you’ll take engineering and culture classes in your foreign language, and at URI you can take courses such as German for Engineers, Spanish for Business, or Advanced Technical Chinese. You can also join a living-learning community where conversations with exchange students from abroad occur in a foreign language as often as in English.
Sarah Wood ‘14, an ocean engineering and Chinese grad from Springfield, Ill., is proud to say that while she was a student at URI, she was writing ocean engineering papers in Chinese. “To hear a language and understand it without translating it in my head is unbelievable,” she said. Sarah, who interned at Hangzhou Risers and Pipelines, also says she feels as comfortable in China as she does in America.
Fluency in a foreign language has become the competitive edge for URI international engineering students when it comes to getting engineering jobs. “You actually become proficient in the language and do relevant work in the field, which is absolutely amazing to any employer. Companies WANT you because of your language skills and your engineering skills,” said Payam Fahr ’12, a mechanical engineering and German grad from Fairfax, Va. who interned at the BMW Research and Innovation Center in Munich, then got a master’s at URI. He’s now working in Germany for ZF, a leading driveline and chassis technology supplier with locations worldwide.
While you live and learn abroad, you’ll also participate in a wide array of cultural events. Jonathan Young ’15, a French and mechanical engineering major from Kitami, Japan, is interning at Toray Films Europe in France, on the heels of an internship for Toray in Quonset, R.I. “My colleagues gladly teach me both technical aspects of their work as well as cultural pleasantries and French ideals.”
Professor Sigrid Berka, who leads the program, sees a bright future for International Engineering at URI. She’s exploring the addition of Japanese, Arabic, or Portuguese to the program, and reaching out to high schools well beyond Rhode Island to recruit students from diverse cultural backgrounds.
“The value to globally operating companies is that our students can be used as cultural ambassadors between engineering cultures in America, France, Spain, Germany, China, Italy, and elsewhere.”
In November, Rhode Island voters will be asked to support Question 4, a $125 million bond referendum for a new engineering building and upgrades to classrooms and labs to match the outstanding caliber of teaching, research, and innovation of the URI College of Engineering.
Pictured: Sarah Wood ’14, while spending a year abroad in China