Project Activities:
This project will provide the undergraduate students from TAMU, NCAT, and UNLV with a two-month long professional development experience (including 6-week long international research internship). Not only will this global research internship expose the students to global organization and culture, they will also learn the best practice research methodologies to solve real world industry problems. This experience will provide them with a unique competitive advantage compared to their peers when they enter the workforce or pursue higher education in engineering. Furthermore, students will receive “on the job” training on scientific research methods such as systematic literature review, data modeling, importance of professional ethics, and oral presentation and technical writing skills, which will help them to become a lifelong learner and an effective communicator. The overall program is divided into three phases as described below:
Phase 1: Pre-Malaysia Visit Activities:
Week 1: The students’ pre-visit project activities include learning about different global cultures, engineering research and problem-solving methodologies, and project management skills. A video seminar will be delivered to all participants on global cultures and global project teams with focus on Asian culture in general, and Malaysian culture in particular. Additionally, mentors will organize meetings with participants from their institutions on the same topics. Students will also conduct background research on the potential project problems and tools that students will use to complete their research projects. While each student will work on a specific project under a broader theme, all students will be asked to do a broader background research on the various tools and methodologies that can be used for completing their research project and to widen their knowledge. Students are also required to complete the necessary paperwork as per the University rules regarding foreign travel.
Phase 2: Activities at Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia:
Week 2: Students will spend week 2 in preparation for foreign travel and in actual travel from US to the IRES site in Malaysia.
Week 3: UTP will organize welcome and orientation events for the students. These events will also include the introduction of UTP site coordinator, faculty mentors, laboratory, and orientation to safety rules and ethical research policies. During this time, they will also need to take care of their housing, UTP ID card and other logistics that are essential to stay on UTP campus and work. Students will visit the location of project sponsoring company to observe their operations and other business processes and establish a direct contact with the contact person from company and other people for future interactions (if and when necessary). The visit will also include a brief presentation from the company and a Q&A session on the research problem or the company in general. This will help students improve and validate their understanding of the problem and proposed methodology.
Week 4-7: Student teams will spend 4 full weeks working on the project. During this period, students will meet with (and report to) their UTP mentor or project advisor regularly. The PIs will join these meetings remotely. As necessary, there may be additional trips or conference calls with sponsoring companies to clarify any questions or concerns that students may have on the project. This will be an opportunity for students to ask for any new or additional information they may need once they began working on the project. The goal is to complete the data analysis aspects of the project during these weeks. At the end of Week 7, students will make a final presentation to their UTP mentor and company executives on the key findings of the project.
Week 8: The students will spend first part of the week by visiting local cultural sites in Perak, Ipoh, and Kuala Lumpur. The students will be traveling back to the US towards the end of the week.
Phase 3: Post- Malaysia Visit Activities
Upon returning from the Malaysia trip, students will continue to work on their research project to finalize the analysis (in case there were any feedbacks during the final presentation) and prepare a final report for submission to industry representatives and faculty mentors. Student teams will collaborate via web technologies. Lastly, the IRES students will continue to work (beyond this project period) with their local advisors (PIs) and their UTP mentors to prepare a manuscript based on their research work for a conference proceeding or an appropriate journal.
| Project Phase/ Timeline* | Week | Activity | Lead Responsibility |
| Phase I: Pre-Malaysia visit
(June 1-June 21) |
1
|
· Orientation and overview of proposed International Internship Program
· Video seminar on global teams and importance of cultural aspects in project management · Seminar on international travel and safety protocols |
US PI team |
| · Initial discussion on the proposed project problem
· Preliminary research and problem statement formulation |
US PI team/
IRES site (UTP) coordinator/ mentors |
||
| Phase II: Malaysia visit
(June 24-August 5) |
2
|
· Preparation for Travel
· Travel to the IRES site location (UTP) in Malaysia |
US PI team |
| 3
|
· Orientations, students team formation, and project discussion
· Company visit /project planning · Begin project work/background research |
IRES site (UTP) coordinator and mentors | |
| 4-7
|
· Data collection and analysis
· Periodic project progress updates to UTP mentors and PI team (face-to-face and via Zoom as applicable) · Final project presentation to UTP mentors and industry representatives |
UTP mentors | |
| 8 | · Cultural tour in Malaysia
· Travel back to the U.S. |
IRES site coordinator/ US PI team | |
| Phase III: Post Malaysia visit (Aug 5- August 27) | 9-12 | · Student teams to work with their faculty mentors to prepare a technical report by incorporating any feedbacks they might have received during the presentation | US PI team/ UTP mentors
|
For this year, the planned departure date from the United States is June 24, 2022 and return date in the United States is August 7, 2022.