New pilot program will allow Chinese students to earn master's degree in engineering
A new pilot program will allow students from Tongji (Tong-gee) University in Shanghai, China to study and earn master's degrees in engineering at Wayne State University.
The memorandum of understanding, signed by WSU President Irvin D. Reid and Tongji University President Gang Wan on a recent trip to China by a WSU delegation, may result in 200 new Chinese students a year enrolled at the WSU College of Engineering by 2011.
"The College of Engineering sees a new mission, and an opportunity unlike any challenge we have faced before," said Ralph Kummler, dean of the WSU College of Engineering. "Our challenge is to participate in the new global engineering environment. While previously, our graduates typically entered Michigan industry, now they will be entering the global market."
According to the agreement, after completing 12 credits of graduate coursework at Tongji, Chinese students may transfer those credits to Wayne State and take 20 additional credits to complete master's degrees in industrial and manufacturing, civil and environmental, mechanical, and electrical and computer engineering.
"The Chinese students are very excited about this opportunity," Kummler said. "The United States is still the number one choice for graduate engineering education abroad. And their faculties are just as enthusiastic."
The agreement fosters other collaborative activities such as the exchange of faculty and research scholars and development of joint scientific and/or technological research and meetings.
In addition to the agreement with Tongji, members of Wayne State's delegation met with representatives of Fudan University in Shanghai, Tsinghua (Ching-wah) University and the Beijing University of Technology to explore other collaborative programs.
Wayne State's global forays have fostered a healthy international student population at the campus where all students benefit from the engagement, said Reid. "As we initiate these joint programs, access to our own students and faculty will expand significantly. These programs will help prepare our students for careers in an increasingly interconnected world."
Historically, the WSU College of Engineering faculty has had outstanding relationships with their colleagues at Chinese universities. Their relationships have provided opportunities for outstanding PhD students to work with Wayne State engineering faculty and earn their degrees. These students have gone on to conduct successful careers in academia and industry in both the United States and China.
Economic trends over the past decade have developed as a backdrop to the Tongji/WSU agreement. "As our U.S. partner industries take their manufacturing, engineering and research global, with emphasis on China in the automotive sector, they are generating a tremendous workforce need," Kummler said. "And the need for engineers outstrips the ability of China's universities to produce engineers."