Developing International Education and Research

Partnerships

Jim Nelson, PhD, Brigham Young UniversityJoshua B. Draper, Graduate Student, Brigham Young University

Engineer of 21st Century

• Technically Competent

• Globally Aware

• Culturally Sensitive

• Teamwork

• Leadership

Responsibilities as Educators?

• Maintain Technical Excellence

• Collaborative Learning

• Alliances with Industry

• Distance/Remote Learning

• Study Abroad Experiences

Study Abroad Programs

• Benefits– Can be technically enlarging– View of the world (global picture)– Language– Culture– Students like it– Others

Study Abroad Programs

• Challenges– Cost– Length of Stay– Language– Mentoring – faculty involvement– Research– Families

Mexico Engineering Program

• Involves graduate and undergraduate students• BYU teams of 3-4 organized• Paired with similar teams from Mexico• Assigned to a real application of water resources

modeling– Determined by the Mexico students– Facilitated by WMS software and graduate research projects

• Semester Class– Two months of electronic communications– 10 day site visit– Development of final reports

Program – Winter 2007

• 4 graduate students

• 13 undergraduates

• 6 team projects

• 2 different universities in Mexico– ITESO – Guadalajara– Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas

Syllabus

• Team– Project Scope of Work– Weekly Status Memos– Final Report– Final Presentation– Poster– Critique and Review– Logistics Help

• Individual– Reading– Introduction Biography– Research Journal– Participation Hours– Team Participation– Final Reflections Paper

Team Projects

• Introductions of international teams• Email correspondence

– Establish project objectives– Define scope of work– Exchange digital information– Progress reports

• 10 Day visit in March– Resolve problems (actually become aware)– Site visits– Finalize work– Make presentations– Cultural exchange – making friends

El Cajon Watershed

• Developed a spatially distributed hydrologic model– Varying land use and soil conditions– Varying precipitation

• Used the model to demonstrate long term simulations

• Developed tutorials to teach proper application– Gridded models– Long term simulations– Parameter optimization

El Cajon Lake

• Lake recently constructed for power generation

• Highly contaminated water

• Initiated a water quality model for reservoir management

Zona Poniente Watershed

• Three watersheds experiencing rapid urban development

• Model the runoff change between present and future conditions

• Found a 13% increase downstream from the watersheds

Guadalupe Watershed

• Small Basin areas of 2km^2• Rapid urbanization in the area has increased the

impermeable ground cover and channelized flow• Peak runoff not significantly affected, but there is

already inadequate detention storage during rainy periods

• Suggested using an existing but out of commission reservoir for detention

Rio Blanco

• River contaminated with wastewater

• Determined point source locations

• Developed a database of pollutants

• Initiated a model to understand the extent of the problem

• Investigated further applications of modeling and information that needs to be collected

Trancoso Floodplain Modeling

• Small town with flooding issues– Built right on the main drainage path

• Developed a hydrologic model to simulate the runoff in the watershed.

• Modeled the flood channel with HEC-RAS.

• Designed a trapezoidal channel capable of carrying 25 year storm flows.

0 1 2 3 4 5

2163.2

2163.4

2163.6

2163.8

2164.0

2164.2

2164.4

hecras7 Plan: run1 3/28/2007 ups tream

Station (m)

Ele

vatio

n (m

)

Legend

EG 25 an

EG 10 an

EG 5 an

WS 25 an

Crit 25 an

Crit 10 an

WS 10 an

WS 5 an

Crit 5 an

Ground

Bank Sta

.03

1 m

5 m

1 m

Student Perspectives

• One of if not THE highlight of my academic experience• Project affects real people• Applies what I have learned in class to understand a

complex problem• Operate in a team environment• Forge and strengthen friendships with classmates• Experience first-hand cross-cultural/lingual collaborations• Better appreciation of Mexican culture• Appreciation of environmental attitudes and trends in

politics• Gain confidence in my ability to see a project through• Use my technical knowledge to serve others

Program Strengths

• Develops multiple Engineer of the 21st Century skills

• Tied to research program

• Cost effective

• Does not require a long resident time

• Student involvement in teaching

• Satisfying teamwork experiences

Questions

• Website– http://www.et.byu.edu/groups/cemexico