A Model International Engineering Exchange Program: MSU/RWTH-Aachen, and Kaiserslautern

该项目支持一个为期三年的计划。这一计划可能会成为美国国家科学基金会(NSF)考虑的未来计划的样板。该项目包括密歇根州立大学(MSU)机械工程和化学工程系与德国亚琛的工业大学(RWTH)和德国凯泽斯劳滕大学(德国凯泽斯劳滕大学)之间的本科和研究生水平的国际工程交流和研究项目。该项目支持国家科学基金会内的国际工程交流计划--加强NSF在机械和化学工程方向的努力。这个项目代表着一个投资升级现有项目的机会，该项目在教学和研究部分之间取得了异常强劲的平衡，超越了传统的仅限研究或仅限教学的交流项目。NSF为一个分三个阶段的计划提供支持。第一阶段涉及加强现有课程的本科生部分。第二阶段鼓励并涉及短期合作研究项目，这些项目将探索和发展长期、深入的合作研究项目的基础，涉及密歇根州立大学和亚琛和凯泽斯劳滕的教职员工。成功的第二阶段项目将被用作提交第三阶段资助的定期研究建议的基础，这将支持多年的全面合作研究项目。预计德国各学院也将为这些努力寻求当地资金来源的适当支持。作为该项目的补充部分，该项目将为密歇根州立大学德语授课的几门工程课程的开发和实施提供部分支持，并为管理和进一步发展该项目提供部分教职员工支持。

This project supports a three year program. This program may serve as a model for future programs to be considered by the National Science Foundation (NSF). This project includes a of undergraduate and graduate level international engineering exchange and research program between the Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering Departments at Michigan State University (MSU) and the technical universities (Rheinisch Westfalische Hochschule (RWTH) in Aachen, Germany and the University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germay. The project supports an international engineering exchange program within the National Science Foundation- enhancing NSF efforts in the direction of mechanical and chemical engineering. This project represents an opportunity to invest in the up-grading of an established program with an unusually strong balance between instruction and research components that goes beyond the traditional research-only or intstuction- only exchange programs. NSF support is provided for a three-phase program. Phase I involves strengthening the undergraduate component of an existing program. Phase II encourages and involves short term collaborative research projects which will explore and develop the bases for long-term, in-depth collaborative research projects involving MSU and faculty at Aachen and Kaiserslautern. Successful Phase II projects will be used as the basis for submitting regular research proposals for Phase III funding which will support multi-year, full-scale collaborative research projects. It is anticipated that German academies will also seek appropriate support from their indigenous funding sources for these efforts. In a supplementary portion of this project, the program will provide partial support for initiating the development and implementation of a few engineering courses taught in German at Michigan State University, and some faculty support to administration and further develop this program.