Reaching out to U.S. Engineering colleges
Reaching out to U.S. Engineering colleges
A three-day trip by a small delegation from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences (HSLU) has illustrated once more the strong push for internationalization in these institutions. Beat Mugglin, Vice-Dean Academic, and Uwe Schulz, responsible for international relations at the School of Engineering, visited six Engineering school in the Greater Boston Area to explore possibilities of partnerships at the undergraduate level. Representatives of the Suffolk University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Boston University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Olin College were impressed by the HSLU’s offer of English-taught Engineering programs, especially in the field of business engineering energy systems and sustainability. Similarly, U.S. Engineering colleges set ambitious goals to internationalize their campuses. For example, the provost of the Northeastern University, encourages 90% of its graduates to have had some international experience at the completion of their studies.
During those various meetings, a variety of collaboration models were explored and discussed, like traditional 1 to 1 undergraduate exchange programs either through Skype or by sending entire engineering classes to Switzerland for an entire semester. Since the HSLU, as well as the visited U.S. Engineering colleges, work closely with industry, the internationalization of co-op programs was an important topic, which is anticipated to gain further popularity in the future.
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| Dean Fred Driscoll showing the engineering labs of the Wentworth Institute of Technology. | Left to right: Uwe Schulz (HSLU), Vice-Provost Robert Lowndes (NEU), Beat Mugglin (HSLU. |
Hence, HSLU’s first outreach to Boston’s Engineering colleges was without a doubt successful and opened the door for creating new learning opportunities for its students. We are excited to support HSLU’s strategy of internationalization in Boston and are already looking forward to the next visitors from Lucerne!
