By making the harsh realities of global life part of the curriculum, UGA engineering professor William Kisaalita is making it possible for students to find solutions based on first-hand experience.
A native of Uganda, Kisaalita balances his own biomedical engineering research with a concern for preparing future leaders. International aspects are incorporated in a required capstone engineering design course through overseas projects. Groups of students work with peers from around campus and across the globe over an entire semester to address specific problems. During spring break, students travel to the location to gain insights and context firsthand; upon their return, they complete the design and in some cases, fabricate the prototype. Kisaalita’s capstone course has been offered five times, with projects from Africa and South America.
The projects and their impacts are centered on people and communities where the concept of a solution is tailored to the local culture. One group of students spent the semester focused on a women’s Argan oil co-operative in Morocco, seeking to improve some of the most arduous aspects of their work with culturally appropriate, nut-cracking technology. Here, unwed or widowed women with no other place in the local society support themselves and serve a crucial function in the village. Designing a device that helps improve their activity without altering the social fabric of the community is a unique opportunity for students to generate culturally sensitive, sustainable solutions.
“I feel like it changed my life,” says Meghan Shealy, a biomedical engineering major headed for graduate school at Yale next fall whose team traveled to Morocco over spring break. “For the first time, I actually felt like an engineer. These people needed something, and I was in a position to help them.”
The projects evolve through local partners who champion the new technology. Kisaalita’s first project began with personal contacts in Uganda; he now partners with NGOs across the world to develop projects and expand the program with more UGA students and faculty. Intramural support has come from the Office of Global Programs and the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach; external support has been provided by the National Science Foundation and the USDA.
“These projects internationalize the students and faculty in a meaningful way,” says Victoria McMaken, program coordinator in the Office of Global Programs. “Human to human contact in developing countries, working at the community level, this is exactly what we want to happen.”
More and more, the path to lifelong learning and global awareness starts with these steps, and Kisaalita is realizing the opportunity to bring students together for the benefit of others, and themselves.
“These students are thinking and eager to get involved with something larger. As educators, we must be attentive to providing these types of challenges,” he says.
Competing
in a Global Economy
The University of Georgia is at the forefront of the globalization
movement in higher education with a wealth of opportunities for
international experiences. Our students are flocking to study-abroad
programs, thriving on the challenges inherent in confronting a
new cultural environment. More and more, students on campus are
also making choices that reflect an understanding of the importance
of global awareness—from living in a residence hall-based
language community to starting a radio program in another language
to minoring in a foreign language. These experiences, whether at
home or abroad, influence how our students perceive the world and
their place in it. We’re producing graduates prepared to
be world citizens—well informed, culturally sensitive and
technologically sophisticated. They’re ready to take on the
challenges of our global society, and they’ll be equally
at home whether in the Peach State or the Republic of Georgia. |
