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Engineering DesignSummers by Design:France Industry Tourin the spotlight…First-year engineering students took the stage as they performed their skits—completewith technical, highly engineered special effects—as part of EDSGN 100H, the honorsintroduction to engineering design. For their final project for the course, the studentswere required to design and build interactive props for their performances.The performances featured scenes from Harry Potter, Matilda, Mary Poppins, Castaway,and an original screenplay about Zombies. Special effects included a self-scribing piece ofchalk, easy-to-shatter pottery, a bottomless carpet bag, a stormy airline flight, and a selfrockingchair.Formerly taught by Engineering Design Professor Richard Devon, the course will continueto be taught by Assistant Professor Cari Bryant Arnold.In May 2009, seven honors students from the fall offering ofEDSGN 100H Honors Introduction to Engineering Designwent on the tenth annual—and final—France Industry Tour(FIT) with the Institut Universitaire de Technologie (IUT),Université d’Artois, in Béthune, France.Since it was established in May 2000 by Richard Devon, theFIT has sent about ten students each year from the precedingfall offering of EDSGN 100H. In the class at Penn State,students formed cross-national teams with their peers atIUT, doing projects provided by companies in France andthe U.S. and placing students at both universities in directcontact with each other. Once the Penn State students arrivedin France, they met their French teammates and touredindustries in and around Béthune. Sven Bilén, RichardDevon, and Jean Landa Pytel took turns traveling with thestudents and teaching classes at the IUT.The FIT students were hosted by the IUT Béthune. Thestudents were supported each year with travel grants fromthe Schreyer Honors College, and non-honors students weresupported by the College of Engineering. For seven yearsthrough the umbrella program Alliance by Design, Alcoasupported some of these students (and many other studentsin other countries) to stay for summer internships that werearranged by the IUT.Following their week-long stay in Béthune, the Penn Statestudents ended their trip with a weekend in Paris at their ownexpense. Most of the students continued touring France andEurope for one or two weeks after the program, resulting in arich and inexpensive global experience.Instead of taking the FIT this summer, the fall EDSGN100H class at University Park has formed a new collaborationwith the Technological Campus of the University of Navarrabilingual engineering school in San Sebastian, Spain.An early-summer design course is being established for2010, with Cari Bryant Arnold leading the program andaccompanying students on the trip.As it has been done in previous years, students in the springEDSGN 100H class will again travel to Singapore to meetwith their peers at the National University of Singapore.Matthew Parkinson oversees the program.A similar, but non-honors, program is planned to takestudents to École Centrale de Nantes in Nantes, France, insummer 2010.In their own words…Students react to the France Industry TourIt was a great opportunity that took me to a country and a culture that Iprobably never would have gotten the chance to experience otherwise.The tour offered something for pretty much every branch of engineeringand was presented in a fun and informative way. My favorite tours wereArcelorMittal, the acoustics building, and the PVC plant because theyoffered in-depth and informative guides and tours. Meeting the Frenchstudents that we collaborate with was also exciting and stimulated new andlasting friendships. I am still in contact with my French friend to this day.Additionally, the students that I went over with have become closer friendsthan they were in class. This trip was through and through a great andeducational experience.—Ryan Lani, sophomore, Biomedical Engineering, FIT 2009Photos by Richard Devon, Ryan Lani, and Meghan Trahey.France was an eye-opening experience. I had never been to Europe before.I was lucky enough to get to see the smaller aspects—Béthune—and thelarger ones—Paris. The industry tour was full of variety, from Herta toArcelorMittal. This trip gave me a unique perspective on a culture differentfrom the United States. This was a fabulous experience. I am so glad to havebeen given this wonderful opportunity. I definitely would do it again. Il étaitmagnifique!—Meghan Trahey, sophomore, Civil Engineering, FIT 200918 | SEDTAPP NEWS | SPRING 2010SPriNg 2010 | SEDTAPP NEwS | 19