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International Programs Going Strong
10 | cuaengineer
Dean Nguyen and Nam Tran, Ph.D., president of Danang University of Technology, at the signing ceremony.
Dean Nguyen and faculty and staff of Danang University of Technology.
The School of Engineering’s international programs
with foreign universities continue to strengthen.
Four students entered CUA’s 2+2 program established
with the International University of the
Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City. In
this group, Trang Dinh earned a Bachelor of Electrical
Engineering in May 2009, two students are
expected to graduate in October 2009 and one
student is a rising senior. The cumulative grade
point averages of the IU students at the conclusion
of the spring 2009 semester range from 3.589 to
3.977; all have been on the dean’s list since joining
CUA and all have also been accepted to the
accelerated bachelor’s/master’s degree program
at the school. Trang Dinh plans to pursue her
doctoral degree in electrical engineering at CUA
while serving as a research assistant with Ozlem
Kilic, Ph.D., assistant professor of electrical
engineering and computer science.
In the student exchange program with the
Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), the
school welcomed eight students from PolyU to
CUA during the spring 2009 semester. The dean
promoted the exchange program to sophomores
at CUA in November 2008 and as a result four to
five CUA students are expected to travel to Hong
Kong PolyU during the 2009–2010 academic year.
In June 2008, Dean Nguyen and Uyen Nguyen,
Ph.D., director of international programs in Asia,
visited the Danang University of Technology (DUT)
in Danang, Vietnam, where they signed a memorandum
of understanding (MOU) to explore research
and educational collaboration. In January 2009,
the CUA delegation returned to Danang and
signed an agreement for the 2+2 program with
DUT. Also during the trip, the dean and the director
attended the “Conference of Higher Education in
Vietnam: American-Vietnamese Partnerships,” in
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, organized by the U.S.
Embassy in Vietnam. There they met numerous
administrators and professors of Vietnamese universities
as well as those from American universities
that have academic programs in Vietnam.
The dean also visited with the rector and administrators
of the College of Engineering of the
Vietnam National University to discuss potential
collaboration. As a result of this visit, an agreement
for the 2+2 program was signed between
the college and the School of Engineering.
Dean Nguyen welcomed officials of several
universities from around the world to the School
of Engineering over the last year. In June 2008,
Rosa Marina Meyer, Ph.D., associate vice-president
of Pontificia Universidade Catolica of Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, visited CUA and signed an MOU
with the School of Engineering. During the 2008
NAFSA Annual Conference & Expo held in Washington,
D.C., representatives of foreign universities
visited the CUA campus through an event sponsored
by the CUA Center for Global Education.
Among the visitors, representatives from Korea,
universities showed special interest in collaborating
with CUA. Two officials from Korea University
visited the School of Engineering and met with
Dean Nguyen and the department chairs. In July
2008, a delegation from Danang University of
Technology and University of Danang comprising
several vice presidents, deans and program
directors visited the School of Engineering to
learn about the administration of an American
university. Dean Nguyen and several CUA program
chairs gave presentations about financial
planning, program development, accreditation
and more. The delegation visited the facilities of
the School of Engineering and chatted with CUA
Provost James Brennan, Ph.D. In January 2009,
Phong Thanh Ho, Ph.D., president of the International
University-Vietnam National University-Ho
Chi Minh City visited Dean Nguyen and the 2+2
program students from this school studying
at CUA.