News Release

Study abroad course sees global engineering in action

Sixteen students, accompanied by faculty advisors Dr. Robert Todd and Dr. Chris Mattson, just returned from touring 10 countries in 25 days, as part of the Global Product Development course, offered as a Spring Study Abroad for ME students. The course prepares students to be leaders in global product development. Through study and on-site visits, students saw how companies manage international product development and the challenges and opportunities associated with globalization. “It really opened my eyes to the impact of Global Engineering,” Garret Barnum said, an ME graduate student. “I was interested in taking the course because it gave me a chance to learn about living abroad while working in engineering.”

In addition to experiencing cultural and historical sites like the British Museum of Science and Industry, Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland, and the Eiffel Tower, the team also got a chance to meet with engineering departments at several international universities. The tour included the Budapest University of Technology and Economics and Compiègne University in France—bringing the total to 21 industrial visits, 4 university visits, and 17 cultural stops.

Students were taken inside production facilities and technical centers for leading companies like Delphi Automotive Systems, Goodyear, Corning, Proctor & Gamble, and Alcoa, where they had a chance to see technical procedures in process and to ask questions related to team management, design processes and practices, and teamwork related to their specific field of interest.

Levi Haupt, a grad student and TA for the class said, “The most valuable aspect for me was seeing the design theory taught here at BYU in real practice. Every company we visited showed us how the theories we have been studying in the ME program have been successfully implemented in their company.” The Global Product Development Study Abroad will continue in the future and is open to sophomores through graduate students, and provides an excellent opportunity for Capstone students to supplement their design experience.