EECS is Everywhere...literally!
Recognizing the value of international opportunities (1) for students as part of their MIT educational experience, (2) for participation in transfer of teaching methodologies and (3) for gaining in shared research on an international scale, the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT is building its international possiblities.
The EECS International program under the direction of the EECS International Group, aims at promoting international engagement for EECS students and faculty (see below). In fact, it is hoped that international experiences such as already existing programs like the VI-A International M.Eng. Thesis Program and EECS MISTI (MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives) will make international learning as pervasive a part of the EECS/MIT experience as being a UROP.
Hey! EECS Students: Explore your international options--for Fall 09 application to any one (or more) of the current offerings:
- VI-A International internships - work at Analog Devices, Bosch, Google, Microsoft Research Asia, Qualcomm, Schlumberger at sites in one of six country locations. See the firsthand accounts from several recently returned VI-A M.Eng. Thesis students. Jon Chu, '09, who worked at Google in Beijing, Fall, 2008, comments: "Go international; expand your repertoire. Become a better engineer." Kimberly Deitz, '09, interned with Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing. In Kim's words: "One of my favorite things about MSRA was the many technical talks given that are open to anyone who is interested; it reminded me of MIT."
- EECS MISTI - internships, travel in nine countries across the globe. (See EECS graduate student Heather Knight in a video of her summer 2008 internship in Italy researching The Cloud, a joint project with Pitti Imagine and the MIT Mobile Experience Lab; Risha Mars EECS '11, and Miriam (Mish) Madson, EECS '09, in a video of MISTI Israel internships 2008).
- 6.A53 Entrepreneurship and China - Freshmen, consider the possiblity of taking this special seminar course for entrepreneurs about doing business in China and with China. The culmination of the class will be a trip to China during IAP in January 2010, where you will participate in workshops to learn more about the culture, you will experience the country firsthand and visit some entrepreneurs who are on the forefront of the entrepreneurial spirit in China. Stay tuned or be in touch with EECS Lecturer Dr. Tony Eng.
- Student-led Initiatives - The Imara Project:
empowering communities through sustainable technology and education. Read more...
- AITI (Africa Information Technology Initiative): Started in 2000 by two African MIT students, AITI now sends MIT students to teach technology and promote development in Africa. Read more... - Cambridge University Junior Year Exchange Program - EECS sophomores check this out!
Read the testimonials and see more photos at: http://www.eecs.mit.edu/international/firsthand.htmlJoin the growing ranks of EECS students going international —
EECS ambassadors everywhere!
EECS Faculty are engaging in collaborative work with premier universities worldwide. For example:
MISTI Seed Funding (NOTE: As announced May 4, 2009, in an MIT News Office article, a new application round for MISTI Seed funding has started). Examples of EECS faculty awarded seed funding in late February, 2009 are briefly described below.
- University of Queensland MIT STEM Instrumentation Project (Australia)
Over the Summer, 2009, with seed grant funding from MISTI, students from the iLab Project, initiated in 1998 by EECS Professor Jesús del Alamo, will participate in an exchange program at the University of Queensland, UQ, Australia. Since 2005, MISTI and the iLab Project have provided students with exchange opportunities at universities in China, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and Mexico. In addition to providing opporutnities for cultural exchange, these efforts have enabled MIT students to work with research teams developing remote laboratories.With the current seed grant award, the iLab Project will expand on this role. Participating students, including EECS UROP Olayemi Oyebode, will have the opportunity to spend about two months over the summer working with an experienced iLab development team at UQ. During this time, MIT students will work with developers at UQ to deploy new remote laboratories and develop enhancements to the iLab Shared Architecture that will benefit iLab developers worldwide.
Read more about the iLabs project on their wiki (MIT certificates required). Pictured right, an aerial view of Kampala, Uganda, where an iLab team worked with colleagues at Makerere University in July, 2008. To date over 694 students at Makerer University and Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU in Nigeria, have used labs at MIT.
- Collaboration with Tokyo Institute of Technology: A Networked Underwater Energy Harvesting Robot
EECS Professor Daniela Rus will continue collaborative research with Tokyo Inst. of Technology Professor Shigeo Hirose on network/location technology for underwater robots, tracking currents for energy harvesting. The latest seed funding (MISTI Hayashi Seed Fund) will enable Prof. Rus and EECS graduate student Marek Doniec to follow up from the work done in summer, 2008, at the UC Berkley Gump Research Station at Moorea Island in the South Pacific. Prof. Rus notes that "This sort of research activity could very naturally have an international and research education component during IAP, with students receiving training in marine biology, robotics, and sensor networks, and participating in field experiements. The main obstacle," she explained, "is funding such a course."
Empower the Teachers: A pilot of this program—designed to build teaching (and research) collaborations with faculty from selected universities worldwide—will be launched Fall, 2009. MIT EECS Prof. Arvind is hosting Yuan Tang from Fudan University in Shanghai, China. Prof. Charles Sodini is hosting Prof. Bert Shi from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
