Engineering overseas study mixes education, culture

Contact: Bob Ratliff

Engineering with a "veddy" English accent is on the travel card for 15 Mississippi State University students.

The group of mostly senior engineering majors leaves July 3 for four weeks of classes in Great Britain and two weeks of independent travel in Europe as part of the MSU College of Engineering's Study Abroad Program.

Their first stop will be the University of Bristol, one of England's top engineering schools, according to college Dean Wayne Bennett.

"Bristol is located in the center of England's 'Silicon Valley' and our students will be exposed to both a high-tech industrial setting and a quality engineering education program," he said.

While living with host families, the MSU students will take courses for academic credit in the history of science and technology, as well as in computer-aided design and manufacturing. They will record their experiences in journals, which later will be entered in a writing competition sponsored by the college.

Chris Emplaincourt, an instructor of mechanical and industrial engineering, will serve as faculty leader for the group.

Initiated in 1997, the study-abroad experience is coordinated by electrical and computer engineering professor Roger King. Students in any of the college's engineering programs or computer science are eligible to participate.