Kitchener - Students in mechanical, manufacturing and mechatronics engineering at three Canadian institutions will have the opportunity to study in Europe as part of an exchange project under the Transatlantic Exchange Partnership (TEP) being funded equally by Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) and the European Union (EU).

The three-year exchange agreement involves Canadian participants Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (Kitchener, ON), SAIT Polytechnic (Calgary, AB) and the University of Waterloo (Waterloo, ON). The European partner institutions are the University of Braunschweig – Institute of Technology (Germany), the University of Technology of Belfort-Montbéliard (France) and the Technical University of Liberec (Czech Republic).

During the TEP project, a total of 42 senior-level students will have the opportunity to participate in exchange activities involving academic studies and paid, co-op work terms, with travel and living expenses covered by project funds from HRSDC and the EU.

The first exchanges began in February 2009, when three Liberec students arrived at Conestoga. In September, three Conestoga students will go to Liberec. Each exchange arrangement lasts approximately eight months. The University of Waterloo’s and SAIT Polytechnic’s first student participation in this TEP project will begin in fall 2009.

Student and institutional participation will be on a rotational basis. For example, this year’s exchange will involve three students each from Conestoga and Liberec. Next year’s will involve two each from Conestoga and Belmont-Montbéliard. The third year will involve two students each from Conestoga and Braunschweig.

There is also a curriculum and academic development dimension to the TEP partnership. Faculty representatives from the six institutions will engage in discussions and collaborations in order to devise project-based and problem-based learning experiences for students in their programs at their universities and institutes. This will result in new approaches to engineering curriculum delivery, and an enriched teaching-learning process. These activities will include periodic exchanges involving 12 faculty (six each from Canada and Europe) to develop, validate and incorporate the project-based and problem-based learning elements into integrated engineering curricula.

“We want to give our students the ability to broaden their educational experience though the opportunity to learn overseas, at European technical institutes that are leaders in the mechanical, manufacturing and mechatronic fields. The ability of all the participating students to learn, work and live in a different environment will enrich them, but also provide enrichment when they return to their home institutes. This will also be the case with the faculty who teach them and with the faculty who are developing the curricular and project-based collaborations and innovations.”

-- Tony Martinek, TEP Project Coordinator, Conestoga College

“This partnership provides students with exposure to a global education experience, which is truly reflective of today’s marketplace. SAIT is proud to be involved in this project and to participate in new curriculum development for problem-based, project-based learning.”

-- Brad Donaldson, Dean, School of Manufacturing and Automation, SAIT Polytechnic

“This is a great opportunity to enhance the already extensive range of international exchange programs currently available to engineering students at the University of Waterloo, as well as jointly develop new approaches to educating our students with project-based learning.”

-- Dr. Jan Huissoon, Deputy Chair, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo