An important aspect of engineering education in the 21st century must include the building of international awareness. A practical and highly impactful way for engineering institutions to foster this awareness is to provide international research programs and encourage students to take part in them, for experiences that are meaningful both academically and socially, and that will prove to be invaluable to them as working professionals. With the "flattening" of the world - or the increased competition in the global marketplace due to advancements in web technology - it is of great value for engineering students to learn about other cultures through collaborative educational interactions. One program to provide such an opportunity to engineering students is the summer research program. In such a program, students from universities in the United States can spend significant time working in research groups at foreign universities and students from other countries can spend time doing the same at a university in the U.S. An appropriate time for this activity would be in the summer after the junior year of study. With modest funding from industry and/or foundations, a summer research program can be established to provide meaningful international experience to a number of students.
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