Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday!

As the events of this past year highlight, understanding global challenges requires global perspectives. Better said, leveraging global opportunities demands understanding of the intertwined global systems and, incidentally, “thinking globally but acting locally” no longer works. Fortunately, today, more than ever before, there are ample opportunities to engage with the broader world, rather than to remain ensnared by our own localized perspectives. 

Here at S&T, our Global Engineering Program (GEP) is designed for students who want to “combine their passion for engineering with language, culture and international experience.” Our five-year GEP program offers a unique opportunity to earn two degrees simultaneously: a B.S. in any engineering field, and a B.A. in multidisciplinary studies. Along the way, our participating students will spend a year of combined study and internship, a semester each, in a host country. S&T’s GEP “blends language and cultural immersion with a robust engineering curriculum and a semester-long professional internship abroad, creating a powerful pathway for globally minded engineers,” says Alejandra Sobrado, our director of the Global Engineering Program. 

By any account, our Global Engineering Program offers an extraordinary and enriching experience. Currently, agreements are in progress with three European universities: Technische Universität Darmstadtin Germany, Université de Technologie de Compiègne in France, and Universidad de Cantabria in Spain. Additionally, an agreement is in final stages with the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso in Chile.

All partner universities provide structured opportunities for students to be matched with in-country multinational companies for internship placements. Depending on the institution, each university maintains between 50 and 90 active corporate agreements, significantly expanding the global professional opportunities available to S&T engineering students.

Another popular perspective-broadening opportunity is our study abroad program. The program encourages our students to take classes aligned with their interests and major abroad. More than 200 study abroad opportunities are available for our students to get out of their comfort zone and broaden their perspectives. Additionally, many study abroad scholarships are available to our students who are eligible to participate.

Regardless of your past or perspective, expanding your experiences by seeing and experiencing the unfamiliar world will pay dividends in ways unimaginable. Believe me — I know! I have changed continents, cultures and languages, and, in the process, have gained enriching perspectives, enlightening paradigms and deeper understanding of the broader world. You will, too, but first you must be willing to “lose sight of the [familiar] shores.”

So, to our students I say go get lost in the unknown, explore the unfamiliar, and see experience the world. You will become enlightened with the “gift” that you will receive. And all along the journey, you will find the experience to be the unopened gift that you had always wanted.

Warmly,

-Mo.
 
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Check out the latest news from S&T:

• Organ-on-a-chip: S&T researchers develop 3D printing method for tissue engineering
• Curators approve new degrees in data science
• Missouri S&T wins four awards from CASE

Mohammad Dehghani, PhD
Chancellor
mo@mst.edu | 573-341-4116

206 Parker Hall, 300 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409-0910
chancellor.mst.edu