IRES Track 1: Infrastructure Design for Sustainable Urban Communities

经济全球化正在改变工程专业的性质。随着全球企业在世界各地建立公司和研发中心，向海外派遣美国工程师已成为常见的商业做法。为了保持科学技术的领先地位和保持我国在工程领域的全球领导地位，我们必须培养我们的工程学毕业生，使其成为未来全球商业世界中富有成效的专业人员，并向他们提供与国际合作伙伴合作所需的技能。这个为期三年的IRES项目将通过在世界上增长最快的地区之一提供实践研究培训和文化体验，向美国工程学学生传授其中一些关键技能。这些学生将与美国和埃及的研究人员一起在埃及进行可持续城市设计这一日益重要的领域的研究。在埃及，对可持续住房和基础设施的需求尤其迫切，这个国家95%的人口仅占国土面积的6%。学生们将利用埃及目前正在进行的许多国家研究计划来调查和测试可持续的基础设施设计。参与者将在他们的国际经历之前、期间和之后接受美国和埃及研究人员的广泛指导，最终目标是进行高水平的研究，并准备研究论文发表在同行评议的期刊上。通过与国际导师的密切合作，学生们将提高他们的跨文化技能、外语能力和专业经验，为他们在跨国环境中脱颖而出做好准备。这个为期三年的IRES项目将在埃及提供大约30名本科生和研究生的研究培训和文化体验。这些学生将与美国导师和埃及研究人员在埃及领先的国家研究中心之一-国家住房和建筑研究中心-合作。该计划将聚焦于可持续城市社区基础设施设计这一多学科主题。埃及政府目前正在推动与可持续城市设计相关的重大研究倡议和示范项目，包括围绕可持续发展原则建造的全新城市。我们的学生将利用这些正在进行的项目来探索和评估考虑建筑材料、建筑方法、能源效率和节水的城市基础设施的新设计。与我们的埃及合作伙伴合作，研究人员确定了该计划第一年的八个研究项目，这些项目涉及可持续经济适用住房、可持续建筑规范评估、基础设施健康监测、可持续建筑材料、给水和雨水管理以及智能建筑设计。其他研究课题将在接下来的几年中开发。学生们将与埃及研究人员并肩工作，目标是进行高水平的研究，并制作学生主导的、同行评议的出版物。该计划最终将培养出具有从事国际合作研究事业所需的技能和国际视野的学生。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Economic globalization is transforming the nature of the engineering profession. The assignment of U.S. engineers overseas has become common business practice, as global enterprises establish corporate as well as research and development centers worldwide. To remain at the forefront of science and technology and to sustain our nation's global leadership in engineering, we must train our engineering graduates to be productive professionals in tomorrow's global business world and provide them the skills they will need to collaborate with international partners. This three-year IRES program will teach some of those critical skills to U.S. engineering students by providing hands-on research training and cultural experiences in one of the fastest growing regions in the world. The students will conduct research in Egypt with U.S. and Egyptian investigators in the increasingly important field of sustainable urban design. The need for sustainable housing and infrastructure is particularly acute in Egypt, a nation where 95% of the population lives on just 6% of the land area. Students will leverage the many national research initiatives currently underway in Egypt to investigate and test sustainable infrastructure designs. Participants will receive extensive mentoring before, during, and after their international experience from the U.S. and Egyptian researchers, with the ultimate goal of conducting high-level research and preparing research papers for publication in peer-reviewed journals. By working closely with their international mentors, the students will enhance their cross-cultural skills, foreign language abilities, and professional experience, preparing them to excel in a multinational environment.This three-year IRES project will provide approximately 30 undergraduate and graduate engineering students research training and cultural experiences in Egypt. The students will work with U.S. mentors and Egyptian researchers at one of the leading national research centers in Egypt, the National Housing and Building Research Center. The program will focus on the multidisciplinary theme of Infrastructure Design for Sustainable Urban Communities. The Egyptian government is currently pressing major research initiatives and demonstration projects related to sustainable urban design, including entire new cities built around sustainability principles. Our students will leverage these ongoing programs to explore and evaluate new designs for urban infrastructure that consider building materials, construction methods, energy efficiency, and water conservation. Working with our Egyptian partners, the researchers have identified eight research projects for the first year of the program that address the topics of sustainable affordable housing, the assessment of sustainable building codes, infrastructure health monitoring, sustainable building materials, water and stormwater management, and intelligent building designs. Additional research topics will be developed in subsequent years. Students will work side-by-side with Egyptian researchers with the goal of performing high-level research and producing student-led, peer-reviewed publications. The program will ultimately produce students who have the skills and international perspective necessary to pursue careers in collaborative international research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.