File: Stepping Outside the Box: Education of Global Engineers
Abstract: Learning to work effectively within the global context of today’s world requires both technicaland intercultural competency beyond what is gained in a traditional course of study. Globalengineers should possess cultural sensitivity and knowledge, as well as the interpersonal skills, toadapt within a variety of cultural contexts and with people that differ from their own experiences.A positive attribute of this intercultural literacy is that designs and solutions are no longer boundwithin the technical domain, but should be reflective of the engineer’s cultural understanding andinterpersonal competence. Working closely with the Dubai Contracting Company (DCC) and incollaboration with the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Syracuse University,the authors have successfully designed and implemented an innovative program to providestudents with distinctive skill sets to enhance their capacity as global civil engineers in real andpractical ways through university-industry partnerships and networks. The result is a uniqueprogram that engages American and Middle Eastern civil engineering students to work togetherin a summer internship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Dubai ContractingCompany (DCC). Through a combination of learning and discussion sessions at corporateheadquarters, hands-on experience on actual project sites, and visits to architectural/engineeringfirms and fabrication/machine shops, students learn the detailed workings of the contracting andconstruction industry in Dubai and the region. During this time, American and Middle Easternstudents also work collaboratively on team projects. By working, learning and living side-by-sidewith professionals and students from other countries and disciplines, lessons learned in the preinternshipseminars focusing on the history, geography, culture, political systems, traditions,languages and customs of the Middle East are reinforced. Thus, the program commendablyinculcates the skills and behaviors essential to global competency. Program evaluations showthat students are positively influenced by each component; the experience-based learning with anindustry partner and the cultural awareness seminars. In addition, the combination of bothcomponents unequivocally creates substantial growth in students, especially the myriad ofprofessional skills that go beyond technical expertise and are deemed so critical to professionalsuccess in a global world. This paper will discuss the program design, implementation,evaluation results and implications for engineering education and study abroad programs.
