International Technical Service Immersions: Model For Developing Global Scientists And Engineers In Small To Mid Size Universities

The University of Dayton (UD) Engineers in Technical Humanitarian Opportunities of Service-learning (ETHOS) program is working to further develop the international technical immersion program such that it can serve as a model that can be easily adopted by peer institutions (small to mid-size colleges and universities). The ETHOS immersions are ten to sixteen weeks long, during which students work with collaborating organizations to assist in finding appropriate, and effective solutions to technical challenges. Students use their engineering skills to address real problems, while gaining a better understanding of the interface between technology and global society. Academic credit is incorporated into these immersions with technical reporting, reflections and presentations delivered upon completion of the program. Pre-immersion course work includes research and engineering fundamentals, cultural immersion, language development, and ethical engineering practices. Feedback provided by students, collaborating agencies and other institutions have indicated that the current program does a very good job of preparing the students for their immersions and helping the students to become global engineers. Although there are many well established international technical opportunities and programs that can be easily adopted by universities, it is often difficult, due to a lack of resources, to establish these programs at smaller universities. This paper will describe the ETHOS program and discuss the mechanics and resources used to facilitate this program. Additionally, this paper will discuss plans for intercollegiate collaboration through this program which will facilitate the sharing of information and resources Background: The turn of the century brought with it a paradigm shift in engineering education. The commonly employed lecture based pedagogy of the 20 century is being replaced by various experiential teaching strategies. Part of the motivation for this change in pedagogy is in response to the changing needs of today’s students. Many of the engineering students today have very little hands-on engineering experience and have been trained to learn differently as a result of multi media and other technology. Another motivator for the change in pedagogy is associated with a change in the engineering profession. Engineers today need not only be technically sound, but also have good communication, leadership and business skills. Furthermore, globalization in industry makes international experience an important, but often difficult to implement part of the engineering curriculum. 2 Experiential learning can be implemented into the engineering curriculum in a variety of ways including co-ops, internships, project and problem based learning, laboratory experiences and service-learning. However, integration of international experience into an already packed engineering curriculum can be a little more difficult to attain. Study abroad, international internships and co-ops and international service-learning represent some of the ways in which engineering academia has provided international experiences for some of its students. Although all of these international experiences have been found to be beneficial in better preparing students for the global market place, students participating in international service-learning not only get the benefits associated from international experience, but also the benefits associated from participating in service-learning. Service-learning is the integration of service projects into the engineering curriculum that help to develop fundamental engineering skills through experiential learning while meeting the needs of a service-organization or a particular community. Service-learning has three basic components: “course” structure, community service and structured reflection. Many papers have been written that summarize the benefits of service-learning in engineering . 5, 8, 11-18 Some of the key benefits that have been identified in these papers include helping students to develop technical and non-technical skills, enhancing the students’ problem solving skills, creativity and ability to adapt to difficult situations, helping students to make connections between classes and to develop racial and cultural sensitivity, enhancing the students’ commitment to civic responsibility and increasing their ethical awareness and awareness of the impact of professional decisions on society and the environment. When service-learning is combined with international experience, students are able to develop fundamental engineering skills, foreign language skills, an increased cultural awareness and a global sense of civic responsibility. Furthermore, international service-learning experiences have changed the participants’ understanding of the philosophy of engineers in society and in the world. 5, 8, 11, 16, 19-21 Many universities have realized the benefit of international service-learning in engineering. A variety of different approaches have been employed to facilitate these experiences. The Engineers for Community Service (ECoS) program at The Ohio State University includes both local service-learning opportunities as well as international servicelearning in a variety of countries. 22 Marquette University’s College of Engineering offers the Health, Environment and Infrastructure in Latin America (HEILA) course where engineering students learn about the history, culture, and politics of Latin America, explore the importance of their major as related to international development, and then participate in a twelve day service trip to a country in Latin America or engage in a service project in the Latino community of Milwaukee . 23 The School of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell offers the Service Learning Integrated College of Engineering Program (SLICE) that includes both local and international service-learning projects. The international service-learning projects facilitated through the SLICE program are fully integrated into existing courses in a variety of engineering and non-engineering courses available for students at all stages of their academic career. 24 The Picker Engineering Program at Smith College recently started offering a course entitled Engineering and Global Development which integrates engineering fundamentals and liberal arts with international service. There are a variety of other international technical service programs and courses that exist at many universities. One of the most widely known programs that provides international service-learning opportunities to engineering students and service opportunities for engineering professionals is Engineers Without Borders (EWB). This program which was started in 2001 at Colorado University Boulder has realized explosive growth over the past six years. EWB has student and professional chapters at numerous universities and in many communities both in the United States and World Wide . All of the aforementioned programs are well established and varied and beneficial experiences to engineering students. At the University of Dayton (UD), international engineering service-learning is provided through the student developed Engineers in Technical Humanitarian Opportunities for ServiceLearning (ETHOS) . this program was developed within the identity of Catholic Marianist University and was built upon the core principles of the Marianist educational philosophy which includes educating for formation in faith; providing an integral, quality education; educating in the family spirit; educating for service, justice, and peace and educating for adaptation and change. As such, it offers another unique opportunity for undergraduate students which could likely be reproduced at other similarly sized universities. The ETHOS program at The University of Dayton: The University of Dayton (UD) is a Roman Catholic University founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary (Marianists) . The University of Dayton is committed to educating the whole person and providing a transformative educational experience to its students. It has an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 7,000 undergraduate students and is ranked as one of the ten best Catholic universities in the United States. In alignment with its Marianist heritage, UD is committed to service and social justice and to fostering leadership in its students through service. The UD School of Engineering (UD SoE) offers six ABET-accredited undergraduate programs including Mechanical and Aerospace, Civil and Environmental, Electrical, Computer, Chemical and Technology . 26 Although service-learning is incorporated into numerous engineering courses, further international service-learning opportunities are made available to engineering students and students from related disciplines (geology, physics, etc.) through the ETHOS Program. The ETHOS program was developed in the spring of 2001 by an interdisciplinary group of undergraduate engineering students as a UD SoE sponsored capstone design project. Many of the students on the team that designed the ETHOS program had participated in international service through UD’s Center for Social Concern. Although these experiences were very rewarding, the service projects the students participated in did not directly make use of their engineering skills. Furthermore, while participating in these service projects, the students identified many needs that could be addressed through engineering solutions. The students spent two semesters researching and designing the program, making initial contacts with potential placement partners and assessing the feasibility of the program from a university administration perspective. Today the program remains a student led effort with support and assistance from various faculty members and the SoE service-learning director. The program continues to grow in scope and in size, but the structure of the program and mission established