EUROPEAN SERVICE NETWORK E S N TL. +32 2 646 40 20 - FX. +32 2 646 53 57 - EMAIL: ESN@ESN.

BE

PUBLICATION:

LANG:

EU-CANADA CO-OPERATION

SUBJECT:

EN

CAN-9601 (FACHHOCHSCHULE BIELEFELD)

LENGTH

4130

International engineering and management training

Improving the education of engineers and

managers
For the global market-place of the future, engineering and management
students need to broaden their education. To meet this challenge eight
Canadian and European universities took part in a project to improve
the mutual understanding between the European Union and Canada in
the field of engineering and management training. To date, 110 student
and 20 staff have been involved in exchanges and the project has led to
the signing of new co-operation agreements between its partners.
Todays engineering students are tomorrows research and development managers. Their
education is part of a country's investment in its future economy and growth in new fields
of industry and business. As markets become increasingly global, an important part of this
education is for students to learn about different cultures and gain practical experience in
overcoming the difficulties of communicating and working in a foreign land.
With this objective in mind, a project was started in 1996 to promote international cooperation and understanding between Europe and Canada in the higher education of
engineers. It involved five EU universities in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and
the UK, and three Canadian universities in British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec. These
training institutions in international engineering and management set up joint educational
programmes to improve both the quality and content of their study courses by supporting
the exchange of students between them.

Improving mutual understanding

The projects main purpose is to improve the mutual understanding in the field of
engineering and management training between the EU and Canada. This is being
achieved by introducing student exchanges, developing procedures for the mutual
recognition of academic results, applying new technologies and integrating periods of
industrial training into study courses.
Language courses and short visits are furthering the development of an organisational
infrastructure for student counselling, selection criteria and the recognition of academic

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EUROPEAN SERVICE NETWORK E S N TL. +32 2 646 40 20 - FX. +32 2 646 53 57 - EMAIL: ESN@ESN.BE

results. Lectures by academic staff from overseas are being given to acquaint students
with the teaching methods and study contents of another countrys educational system.
Teaching material is being developed for the field of distance teaching and staff are
working at partner institutions to improve their virtual mobility.

Bilateral acceptance

An infrastructure has been developed to enable the exchange of students. Each

university had its own selection criteria for students and was responsible for helping to
establish points of contact and supply initial information. A grade transfer system has been
negotiated and has become established as the common basis for all European and
Canadian partners. Bilateral acceptance of courses and placements by all partners has
been agreed for the duration of the programme and the future.
The European partners hold an annual seminar for all Canadian students to provide a
uniform approach to the project. Teaching methods are improved by regular quality checks
including monitoring the experiences of students taking part. This helps to promote
understanding of the higher education systems of the countries involved. In Canada, an
information handbook has been produced on the European partner universities. The
number of exchange students has reached 110 so far and around 20 staff have crossed
the Atlantic as visiting lecturers.

Modifying courses

Negotiations between partners are now concentrating on preparations to continue the

project beyond the funding period. Bilateral agreements have already been signed or, are
on the way, between EU and Canadian partners as well as just between EU partners. The
exchange programmes will be extended to both engineering and management graduates
and within the former exchange the focus will be more on training in industry projects.
This project will influence the contents of study courses on both sides of the Atlantic. In
particular, as a result of its success, student mobility and credit transfer have been
accepted into degree courses for Canadian engineers for the very first time.

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EUROPEAN SERVICE NETWORK E S N TL. +32 2 646 40 20 - FX. +32 2 646 53 57 - EMAIL: ESN@ESN.BE

PROJECT NUMBER
PROJECT TITLE

96-07-CAN-0004-00
International engineering and management training

KEYWORDS

business, credit transfer, cultural training, distance learning,

engineering, handbook, management, training

NUMBER OF STUDENTS

Mobile:
Non-mobile:

STARTING DATE
DURATION
TOTAL COST

June 1996
42 months
Europe:
270,000 euro
EC contribution: 123,000 euro
Canada:
CAN$ 160,000

EUROPEAN CO-ORDINATOR

Brigitte Perlick
Fachhochschule Bielefeld
Kurt-Schumacher-Str. 6
D-33615 Bielefeld
+49 521 106 2610
+49 521 106 2600
perlick@zv.fh-bielefeld.de
www.fh-bielefeld.de
University

TEL:
FAX:
EMAIL
WEBSITE
TYPE OF INSTITUTION:
PARTNER 2:
CONTACT:

TEL:
FAX:
EMAIL:
TYPE OF INSTITUTION:
PARTNER 3:
CONTACT:

TEL:
FAX:
EMAIL:
TYPE OF INSTITUTION:
PARTNER 4:
CONTACT:

TEL:
FAX:
EMAIL:
TYPE OF INSTITUTION:

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110
200

Universit de Valenciennes et du Hainaut-Cambresis

C. Delebarre
Le Mont Houy
B.P. 311
F-59304 Valenciennes Cedex
+33 3 27 14 12 34
+33 3 27 14 12 00
jutta.escher-kolski@univ-valenciennes.fr
University
Hogeschool voor Economische Studies Rotterdam
A. Siddr
Kralingse Zoom 91
NL-3006 AA Rotterdam
+31 10 24 20 181
+31 10 24 20 183
vijzelman@hes-rdam.nl
University
Universit Politecnica de Catalunya
Juan Jesus Perez
Avda. Diagonal 647
E-08028 Barcelona
+34 93 40 16 627
+34 93 40 16 600
jjperez@sotsdir.etseib.upc.es
University

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CANADIAN CO-ORDINATOR
TYPE OF INSTITUTION:
PARTNER 2
TYPE OF INSTITUTION:
PARTNER 3
TYPE OF INSTITUTION:

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University of Manitoba, Faculty of Engineering

Winnipeg, Manitoba
University
University of Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
University
Universit de Sherbrooke
Sherbrooke, Quebec
University

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