• INSTITUTE LINKS >>   
• CAMPUS MAP
• DIRECTORIES
• SEARCH GT:

Where in the World is COE -- Georgia Tech's Engineering Programs Span the Globe

Georgia Tech Lorraine in Metz, France

Spin a globe and pick a country. Chances are you will find an opportunity to study engineering under a partnership between Georgia Tech and a host institution in cities across the world. From full degree programs to a semester of study abroad, COE students are provided with opportunities to enrich their education with a global perspective in emerging technological areas of the world.

“The ability for the College of Engineering to offer coursework on an international level helps our students gain a cross-cultural understanding as well as allows them to obtain a global perspective that will serve them well as they enter the workforce after graduation,” said Don Giddens, Dean of Engineering.

For some students, their degrees will be from Georgia Tech but their coursework will take place in a foreign country. For almost twenty years, the College of Engineering has had a presence in Europe with Georgia Tech Lorraine (GTL) in Metz, France. Opened in October 1990, GTL offers graduate programs where students can completely fulfill degree requirements toward the Master of Science degree in the areas of electrical and computer engineering as well as mechanical engineering and they can partially fulfill requirements for the Ph.D. degree. The Georgia Tech Lorraine Undergraduate Engineering Program offers undergraduates a chance to study computer science, electrical and computer engineering, and mechanical engineering.

From Metz travel to Singapore and the Dual Master’s Program in Logistics and Supply Chain Management which is a collaboration between the National University of Singapore (NUS) and COE’s School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE) and the Logistics Institute. The program is the first of its kind to be offered in Singapore and gives students an educational experience oriented towards distribution and packaging in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region. Faculty from NUS, as well as ISyE faculty from Tech, provide top academic support, and students in the program intern at a corporate sponsor for four to six months in order to enhance their knowledge of regional and global issues.

COE students can also choose to explore global engineering issues by taking a semester of coursework through the Georgia Tech Studies Abroad program. Want to study Materials Science Engineering in Korea? At the Korea Advanced Institute of Science Technology (KAIST), Tech students can spend 20 weeks in Daejeon, the fifth largest city in South Korea. Students also have an option of staying a second semester to conduct research in a KAIST laboratory or in industry.

At the Bilkent Universitesi in Ankara, Turkey, a student can study electrical engineering for a semester, or biomedical engineering in Australia, or even mechanical engineering in Chile. The immersion into a foreign academic and cultural environment helps students gain an international perspective that many companies look forward when hiring in the worldwide business environment in which they operate.

COE students also have the option of adding an International Plan degree designation to their studies at Tech. The International Plan is integrated into the student’s major and students take international economics coursework, become proficient in a second language, and must complete a two-term period, 26 weeks, of international experience combining study abroad, international internship, or research.

For engineering students at Tech, these opportunities to obtain a degree or study in another country help prepare them for a global environment while also allowing COE faculty to engage in global research partnerships and opportunities.

Faculty from Civil and Environmental Engineering already work closely in East Africa and India on water resource research in an effort to bring about equitable and sustainable use of water resources. Researchers with Electrical and Computer Engineering are actively working with French high-tech companies to help facilitate their economic development and involvement into France and U.S. markets. Faculty in the Industrial and Systems Engineering through its Supply Chain and Logistics Institute are currently in China working with the government and industries to help transportation, infrastructure, warehousing, and distributions practices in the country.

“While students certainly reap the benefits of studying in a foreign country, our engineering faculty benefit as well with collaborative ties across the globe,” said Giddens. “Many of our faculty are already engaged in research activities with their counterparts in other countries and they continue to seek opportunities to expand those connections in an effort advance their research work.”