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News Bits and Pieces -
June 01, 2006
In the interest of forging relationships and promoting the open exchange of ideas, Jim Aylor, dean of the University of Virginia School (UVA) of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS), traveled recently to China. There he met with esteemed engineering faculty, toured campus facilities and joined in student and faculty exchange agreements with two Chinese universities: the National Taipei University of Technology (NTUT) and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
“I think the exchange agreements are consistent with the goals of each institution,” Dean Aylor says, citing that both the UVA Engineering School and its Chinese counterparts seek opportunities to give students a broad, well-rounded education in technology as well as the humanities. The agreements, formal documents that acknowledge the universities’ interest in and dedication to exchanging students and faculty as soon as this fall, also detail specifics regarding tuition, living arrangements and other important factors for exchange participants.
In the past, it has proven especially difficult for UVA Engineering students to study abroad due to their particularly rigorous academic curricula. But now, as SEAS students become more and more interested in such opportunities, Dean Aylor says, “The bottom line is that we need to create opportunities for our students to do more collaborative work abroad, including academic programs and industrial internships.” SEAS leaders will work with NTUT and Jiao Tong representatives to determine which courses will best meet the needs of their students so that these students do not fall behind when they return to their home institutions following internships.
Dean Aylor found the Chinese universities to be very receptive to exchange programs, not just for students, but for faculty as well. “In participating in this exchange, we will collaborate with the top scientists and engineers around the world,” Dean Aylor explains. “This creates a great opportunity for professional advancement for our faculty.”
A Madison, VA, native and the son of a longtime UVA faculty member, Dean Aylor has spent most of his adult life at the University. He earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from the School in 1968, 1971 and 1977, respectively; and he joined the SEAS faculty in 1978.
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