REU Site: Automotive Technologies at the Technische Universitaet Darmstadt and Virginia Tech

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

This three-year international REU Site program is focused on automotive technologies related to the fields of mechanical engineering, mechatronics, computer science, collaborative engineering, and their intersections. This program will leverage a strong, ongoing partnership between the Technische Universitat Darmstadt (TUD), Germany and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VT) that includes joint research, team-teaching courses, BSME senior-year abroad programs, and dual-BSME and dual-MSME degree programs, to provide the REU students with firsthand experience demonstrating the globalization of the engineering profession and the importance of collaborative engineering. The REU students will have the option to conduct research at VT one summer, and then continue this work at TUD the following summer. The primary purpose of this REU Site program is to provide students with the opportunity to practice global engineering research in an alternative, top-flight engineering culture. The secondary purpose is to enhance and broaden the interface of the transatlantic faculty and student collaborations as the mentoring research teams collaborate with their REU students engaged in joint transatlantic research projects, and as the REU students transition their research from VT one summer to TUD the subsequent summer. This REU Site program will encourage students to pursue graduate studies and possibly research careers in general and in particular by pursuing a dual-MS degree jointly offered by the TUD and VT. It will also provide US industry and government agencies with future employees that are internationally competitive, globally engaged, and comfortable with and experienced at operating overseas, and contribute data towards the development of a predictive model that best matches an individual student with the most effective mode of global exposure, for the benefit of future international REU programs.