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A Case Study Assessing Program Outcomes of an International Research Collaboration between the US and Germany: Developing Students as Global Engineers

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Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

AERO 2: Innovative Pedagogy and Hands-on Learning 1

Tagged Division

Aerospace Division (AERO)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

10

DOI

10.18260/1-2--42353

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/42353

Download Count

175

Paper Authors

biography

Zachary Stein Embry Riddle Aeronautical University

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Zachary Stein is a graduate student currently pursuing a PhD in Aerospace Engineering under Dr. Seetha Raghavan with an interest in aerospace materials research focusing on sand degradation of high temperature ceramic coatings from sand and volcanic ash infiltration.

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Bonnie Swan University of Central Florida (Program Evaluation and Educational Research)

biography

Seetha Raghavan Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-5389-9417

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Dr. Raghavan serves as a Professor and Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. Her research interests are in the areas of Mechanics of aerospace structures and materials. She joined UCF in Fall 2008 after completing her doctoral studies at Purdue University, Indiana, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics in the area of Structures & Materials. She obtained her M.S., Aeronautical Engineering in Structures at ISAE-SUPAERO, Toulouse, France where she also worked with Messier Bugatti in Velizy, Paris (S-92 wheels and brakes testing). Prior to this, she completed her B.Eng in Mechanical Engineering at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She has 7 years of employment experience in the aerospace industry where she was a senior engineer involved in Aircraft Structural Analysis (F-5), Aircraft Maintenance, Repair & Modifications and Non-destructive testing research & development. She is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and was honored nationally by Women in Aerospace with the 2019 Aerospace Educator Award.

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Abstract

An International research collaboration between researchers in US and Germany was conceived to provide teams of graduate and undergraduate students in the US, the opportunity to conduct collaborative research with scientists from the Germany, both in the US and in Germany. The program takes place over a period of two academic semesters and involves extensive pre-trip preparations, ten weeks conducting research internationally in various areas of Aerospace research, and the option for research continuation upon return. Outside of research, the students promote international engineering through outreach. This work reports a case study on the technical, professional, and global impacts of this unique program and assessment of the program itself. Experiences gained at both their home and partner institutions improved the students’ research, professional, and global skills measured through publication outcomes, surveys, and propensity for pursuing higher degrees. Upon completion of the program, students were found to be influenced by their experiences to pursue higher degrees than originally intended. The students also perceived that the program had helped in improving their technical, professional, and global skills as engineers. Based on the survey results and the students’ final reports it was observed that these improvements were attributed by leveraging world-class facilities and scientific mentorship in both countries. It was also found that formalizing extensive pre-trip activities prior to research abroad improved participant outcomes. The findings support the conclusion that exposing undergraduate and graduate students to the challenges of an international research environment has impacts that carry on to the future workplace.

Stein, Z., & Swan, B., & Raghavan, S. (2023, June), A Case Study Assessing Program Outcomes of an International Research Collaboration between the US and Germany: Developing Students as Global Engineers Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42353

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