Calvin College Offers More International Exposure to Engineering Students

Calvin College’s Faculty Senate this month approved a six-week summer course in Germany that combines a regular Calvin engineering course with a new German course at the University of Bremen.

According to Calvin engineering Professor Ned Nielsen, the new course – to begin in the summer of 2006 – is vital in today's global economy.

"I think we do a decent job of exposing our students to the international nature of engineering, but we can always do better,” he said a public announcement regarding the course. “This new course is a great opportunity for our students. It's really exciting."

From mid-July to the end August, students will spend six weeks with Nielsen in Germany, where they will take seven credit hours and travel to a variety of destinations including Wittenberg, Berlin, Heidelberg, and Koln.

"These will be fun trips," said Nielsen, "but they'll also be great opportunities for our students to soak up more German culture and to really begin to understand the country."

The professor noted that in the world of engineering currently the two language skills most in demand are German and Japanese. Next on the list, he said, are French and Chinese, closely followed by Spanish.

According to Calvin College, “the new course gets added to an arsenal of international engineering experiences at the institution.”

Beside their bachelor's degree in engineering, Calvin engineering students currently can graduate with an international specialty designation. Students get this designation by participating in an international interim class, doing an international internship, and demonstrating a mastery of the language of their internship country.

Each year, Calvin graduates between 60 and 70 engineering students – 85 percent of which do so in four years.