Building Global Citizenry through International Experiences
The College of Engineering and Computer Science is excited to provide multiple opportunities for undergraduate students to engage in international experiences including full semester study abroad, internships, and prestigious awards. Across these various pathways, a diverse student body will be able to find a program that fits their academic and career interests, gain cultural competency in an immersive setting, and be prepared to participate in a globalized economy as global citizen.
UCF Barcelona Center – CES
Summer 2025 – Spain
Overview
The College of Engineering & Computer Science is thrilled to offer COP2500C at the UCF Barcelona Center in summer 2024. A new proposal for summer 2025 will be submitted to continue offering CECS coursework at UCF’s Global Campus. Check back later for updates.
International Research Experiences for Students (IRES)
Summer 2025 – South Korea
Overview
Our IRES site program aims at providing frontier research experiences in the development of low-dimensional materials for transducers (LDM4T) at university laboratories in Korea. Our site activities are structured to provide interdisciplinary research experiences in a global setting so students can contextualize research findings in real-world applications.
Program Highlights
- Enjoy vibrant cultural scenes, rich history, and stunningly beautiful nature while visiting Korea.
- 8-week long international summer research experiences (June – July, 2025)
- Competitive stipend, travel and housing support
Who Should Apply?
- U.S. citizens or permanent residents
- Juniors or Seniors majoring in Materials Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering or Graduate Students in a relevant discipline
- Minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA
- Students interested in research and planning to attend graduate school
More information and application link can be found here: https://mems.cecs.ucf.edu/?page_id=287
Interested in applying, have questions?
- Nicholas Schenk (Nicholas.Schenk@ucf.edu)
- Program Lead: Dr. Cho (hjcho@ucf.edu)
International Engineering Program Manager
Nicholas Schenk
Mr. Nicholas Schenk manages the International Engineering programming for the College of Engineering & Computer Science. Schenk joined CECS in June 2022 having previously served as the Head of Undergraduate Advising Services for the School of Politics, Security & International Affairs at UCF. He has supported students engaging in international education for over a decade, and successfully mentored students applying for nationally competitive prestigious awards.
Prepare for a Global Economy
In our increasingly global economy, it becomes essential that the US engineering and technical workforce clearly understand how engineering is done in other countries. This includes knowledge of and about international standards, overseas markets and the engineering cultures of other countries that give rise to those standards and responds to these markets. Global corporations such as Boeing, Ford, Toyota, Siemens, Sony, Hitachi, GM, IBM, GE, Microsoft and many others boast engineering and technology workforces that operate on an international scope. They have research laboratories, engineering design centers, manufacturing facilities and sales offices all over the world. Advances in communications have helped companies work multinationally, with teams of engineers around the world working together to design and manufacture products.
Such a global economy means that engineering and technology education must provide students with the tools and experience to compete and work in an international market. Although the equations of motion, Ohm’s Law and software tools work the same whether in China, Germany, Brazil or the USA, the cultural differences in the engineering work place are much different. The International Engineering Program at the College of Engineering and Computer Science at UCF addresses these issues by exposing the interested students to different cultures and languages – professional, technical as well as social. These provide an insight into how engineering is performed abroad and what ramifications that has on the US economy.
