Summer Engineering Program In London

The University of Notre Dame offers a six-week summer program for its undergraduate engineering students in London, England. Students enroll in two technical elective courses for a total of six semester credit hours. The Program includes several required trips to significant technological facilities. Students not only gain academic credit but also the invaluable experience of living for a significant period of time in a culture different than their own. That cultural exposure may well have a greater long-term benefit to students' professional futures than the explicitly technical instruction they receive. Introduction Notre Dame's College of Engineering has offered a summer program in London, England since 1988. The objective is to offer the undergraduate engineering student an enriching educational experience in a foreign study environment. Students live and travel in a foreign culture while enrolled in two engineering courses, obtaining academic credit applicable to their degree requirements. The program is an intensive six -week session based in London, England. Each course meets for the same number of contact hours as an on-campus summer session course for the same number of credit hours. In addition a number of required field trips, one overnight, are integrated into the courses. Generally students have been Notre Dame undergraduate engineering student s in good standing, with an occasional student from another institution. Participation in the program allows engineering students to make progress to their intended degree while maturing as well educated members of contemporary society. Required field trips have varied from year to year. Students have visited engineering projects unique to the United Kingdom, including the Channel Tunnel excavation, the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing plant operated by British Nuclear Fuels, and the Thames Flood Barrier. We have also visited several industrial facilities, including IBM research and manufacturing facilities in Southern England, Astrium, Inmarsat, Accenture, and Brown and Root, Vickers, to observe and discuss the practice of engineering within the United Kingdom and the evolving European Community. These visits allow students to witness the technical interaction of United States and foreign owned companies, and the operation of United States owned companies in an international environment with local management. Early each summer the class attends a performance at the Regent's Park Open Air Theater. "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Twelfth Night," "The Taming of the Shrew, " and "Much Ado About Nothing" have, over the years, introduced students to available theater in London. Program evaluations, based on independent student exit interviews with either the Director of the University's London Undergraduate or London Law Program, have been conducted each year of the program. The evaluator prepares a detailed report of his interviews and conclusions. Over the years the Reports have been uniformly favorable. Rationale P ge 7.041.1 Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education The University and its officers have long considered foreign study opportunities a valuable aspect of a student's educational program. Prior to 1988 all Colleges of the University but Engineering provided a foreign study option for their students. Notre Dame has had success in conducting foreign study programs for its other Colleges in England, Ireland, France, Austria, Italy, Mexico, Chili, Japan, China, and the Middle East. In the 1999-2000 academic year, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 37 percent of Notre Dame students participated in study programs in other countries. This was the second-highest percentage among American research universities, according to a recent Institute of International Education report. Typical of United States universities, Notre Dame does not require a foreign language of its engineering students, thereby restricting engineering study abroad for most students to English speaking countries. Hence the choice of London, where the University already has an educational facility. (Recently an academic year program for engineers has begun in Australia.) The program recognizes a need to make engineering education more responsive to global technological progress and social concerns. Students in the program are exposed both to the unique technological achievements in the United Kingdom, and to the everyday life of the UK and other European countries. Today's engineering graduates increasingly practice their profession in an international environment. A 1987 National Academy of Engineering Report developed a strong case for a new level of international cooperation on technological issues and reported a growing need for US engineers to respond to the increasing quantity and quality of engineering activity abroad. In its recommendations the report called for making engineering education more responsive to worldwide progress and concerns. The United Kingdom, birthplace of the industrial revolution and a leading force in the European Economic Community, is a logical choice for the location of our engineering program. London, one of the world's great cities, has a long and interest ing history. The development and construction of London's public projects is a significant chapter in the history of technology. Thames River development projects, the Underground transportation network, bridges and the mammoth Thames Flood Barrier (often cited as the eighth wonder of the world) are historic milestones. It is an exciting home for the program. Economic changes in the European Community including the introduction of a common currency and the removal of trade barriers will affect industrial economies around the world. In their visits to industrial facilities, and from the daily press and television news, students acquire a unique perspective on this transition, which will have such a profound effect on their professional lives. Students based in London observe different national approaches to problems of the environment, economic competitiveness, and labor relations to mention but a few areas which will effect their professional futures. Location The program is based at the existing Not re Dame Centre just off Trafalgar Square. One classroom and two faculty offices are used. The existing Centre staff is utilized. During the summer the facility is shared with Notre Dame's Summer Law Program and a small Architecture program. The Notre D ame Centre is fully utilized during the academic year by a Masters of Law program, an MBA program and the Undergraduate program, which has included Engineering students since 1995. Students are housed in flats in the Bayswater (W2) area of London, adjacent to Kensington Gardens and some 2 1/2 miles from the classroom building. Some students elect to walk, most use the buses or trains of London Transport. Four or five students occupy each flat. Each flat has two bedrooms, kitchenette, living/dini ng area and private bath. Each is furnished with cooking utensils, incoming telephone and color television. The flats are managed and maintained by Vienna Hotels who provide a weekly cleaning and change of bed linen.