Howard University's (HU) project entitled: Global Education, Awareness and Research Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP), is committed to establishing and sustaining student and faculty scholarly engagement throughout the world. The global education of this generation of engineering students is essential to meet the engineering challenges and make the world a more technologically advanced, connected and sustainable place to live. The Institute for International Education estimates that only 4.7% of engineering graduates have had a study abroad experience. For African American engineering graduates that number is even smaller.
This project addresses the challenge of preparing African American engineering students for global engagement and leadership. HU will create sustainable international research partnerships that will provide undergraduate research opportunities abroad and student exposure to engineering research in an international setting. The two overarching goals for this project are to 1) create sustainable international research partnerships that will provide undergraduate research opportunities abroad and student exposure to engineering research in an international setting to enhance the preparedness of engineering students to be globally engaged leaders upon graduation and 2) to contribute to the body of knowledge on strategically preparing underrepresented minorities for global engagement through scholarly publications.
This project will enhance the preparation of HU engineering graduates to be globally engaged leaders and will serve as a model for other institutions.
