URI hosting conference on engineering education

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island’s 17th annual colloquium on international engineering education will feature keynote presentations by Utah Senator Howard Stephenson, Hope Global President Cheryl Merchant and Lee Tablewski, director of the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund.

The Nov. 6-8 event at the Providence Omni Hotel will focus on the future of international engineering education.

“The colloquium unites leaders in education, business and policy providing common ground to talk about educating engineers for today’s global workplace,” Sigrid Berka, executive director of the URI International Engineering Program and organizer of the event, said in a statement.
“We’re showcasing several new frontiers this year, including a discussion of dual language immersion programs in K-12 education, and efforts to combine engineering with the social sciences and humanities,” Berka said.

Stephenson, a national expert on digital learning, will join Gregg Roberts, of the Utah Department of Education, to discuss their state’s model for language immersion in elementary and secondary schools, an initiative which the Rhode Island Roadmap to Language Excellence Initiative, led by Director Erin Papa, is championing in Rhode Island.
There also will be a conference on engaging with Latin America, featuring Tablewski, and a presentation about the importance of global engineers to the world’s economy by Merchant, who oversees worldwide manufacturing and distribution for her Cumberland-based textile company.

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Other sessions will focus on topics such as preparing students to go abroad, institutional internationalization strategies, engaging and assessing students while abroad, retaining students through short-term programs abroad and new frontiers in the STEM disciplines.

The conference is organized by the URI International Engineering Program and sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service, Hope Global, ZF Friedrichshafen, Deutsche Bahn, URI’s Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, the College of Engineering and the College of Arts & Sciences.

For information about registration and the conference agenda, visit http://web.uri.edu/iep/colloquium or contact Sigrid Berka at sberka@uri.edu or (401) 874-4700.

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