Contact: Bob Ratliff
For 13 Mississippi State University engineering majors, summer school this year will be quite a commute.
The mostly senior students leave Starkville July 3 for four weeks of study in Great Britain and two weeks of independent travels in Europe. Their studies will take them first to the University of Bristol in England as part of the College of Engineering's Study Abroad Program.
"The University of Bristol is one of England's top engineering universities," said college Dean Wayne Bennett. "Because it is located in the center of the country's high-tech industrial corridor, our students will have the opportunity to gain a different perspective on how engineers are trained."
While in England, Bennett said the students will live with host families. "Speaking from experience, I think they will find living with their host family to be one of the most rewarding parts of the trip," he added.
Aerospace engineering associate professor Philip D. Bridges is accompanying the group.
All from Mississippi, the students will take courses for academic credit in the history of science and technology, as well as in computer-aided design and manufacturing.
Initiated in 1997, the study-abroad experience is coordinated by electrical and computer engineering professor Roger L. King, who accompanied the program's first group last year. Students in any of the college's engineering programs or computer science are eligible to participate.