Winter Break Study Abroad Program to India Will Begin this December

University of Kansas School of Engineering students will have a new study abroad opportunity available during winter break.  The program, known as the India Impact, will take place in India from late December 2013 through mid-January 2014. The deadline to apply is Oct. 4.

Seniors in the Self Engineering Leadership Fellows Program organized India Impact and its aim is to address business applications for engineering problems in developing countries.  The program is a topics-based experiential learning program that will utilize classroom lectures at KU and also in India. The study abroad portion will be augmented by company visits, cultural excursions, and interactions with students while in India. 

Michael Detamore, professor of chemical and petroleum engineering and Director of the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Laboratory at KU, traveled to India with the SELF Fellows in August to set up the program and will play a key role in the winter break program.

“The Indian economy is emerging and that presents a whole different set of challenges. Students going on this trip will have eyes opened to all those challenges and that could prove to be a valuable asset as they prepare to enter the working world,” Detamore said.  “The experience should also help students appreciate the difference in cultures and better understand them.”

Students will stay at the Asian School of Business in Trivandrum where they will attend a class: “Engineering Applications in India: Technical, Business, and Implementation Issues,” taught by Kissan Joseph, associate professor at the KU School of Business, which also has students participating in the India Impact winter break study abroad program. Potential site visits include Google in Bangalore, a proposed port in Trivandrum, and the metro system in Kochi.  All visits are designed to provide students with an opportunity to appreciate engineering challenges and opportunities on a global scale.

The program is open to juniors, seniors and graduate students in the School of Engineering.